• A user profile is a collection of desktop and environment configurations for a specific user or group of users. By default, each user has a separate profile stored in C:\Users.
• The folders and information contained in a profile are:
• AppData: A hidden folder containing user-specific information for applications, such as configuration settings.
• Application Data: A hidden shortcut to AppData for backwards compatibility with Windows 2000 and Windows XP applications.
• Contacts: A folder to hold contacts and their properties. Contact properties include addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and digital certificates. Contacts can be used by various applications, but the most common are e-mail applications.
• Cookies: A hidden shortcut to the storage location for Internet Explorer cookies. This shortcut is for backwards compatibility with previous versions of Internet Explorer.
• Desktop: A folder that contains all of the shortcuts and files on the user desktop.
• Documents: A folder that is typically the default location for saving documents. This folder appears as My Document when viewed through Windows Explorer. You can verify the name as Documents by using a command prompt.
• Downloads: A folder that is used to store files and programs downloaded from the Internet.
• Favorites: A folder that holds Internet Explorer favorites.
• Links: A folder that contains shortcuts that are displayed as the favorite links in Windows Explorer.
• Local Settings: A hidden shortcut that is included for backward compatibility with Windows 2000 and Windows XP applications.
• Music: A folder for storing music files. It appears as My Music in Windows Explorer.
• My Documents: A hidden shortcut that is included for backward compatibility with Windows 2000 and Windows XP applications.
• NetHood: A hidden shortcut to a location storing user-specific network information such as drive mappings. This is included for backward compatibility.
• Pictures: A folder for storing picture files. It appears as My Pictures in Windows Explorer.
• PrintHood: A hidden shortcut to a location storing user-specific printing information such as network printers. This is included for backward compatibility.
• Recent: A hidden shortcut to a location storing shortcuts to recently used documents. This is included for backward compatibility.
• Saved Games: A folder for storing saved games that are in progress.
• Searches: A folder that stores saved search queries so that they can easily be accessed again.
• SendTo: A hidden shortcut to the location storing shortcuts that appear in the Send To menu when right-clicking a data file. This is included for backward compatibility.
• Start Menu: A hidden shortcut to the location storing the shortcuts and folders that appear in the Start menu. This is included for backward compatibility.
• Templates: A hidden shortcut to the location storing application templates, such as Word document templates. This is included for backward compatibility.
• Videos: A folder for storing videos. It appears as My Videos in Windows Explorer.
• NTUSER.DAT: A file that stores user-specific registry information.
• NTUSER.DAT.LOGx: Files that tracks changes in NTUSER.DAT. This file is used to recover NTUSER.DAT if the system shuts down unexpectedly.
• NTUSER.DAT{guid}.TM.blf: A temporary file used for controlling registry changes. .TMContainerxxxxxx.regtrans-ms - A temporary file used for controlling registry changes.
• Ntuser.ini: A file that controls which portions of a profile are not to be copied up to a server when roaming profiles are enabled.

In addition to the details of an individual prof le, you should understand the following:

• The Default Profile
• Roaming Profiles
• Mandatory Profiles
• Super Mandatory Profiles
• The Public Profile
• The Start Menu