----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher Dawkins"
Logging on of XP is a problem because of the massive profiles it downloads.
Exactly. This has been a known problem for at least the past four years, so I don't know why it hasn't been fixed. We've only faced it since a batch of XP machines was put in last September. When people started complaining of long login times I hacked an old directory-walking Perl script so that it attacks all ~/.profiles directories at 1am each night and then at 6am sends me a list of the ten largest .profiles directories with their sizes. I investigate the largest ones and anything in them I delete and/or add to the wipe list. This clears several hundred megabytes most nights. It's very inefficient (but it covers 400 directories in two minutes). For your interest the guts of it at present are: ================ guts of .profiles-clearing script ============ $fname="/.profiles"; $fname1="/.profiles/My Documents"; $startmenuprogs="/.profiles/Start Menu/Programs/"; $applicationdata="/.profiles/Application\ Data/"; $gimpdir="/.profiles/.gimp-1.2/"; #print"checking..."; foreach $i (0 .. $#users) #users contains a list of all directories in this group { if (!-e $users[$i].$fname) {next;} # {print "\n$i $users[$i]";} # {print "$users[$i]/";} # system("du -s \'".$users[$i].$fname."\'"); system("rm -rf ".$users[$i]."/.profiles"."/.jpi_cache/*"); system("rm -rf ".$users[$i]."/.profiles/Desktop/cache/*"); system("rm -rf ".$users[$i]."/.profiles/Desktop/Demo*"); system("rm -rf ".$users[$i]."/.profiles/Desktop/New*"); system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i]."/.profiles/Start Menu/Programs/Soldat\'"); #system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i].$startmenuprogs."Soldat\'"); system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i].$applicationdata."InstallShield\'"); system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i].$applicationdata."InstallShield Installation Information\'"); system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i].$gimpdir."gimpswap.\*\'"); # big problem: the gimpswap wildcard does not work inside the ' system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i].$gimpdir."tmp\'"); system("rm -rf \'".$users[$i].$fname1."\'"); # {print "$users[$i]\n";} if (-d $users[$i]."/.profiles/Desktop/cstrike") { system("rm -rf ".$users[$i]."/.profiles/Desktop/\*");} system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.msi -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.eml -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.mov -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.nws -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.zip -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.tmp -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.wmz -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name *.asd -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name setup.exe -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name SETUPNT.EXE -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); system("find ".$users[$i]."/.profiles -name SetupDl.exe -print0 | xargs -0 rm"); ========== end of guts of .profiles-clearing script ========= You will notice that most of the solutions are violent (e.g. all "My Documents" within .profiles are wiped, if any "cstrike" exists then the whole "Desktop" is cleared), but Donald Rumsfeld would approve. -- Christopher Dawkins, Felsted School, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3JG 01371-822698, mobile 07816 821659 cchd@felsted.essex.sch.uk Like NT4 XP saves locally the profiles for all those that logged onto a particular machine. It is possible, via a registry entry, to tell it not to save any, or only to save a certain number and delete the oldest. I haven't got the entry to hand, but I will look it up in due course. Also if you get a corrupt local stored network profile you can delete the whole profile in XP and it will be re-created the next time a user log into the network from that machine. Hey I thought that this was a Linux list! :-) Is there anyone from a school in Cheshire on this list? That's besides me of course. ********************************************************************** Note : This E-Mail is sent in confidence for the addressee only. Unauthorised recipients must preserve this confidentiality and should please advise the sender immediately by telephone and then delete the message without copying or storing it or disclosing its contents to any other person. We have taken all reasonable precautions to ensure that no viruses are transmitted to any third party. Any liability (in negligence or otherwise) arising from any party acting, or refraining from acting on any information contained in this e mail is hereby excluded. Should you communicate with anyone at this address by e-mail, you consent to us monitoring and reading any such correspondence. Printing this email? Please think environmentally and only print when essential! **********************************************************************