Deploying and Administering Windows Vista® Bible

Chapter 12. Protecting User Data

The reason organizations rely on computers is to create, modify, and otherwise manipulate business data. Because of this, the job of protecting business data generated by information workers is probably the most important aspect of any PC administrator's responsibilities. Users complain when their computers don't work as they expect, but should they lose their data, they will do much more than complain. This is why it is important for any organization running personal computers to put in place and manage a proper data protection strategy.

Too many organizations are happy to provide a home directory to users, grant them a minimal amount of space on a central server, and then leave it at that. This is not a data protection strategy, or if it is, this is its barest form. Proper data protection strategies must rely on more than simple centralized folders. When you want to protect data, you need a full information lifecycle management strategy. In Windows Vista, this means:

• Identifying which data to protect

• Putting in place a modern data protection mechanism

• Protecting travelling data

• Protecting critical mobile systems

Keeping users happy by providing full protection for their data is the focus of this chapter.

Protecting User Profiles

In Windows, user data is stored within the user profile along with any configuration information and data related to the user's preferences. Data includes user-generated documents, desktop preferences, Internet favorites, and so ...