The Overview:
I?ve inherited a Windows Server 2003 domain that was plagued with
stability problems.  My solution was to build a new domain completely
from scratch.  This included the introduction of a brand new server
acting as the new domain controller, with a brand new install of
Windows Server 2003.  The old server will be retired from service. 
The old AD tree will be completely discarded.

The Network:
This is a small network with about 20 users.  Each user is assigned
their own PC which runs Windows XP Professional.  There is only one
server which acts as the domain controller.

The Problem:
I?ve added all the users into the new AD tree from scratch.  I?ve also
successfully added the PCs to the new domain.  The problem comes when
the users log into their PCs, in so far as, they no longer have their
old profiles.

The Question:
I need a way to copy their old profiles into their new profiles. How do I do this?

The Answer:
A correct answer will be a step-by-step process that I can easily
follow.  Below are listed techniques that I?ve tried that I know do
not work.

1.) User Profiles > Copy To function does not work.  The button is
grayed out, and the old profile is listed as ?Account Unknown?.

2.) Editing the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList does not work.  When I change the new
ProfileImagePath
key to point to the old profile folder, for example: 

%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Tom.NEWDOMAIN changed to
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Tom

When I log back in as user Tom, I get yet another new profile, this
time named Tom.NEWDOMAIN.000

3.) Manually copying the contents of the old user profile folder to
the new user profile folder, does not work.  Some things did copy,
like contents of the desktop and My Documents folder, but some things
didn?t, like outlook settings.  And it also broke the Start Menu, as
nothing would display in it.

Hello,

I am not sure you can migrate profiles to a new domain. Each object is
tied to a security identifier (SID) which is unique. Even if you
delete an object and then recreate it with exactly the same setting,
they will never be the same. They may look the same, but they will be
treated as different objects by the system. So best practice says that
you should delete accounts unless absolutely necessary. Disabling them
is a better idea.

So for the same reason, Outlook settings will also not be recreated as
it is as Microsoft has tightly integrated exchange and ADS post 2000.
As you found out the only things you can copy are my documents,
favourites and desktop settings. Other than that you cannot copy
anything.

Try using the User State Migration Tool which allows you to migrate
most of the user settings.

Migrate most of the user's system settings including: 
Dial-up Networking (DUN)/Remote Access Service (RAS) 
Display settings (wallpapers, colors, fonts) 
Internet Explorer 4.x or 5.x settings 
Accessibility settings 
Mapped drives 
Network printers 
Folder options 
Migrate Microsoft Outlook 97, Outlook 98, or Outlook 2000 connectivity settings. 
Migrate some common types of user files to the My Documents folder. 

User State Migration Tool (USMT) is geared toward higher-volume
migrations and is currently in version 2.6. It is downloadable from
the Microsoft Download Center. Earlier versions of USMT were included
on the Windows XP and Windows 2003 installation CDs.

tron, I had this same problem happen to me as we were creating our new
AD.  Your 3rd option will work, but you CANNOT copy over the NTuser
files.  Copy everything but those 2 files and you should be OK.  Also
you cannot be logged in as the user that you are copying, you have to
be logged in as an administrator.

As far as the Outlook problem goes, you have to backup the Outlook
accounts on the old profiles and then on the new profiles, you have to
restore the backups and set the account up again.

Hope this helps.

John

I wish I could get the thirty for this one. :P  Our department has
been dealing with this for the past week. At first I thought it was a
coworker that posted this. Lol! We have the same environment as you,
as well the same issue of moving user profiles to the new domain.

  Doing this for 20 users should take you a few hours, not sure if you
have roaming profiles? But I add that info if needed.



     1.	Log into the user PC as the local admin.
     2.	Right click my computer, select properties. 
     3.	Click the advanced tab, select user profile settings.
     4.	Select old domain user profile.
     5.	In the ?copy profile to? box select location to copy the
profile to, but NOT into the new domain user profile if created. Just
any location will do. BUT DON?T CLICK OK YET!
     6.	In the ?permitted to use area?, click change, select the
location of your new domain, enter object name, select the user who?s
profile you are copying to transfer rights to the new domain user. It
will prompt you to authenticate.
     7.	If the pc is on the new domain, what I do is delete the old
domain user profile from that pc so when I login as the new domain
user the profile is written the same way as the old one with just the
user name. If you leave the old one it will write the
username.newdomain for the profile folder?s name. You can skip this
part, I?m just anal about inactive profiles.
    8.	Now you want to login as that user on the new domain to set up
the new domain profile locally, and log off.
    9.	Log back in as the local admin and go to the location of the
old user profile that you copied from the above steps. Open that
folder change the view to see hidden files and folders, as well as
system files. If you don?t you will only copy over the stuff you
talked about in number three of your techniques that didn?t work.
Select all within that folder, and copy them into the new domain users
profile and over write everything.
    10.	Now logout and log back in as the user on the new domain, and your golden. 


If you have any problems or if I forgot anything, you can contact me I
will gladly help with any issues. I couldn?t find any info on this, so
I would gladly provide the info to make someone else?s life a bit
easier. 70+users exchange, multiple sites, and domain controllers,
roaming and local profiles. User State Migration Tool can be fully
automated but I don?t have the time right now to research it, for 20
users the above solution will work fine for you but in the future test
out the Microsoft User State Migration Tool I know I will.

roberts1614 "As far as the Outlook problem goes, you have to backup the Outlook
accounts on the old profiles" 
YOu could also change the location of your .pst to the My Doc's folder
and path outlook to that location. When you copy the profile the
account settings and the pst will go with it. No need to set anything
up. User permissions will have to be made to the files if you manually
copy them from the old domain, to the new one. For roberts1614
solution.