Creating a Default User Profile

One of the things that annoys me about windows is the Default User profile. This is the profile that a new user who logs onto a machine (or server will get).
The way it works on NT, 2000, XP and 2003 is pretty much the same.
Under the documents and settings folder on 2000, XP and 2003 are a series of folders for each person that logs on to the machine.

Hidden in here is also a profile called 'Default User' and whatever is in here gets copied to the logon name of any NEW person that logs on.

Microsoft provide a somewhat tortuous way of customising this profile by creating an additional local user which is fine unless you have already spent time customising the profile you have logged on as.

Facing this situation yesterday I realised that the easiest fix is to just log off the machine which unloads the user profile and then you can copy the existing profile over the top of default user and so have a working default user profile in seconds..... Permissions might need to be adjusted as need be but it was a quick and painless way to take an existing and cofigured profile and make it a default.