I got this tool suggest from an IT colleague and, considering that is useful, I proceeded to publish relative article.
More details:
https://helgeklein.com/free-tools/delprof2-user-profile-deletion-tool/
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Delprof2 is the unofficial successor to Microsoft’s Delprof which does not work with operating systems newer than Windows XP. Here are the main facts:
- Delprof2 is syntax compatible to the original Delprof, but more powerful
- Delprof2 lets you explicitly specify which profiles to delete
- Delprof2 bypasses security to delete profiles regardless of current permissions/owner
- Delprof2 supports very long paths
- Delprof2 works on nearly all versions of Windows
- Delprof2 is free for private use, for educational and non-profit organizations. All other organizations may use Delprof2 for free, too, if they allow us to publish their name.
Otherwise a commercial license must be purchased.
What Does it Do?
Delprof2 deletes inactive user profiles. If you want to reclaim disk space just run it without parameters and it will delete all profiles except your own and some special profiles needed by the operating system (like “Default”).
Delprof2 has additional filtering options: you might want to delete locally cached copies of roaming profiles only or delete only those profiles that have not been used in a specified number of days. Delprof2 does it all, both on the local system and remotely.
Special Features
Exclusions and Inclusions with Wildcards
It is a frequent requirement to delete all profiles except one or two which should be left unchanged. With version 1.5 of Delprof2 that is easily possible: profiles can be excluded from deletion using a wildcard notation. If, on the other hand, only a few known profiles are to be deleted, use the inclusion feature and Delprof2 ignores everything else. Combining excludes and includes is possible, too, of course.
Bypassing Security
User profiles often have permissions set on them in such a way that not even administrators have access without prior ACL manipulation. Delprof2 circumvents this requirement by making use of backup and restore privileges to analyze and delete even the most tightly secured profiles.
Long Paths
Some programs store files in paths with more than 260 characters. Most tools cannot deal with such paths that are longer than the value of MAX_PATH (260). Windows Explorer is a prominent example. Delprof2, on the other hand, makes use of special APIs to be able to delete files in the remotest areas of your hard drive.
Syntax and Examples
The program’s help screen describes the available options in detail:
Delprof2 by Helge Klein (https://helgeklein.com)
Delprof2 deletes inactive Windows user profiles (profiles that are not currently loaded).
Delprof2 is syntax compatible with the original Delprof by Microsoft. Unlike the original it works on all versions of Windows
(XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/2008 R2/8).
If possible, Delprof2 uses the backup and restore privileges to bypass security and delete even profiles the executing user does not
normally have access to.
Delprof2 has no problem whatsoever deleting files in very long paths (longer than MAX_PATH, 260 characters).
Delprof2 also cleans up stale ProfileList SID.bak registry entries, a common cause of temporary profiles.
Usage: delprof2 [/l] [/u] [/q] [/p] [/r] [/c:[\\]] [/d: [/ntuserini]] [/ed:] [/id:] [/i]
/l List only, do not delete (what-if mode)
/u Unattended (no confirmation)
/q Quiet (no output and no confirmation)
/p Prompt for confirmation before deleting each profile
/r Delete local caches of roaming profiles only, not local profiles
/c Delete on remote computer instead of local machine
/d Delete only profiles not used in x days
/ntuserini
When determining profile age for /d, use the file NTUSER.INI
instead of NTUSER.DAT for age calculation
/ed Exclude profile directories whose name matches this pattern
Wildcard characters * and ? can be used in the pattern
May be used more than once and can be combined with /id
/id Include only profile directories whose name matches this pattern
Wildcard characters * and ? can be used in the pattern
May be used more than once and can be combined with /ed
/i Ignore errors, continue deleting
Examples:
Delprof2 /c:computername
Deletes inactive profiles on 'computername'.
Delprof2 /c:computername /l
Lists inactive profiles on 'computername' without deleting them.
Delprof2 /d:30
Deletes profiles older than 30 days on the local computer.
Delprof2 /r
Deletes locally cached roaming profiles only.
Delprof2 /ed:admin* /ed:pmiller
Deletes all inactive profiles on the local computer except those starting with 'admin' and the one called 'pmiller'.
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Here is an example of Delprof2 in action, deleting user profiles remotely on a Windows XP computer (Windows 7 / 2008 R2 work just as well):
D:\>DelProf2.exe -c:192.168.175.130 -p
DelProf2 by Helge Klein (https://helgeklein.com)
Delete inactive profiles on '192.168.175.130'? (Yes/No) y
Ignoring profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\All Users' (reason: special profile)
Ignoring profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Default User' (reason: special profile)
Ignoring profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\LocalService' (reason: special profile)
Ignoring profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\NetworkService' (reason: special profile)
Ignoring profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Administrator.WINXP' (reason: in use)
The following user profiles match the deletion criteria:
\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\administrator.HK
\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Helge
\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\test01
\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\testlocal
\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\testlocal2
Delete profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\administrator.HK'? (Yes/No) y
Deleting profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\administrator.HK' ...
... done.
Delete profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Helge'? (Yes/No) n
Delete profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\test01'? (Yes/No) n
Delete profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\testlocal'? (Yes/No) n
Delete profile '\\192.168.175.130\C$\Dokumente und Einstellungen\testlocal2'? (Yes/No) n
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License
Delprof2 may be used free of charge if either of the following is true:
- private use
- non-profit organization
- educational organization such as schools and universities
Delprof2 may only be used free of charge by all other, especially commercial, organizations, if a representative authorized to do so sends an e-mail with the following text to info@helgeklein.com: “We authorize vast limits GmbH to publicly display the name and logo of our company FILL IN NAME HERE in vast limits GmbH’s marketing materials.”