You want to assign a mandatory user profile to a user account in a Windows environment so that any changes the user makes are not saved. What must you do to the user's profile?

Introduction / Context:
Mandatory user profiles are used when administrators want to provide users with a consistent desktop environment that cannot be permanently modified. Any changes that the user makes during a session are discarded when the user logs off. This question tests your knowledge of the specific step required to convert a normal roaming or local profile into a mandatory profile in classic Windows environments such as Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

Given Data / Assumptions:

You are working with a user profile on a Windows-based system that uses the NTUSER.DAT registry hive file to store user-specific settings.
Your goal is to make the profile mandatory so that users cannot save settings permanently.
You have access to the user profile folder and can rename files there.
You must choose from different actions involving profile files and the Default User profile.
The question focuses on what must be done directly to the user’s profile, not general profile copying tasks.

Concept / Approach:
In Windows profile management, the NTUSER.DAT file within a profile folder stores the user’s registry hive (HKEY_CURRENT_USER). To create a mandatory profile, you rename NTUSER.DAT to NTUSER.MAN. When Windows sees NTUSER.MAN, it treats the profile as read-only, loading settings but discarding changes when the user logs off. Renaming ntuser.ini, copying the Default User profile, or copying the user’s profile back to Default User may have other uses, but they do not in themselves create a mandatory profile.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that mandatory profiles are read-only versions of user profiles that end with the extension .MAN. Step 2: Identify the file that stores the user registry hive in a standard profile: NTUSER.DAT in the user’s profile folder. Step 3: Understand that converting a normal profile to a mandatory profile is done by renaming NTUSER.DAT to NTUSER.MAN. Step 4: Note that ntuser.ini is not the file that implements the registry hive; renaming it does not change the profile type. Step 5: Recognize that copying profiles between user and Default User folders is used for creating default profile templates, not specifically for making a profile mandatory. Step 6: Conclude that renaming NTUSER.DAT is the required action.

Verification / Alternative check:
In practice, administrators often configure a user’s profile exactly as desired, log off, log on as an administrator, and then rename NTUSER.DAT to NTUSER.MAN in the profile folder. After this change, each time the user logs on, they receive the same environment, and any adjustments are lost at logoff. Testing this behavior confirms that the renaming of NTUSER.DAT is the key step in creating a mandatory profile.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Rename the user’s ntuser.ini file – This file does not control whether the profile is mandatory; renaming it will not enforce read-only behavior.

Copy the Default User profile folder to the user’s profile folder – This can be used to give the user a standard starting configuration but does not by itself make the profile mandatory.

Copy the user’s profile to the Default User profile folder – This changes what new users initially receive as a default profile but again does not enforce mandatory behavior for the current user.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is confusing the Default User profile, which controls initial settings for new accounts, with mandatory profiles, which control whether changes persist. Another pitfall is misremembering the file name extension, possibly thinking that any file name ending in .MAN is sufficient. The key is that this extension must be applied to the NTUSER hive file, specifically changing NTUSER.DAT to NTUSER.MAN.

Final Answer:
To assign a mandatory profile to a user, you must rename the user's NTUSER.DAT file so that it becomes NTUSER.MAN.