A user profile is a group of settings and files that defines the environment that the system loads when a user logs on. It includes all the user-specific configuration settings, such as program items, screen colors, network connections, printer connections, mouse settings, and window size and position.
A user profile consists of a registry hive and a set of folders stored in the file system. The user profile registry hive is ntuser.dat in file form, and is mapped to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER portion of the registry when the user logs on. The series of profile directories store application data, temporary files, shortcut links, desktop icons, and other application-related data.
A local user profile is created the first time a user logs on to a computer, and is stored on the local drive. Any changes made to the local user profile are specific to the computer on which the changes are made.
There are no configuration requirements associated with this component.
For more information on user profile, see this Microsoft Web site.