Setting Up a Domain User's Desktop in a Joined Workstation

Question

On my Server's Domain (Averihire.local) I have, among others, a user account named "AveriTwo" which w/be for an employee who is to have limited capabilities.  When I first logged on to the account I was presented with a somewhat
generic desktop (unlike the one I get when I log on to that account via RDS).  The shortcuts that are on this generic desktop are only for programs that are installed locally on the workstation itself (i.e. C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (X86),
and sometimes there are server resident programs that the operator will need to be able to execute.  I open File Explorer and browsed to AveriTwo>Desktop, and the only think I saw there is a "desktop.ini" file.  I tried creating
a shortcut to a server based program in that desktop folder, but it doesn't show up on the workstation's desktop (so what is that folder for???).  I then tried "New Shortcut" on the workstation's desktop, but when I browsed to the
server, the only things that showed up were; netlogon, sysvol and Users.  So my first question is, how can I add shortcuts to server based programs to the workstation's desktop?
My second question involves Documents.  I need the domain administrator (on the workstation) to be able to save certain documents on the Server (e.g. in the "Public Documents" folder(s)) and private documents in the local Documents
folder(s).  I don't know how to do that, nor how to differentiate between public and private documents.
I'll be very grateful for any/all help with this, and thank you in advance.
Capt. Dinosaur

Answer 1

Hi Darren, thanks for the response, and second things first.  You cleared up for me on how to save the documents to the server's "Public Documents" folder from the workstation.  I shared the folder with the
Security Group to which the workstation user belongs, and set up the security for it.  Then, in MS Word and Excel, I set the default document locations to the Server's Public Documents folder, and that now all works fin.
Regarding my first question, however, right now I'm so totally confused and befuddled, that I need to start all over.  So here goes:
First, ignore my comments about the desktop in RDS; I only mentioned that because I was kind of surprised that the RDS desktop and the workstation's default desktop aren't the same.  That workstation's user won't be using RDS.
Now, to explain my confusion, I opened File Explorer on both the workstation and the server, and here's what I found:
On the workstation: There are two folders for user AveriTwo; one named simply "AveriTwo" and one named "AveriTwo.AVERIHIRE", both of which contain ONLY TWO of the
shortcuts that appear on the AveriTwo's desktop (specifically Word and Excel).  Then there's another USER named "Public" under which there's a folder named "Public Desktop", which contains the rest of the shortcuts (Adobe Reader,
Ccleaner, Malwarebytes and WinZip) which appear on the user's desktop.
On the server: There's a folder named "AveriTwo" which contains nothing but a desktop.ini file.  Then there's the user named "Public" containing a folder named "Public
Desktop", in which there are many of the shortcuts that appear on the server (Administrator) desktop, and here's where the fun begins.  Three of the shortcuts in that folder (i.e. Adobe Reader, Ccleaner and WinZip) are also on the
workstation's desktop, while others are not (i.e. Docsvault Client**, Firefox Browser and PDF Creator).  Malwarebytes is in the Public folder on the workstation, but in the Administrator's desktop folder on the server.
From the above, it would appear that the Public Desktop folders on the workstation and the server are not the same folder (e.g. for kicks, I deleted from the server's Public Desktop folder one of the shortcuts that appears on both, and that didn't affect
the corresponding shortcut on the workstation).  But here's where it gets strange.  Originally, when I opened File Explorer on the workstation, the Public Desktop didn't appear under the Public User folder. So I added the security
group (G_AvOPER) in which the AveriTwo user is a member, to the Public User folder ON THE SERVER and Voila! the Public Desktop then appeared in File Explorer on the workstation.  That, then, would tend to contradict the above, and imply
that the Public Desktop folders on both computers are the same.  So it seems now that those two folders are the same except when they're not (!?).
** Docsvault Client is one of the programs that has to be executed from the workstations in order to manage the Docsvault (electronic encrypted filing cabinet) which is the essential core library for our operation.  I added the G_AvOper
group - with Full Control - to the Docsvault Client shortcut on the server, but still can't figure out how to make it available to the workstation.
I really need some enlightenment to Capt' Dinosaur's (above) Epistle to the Computions.  I've offered a prayer to Saint BIOS, but he hasn't responded<grin>.  Would someone PUHLEEZE come to my rescue?
Capt. Dinosaur