The present invention relates to systems and methods to generate accounts on a client when joining the client to a domain while preserving user profiles that were generated prior to joining the client. In general, a user with an account on a client can customize the account, wherein the customization can be saved in an associated profile. The client can employ the user profile when the user logs on in order to return the customization to the user. The present invention provides a novel approach to retain a user's existing user profile when joining the client via mapping the user's existing account to the account that will be generated, and then automatically migrating the user's profile to the generated account during joining the client. The foregoing can provide reduced client setup time, improved setup efficiency, reduced setup cost, and mitigation of severing customization from a user's account.