Why aren't changes in Active Directory synchronizing with the People and Groups list?

Question

I just noticed an interesting scenario where if a users first name, last name or username is changed in AD it doesn't synchronize with the People and Groups list.

How does the Active Directory sync work with SharePoint? Does it import the data daily or only after it's been installed?

What's the process and how do I keep these two in sync?

Answer 1

I believe that James is wright on. When you build a WSS instance it will pull in details from AD. However, changes after the fact don't update the user properties in WSS 3. This is supported in MOSS 2007 and greater. I used a product that was able to overcome this limitation. Here is a link

Simego

Answer 2

I could be very wrong here but I think the AD user profile sync is only available in MOSS Server and SharePoint 2010 Server, and not in plain WSS.