Deploying XP SP2 Group Policy problem 2

[satchi]

Hello all. I'm having some trouble deploying XP SP2 on client computers via group policy. I have followed Microsoft Tech Net's instructions (which includes extracting sp2 into network share folder, creating distribution point, and creating GP object), but I it does not seem to want to install when I log onto the client's computer.

Note that I'm using two computers (test server); domain controller and main server is Windows 2000 Server and test client is using Windows XP Pro SP1. Both computer sees each other fine and all, but nothing happens when I log onto the client's computer (w/ a network logon).

thanks in advance,

satchi

 

[bcastner]

gpupdate /Force

 

[satchi]

thanks bcastner, this works fine.

But the question now becomes, do i have to manually do this for every computer on the network to force the group policy? thanks

satchi

 

[SCFROMDC]

You could add it in a logon script...

http://www.deadcenter.us

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confucius

 

[mwiner]

satchi,

like scfromdc said, you could add it to the logon script however I would not recommend that. Most likely you are running windows XP network processing in the default option. Which states that Windows XP boot and allows the user to log into Windows even before it has completed the network connection. It instead uses a cached profile. This allows for an extreamly fast boot.

Once the user is logged in and the connection has been established, the machine connects to the domain controller and asks if anything has changed. In your case it sees that, yes something has changed, it needs to install SP2. So it sets a flag in windows that software needs to be installed.

On next login it will contact the domain contoller AGAIN and check to see what software needs to be installed and where it is coming from. Finally on the next login it will download and install the software from the domain contoller. It is said by Microsoft that the process of installing software via group policies can take up to 3 reboots and rarely more.

For even simple Group Policies I have had to reboot 4 times to get them to apply. I even took into account replication.

So my suggestion to you if you want the results to be more consistant is to set in Group Policies to establish the network connection prior to logging in. Yes it will add a few seconds to boot up but it will get rid of this headache. (just an FYI Windows 2000 process the network connection prior to logging in)

This policy can be found at:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon
and the policy name is "Always wait for network at computer startup and logon".

That should really help you out.

-Matt

 

[satchi]

Thanks for all the replies. I was thinking of creating a logon script to force the group policies, but I was hoping that would be the last resort, since I've never done it before.

Anyways, it's good to know how the GP is enforced on XP vs 2000. That explains a lot on some of the test-computers that updated themselves after awhile, while some computers didn't update yet.

For the group policy that changes the XP login, is it possible to configure that through the network?, or is that through client only?

Thanks again for the valuable replies... I'll make use of it and let you all know how it went.

satchi

 

[mwiner]

Well since you are running group policies you can just make that change and that's it.

 

[satchi]

Hello again, I can't seem to find that particular group policy on my Windows 2000 server. I did a quick search on that policy on Google and someone said the GPO is not up to date.

Anyone know where I could find the file to update it? thanks

 

[bcastner]

Group Policy, by default automatically updates the .ADM files in use on each Group Policy Object when it is accessed. To enable this occur, however, you must make the new .ADM files available on the your Domain Controller as follows:

. Copy all .ADM files from the WINNT/INF directory on a Windows XP machine to a file share on the network.

. From a Windows 2000 based computer, open a GPO in the Group-Policy console.

. Right click on Administrative templates and then select Add/Remote Templates.

. From the Add/Remove Templates window, remove the old Windows 2000 .ADM files and add the new Windows XP .ADM files.

You will need to repeat this for each of your Group Policy Objects (System, Inetres, WMPlayer and Conf -- All are .ADM files.

All of the new Group Policy settings will simply be ignored by older Windows 2000 clients, while at the same time, will function seamlessly on your new Windows XP systems.

 

[mwiner]

are you editing your Group Policies from a Windows XP machine? Because the latest ADM files are stored on the WinXP machine. If you edit the group policies from that machine it should update the ADMs automagically. Once they are updated then you should see the policy.

If you right click on Administrative Templates and go to Add/remove you should see the system.adm. The one for Windows XP should be somewhere around 1.3 meg, and the date should be 8/21/2002. Windows XP sp2 might newer.

If it is older then that, then it is still the Windows 2000 system.adm.

Like I said it should update automatically but if it doesn't you can do it manually.

 

[mwiner]

yeah... what he said. Thanks bill for better directions.

 

[satchi]

Ok, I see the group policy now after applying the XP's files. Seems to work fine now. I added two more computers to the test-network and they seem to update pretty well.

I also noticed right away the 'applying network connections' message upon booting up: good sign that it was working.

Thank you all again for the help. Now the next big thing, updating the real computers...hope no problems come from that.

satchi