Help with Group Policy Editor

[MichaelDOM2005]

Hello friends -

I'm having some issues with our network, and I'm hoping that someone here can help me. I know that I need to edit the Group Policy, and have done so, but my problems remain.

OUR NETWORK
Server: Microsft Windows 2000 Server
Clients: Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/ SP2

THE PROBLEM
What I'm trying to do is actually quite simple. I would like users to be able to access all features of the operating system. As it stands now, the user cannot do the following, and I'd like to give them the option:

1. The "Map Network Drive" option when you right-click on "My Computer" or "My Network Places" is not there at all.

2. Users cannot put a little shortcut bar on their start menus.

3. Users cannot change their desktop wallpaper.

4. When users have an open or search dialogue box, and they click on "My Computer", none of the mapped drives show up.

5. Hosts of other little things like this.

WHAT I'VE DONE
I know that the Group Policy controls a lot of this stuff, so I went in there and took a look at the settings, and all of these options were set to "not configured". To be sure that they weren't being enabled for some strange reason, I changed them to "disabled" to ensure that the option is available.

I've restarted the server a number of times, and when I log on as the domain administrator, I get SOME control of these options (like mapping a network drive), but some I can't get (like changing my wallpaper and changing the style of the start menu).

MY QUESTION
Is there a simple way to let clients have full access to their machines? I don't understand why the clients are not reading the Group Policy Options that have been set. Is there something I have to do with the users to enable them to do this?

Thanks for any help or insights you can give me,
Michael.

 

[markdmac]

You firstneed to determine if there are other plicies that are in affect. On your clients run GPRESULT to generate a report of the policies being applied and from there investigate.

Also, restarting the server after making a policy change has no affect, you need to restart the workstations for the policy update or you can force a policy to update by running GPUPDATE /FORCE.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[MichaelDOM2005]

Hi Mark -

Thanks very much for your reply. Your tip was just what I needed! I went into the Active Users and Directories and edited the Group Policy for the users container that was in the Active Directory, and that did the trick! I was trying to edit the default policy I think, and that's where I was going wrong.

Everything looks good now, and users have the options that they need.

Thanks Mark ... much appreciated!

Take care,
Michael.

 

[markdmac]

You don't want to mess with the Default Domain Policy. The only settings that should be changed in there are for password age, complexity & history. Anything else you need to do you should create your own policies.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark