XP Pro Group Policy Partially Working

[swm2win]

We are running a Windows 2000 Server and many of our clients are running Windows XP Pro. It seems that group policy objects set on the server are not all running correctly on the XP machines.

From the best I can tell, any policy that writes a registry key is working fine, but any policy that just sets a system preferance fails. For instance, blocking and hiding specific control panels works fine. Setting the home page and bookmarks in Internet Explorer fails.

The machines running Windows 2000 have all GPO's working perfectly.

Any idea what could be going wrong?

Thanks!

 

[intelwizrd]

This could be a problem with the ADM files you are using. There are some differences between XP and 2000. You may want to set another GPO for the XP machines and import updated ADM files from an XP machine. some of the new features will only work on XP hence the suggestion for a new GPO. The ADM files (administrative templates) can be found in (XP) C:\WINDOWS\inf\

Hope that helps.

----------------------------
Josh
CCNA, MCSE 2003(in progress)

 

[swm2win]

That's at least something to try and see if it works. Can you tell me where on the 2000 Server I save the new ADM files?

Thanks!

 

[intelwizrd]

Just put them in a temporary folder or you can put them in some directory that you can remember later. When you import them into the policy, it will save them into the policy folders for you (that way you could potentialy have a different ADM version on every policy if you wanted.)

Not sure if you are using it, but try this tool for the group policy editing, makes things easier to see what is set on the qpo's.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...24-8cbd-4b35-9272-dd3cbfc81887&DisplayLang=en

----------------------------
Josh
CCNA, MCSE 2003(in progress)

 

[markdmac]

While GPMC will work in a 2000 domain, it can not be installed on a 2000 Server.

If you install the AdminPak.MSI on an XP workstation which you will find in the servers Windows\System32 directory, and then open up your policies, the ADM files will automatically get updated without the need to copy files manually.

For troubleshooting your issue, at an XP machine open a command prompt and type GPRESULT. See what policies are getting applied.

You can force a policy update on your XP machiens by typing GPUPDATE /FORCE at a command prompt or run command.

Other things to look at:
Check the security settings on your GPO.
Are the XP and 2000 machines all in the same OU?
At what level in AD is the policy?

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[swm2win]

Okay, the above ideas didn't seem to make a difference. When I checked the GPRESULT window, it says that all policies were applied. However, just looking at what should have been set, it's wrong.

Any other ideas?

 

[markdmac]

You need to be more specific.

Did GPRESULT show that the policy in question was being applied but you don't see those settings taking place? Did GPRESULT show that the policy was not applied but was listed? Or did GPRESULT not know anything about the GPO?

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark