Group Policies are an essential part of every Windows Client infrastructure and it’s therefore critical to regularly spend some effort to ensure that things are in a healthy state. I would define a healthy Group Policy infrastructure as following: All Group Policies are correctly synched across all domain controllers There are no unlinked Group Policies [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Group Policy category.
Group Policy Settings for Silverlight 4 – FIXED
On the Microsoft Silverlight website you will find a page that describes the available Group Policy Settings for Silverlight as well as the content for the ADMX and ADML file. But… it doesn’t work because the code on the web contains a bug and a section is missing. Within the silverlight.admx there is an unnecessary [...]
Group Policy Settings to control BITS Bandwidth usage
I just read the article BITS – More Flexible Bandwidth Limit Policies on the Windows Management Infrastructure Blog which describes how BITS bandwidth usage can be configured through Group Policy settings. For Windows 7 (or computers with BITS 3.5 installed) there are 2 Group Policies that provide more granular control of BITS bandwidth usage during [...]
ReadTip: Group Policy for Beginners
Microsoft has released a document called Group Policy for Beginners which provides an overview of what you can do with Group Policies, the essential concepts and some step by step instructions to get you going. If you haven’t done anything with GPOs before and are just about to learn how this all works, this document [...]
Group Policy Settings for Windows Games
In Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise the Windows Games are not enabled by default. But if you have decided to include them in your corporate standard image or users with administrative rights enable them by themselves, you should consider using the following Group Policy settings. Location Location Setting Description Computer Configuration Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Game Explorer [...]
GPO Settings for Microsoft Security Essentials
With the release of the latest version of Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 in December 2010, Microsoft also changed the licensing terms. Small Business. If you operate a small business, then you may install and use the software on up to ten (10) devices in your business. Now although 10 PCs isn’t a lot, some Administrators [...]
Microsoft Open Specifications Documentation for Group Policy
If you want to learn more about Group Policies then I suggest that you download and read the following documents: MS-GPSOD]: Group Policy System Overview Document http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/6/C/C6C3C6F1-E84A-44EF-82A9-49BD3AAD8F58/%5bMS-GPSOD%5d.pdf MS-GPOL]: Group Policy: Core Protocol Specification http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232478(v=PROT.13).aspx MS-GPDPC]: Group Policy: Deployed Printer Connections Extension http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232156(v=PROT.13).aspx MS-GPEF]: Group Policy: Encrypting File System Extension http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232218(PROT.10).aspx MS-GPFR]: Group Policy: Folder Redirection [...]
A Security Baseline Resource for Windows 7–Internet Explorer and Windows 7 Firewall
If you are looking for some ideas how to secure your Windows 7 clients, have a look at the USGCB (The United States Government Configuration Baseline). The USGCB has been developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The documentation looks impressive and even if you aren’t going [...]
Retrieve Group Policy size in SYSVOL folder with PowerShell
Needless to say that there are quite some benefits in using a central store for Group Policies, one of them is that you can prevent the so-called SYSVOL bloat. A good description of the SYSVOL bloat is described here. So how much size do my GPOs currently consume within the SYSVOL folder? I asked myself [...]
