The Life of Brian : Group Policy

Group Policy Fails on Import in GPMC

BrianM — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:02:00 GMT

I was working an issue where I couldn’t import Group Policy’s settings to a new policy from one environment to another using GPMC. The error message I got was the following: GPO: Test GPO V1.0...Failed The overall error was: The system cannot find...(read more)

Active Directory Domain Services Resources

BrianM — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:36:00 GMT

I pulled together a few links to help point people in the right direction on resources for AD in Windows Server 2008. You’ll find all kinds of goodies, from virtual labs to videos by some of your favorite public speakers and of course what I think...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 User Right Assignments - Defined

BrianM — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:15:00 GMT

If you haven’t noticed yet, Windows Server 2008 has several more User Right Assignments in the Local Policy settings. If you’re looking for a definition of one or all take a look below. These are the same settings that are found in Group Policy...(read more)

Group Policy Spreadsheet for Server 2008 and Vista SP1

BrianM — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:15:41 GMT

I've always loved these spreadsheets as they allow a quick and easy way to search for Group Policies. With Server 2008 live and Vista SP1 out Microsoft has updated their reference sheet to add all the new Group Policy settings. There are now over...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Reviewers Guide - Reviewed

BrianM — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:04:33 GMT

After spending a bit of time on Amazon I noticed that books, movies, and other random things you can buy all had customer reviews. I started to think, why don't white papers and technical documents have the same? Today I've decided to take action...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Component Posters

BrianM — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:41:00 GMT

Back in January of 2007 I posted that TechNet Magazine had a really cool poster that showed Active Directory as a Jigsaw puzzle. I noticed in my latest copy of TechNet Magazine that it included two new posters. One of them was another Active Directory...(read more)

Backing up and Restoring Group Policies

BrianM — Mon, 28 May 2007 16:01:26 GMT

If you need a little help learning how to backup and restore Group Policy take a look at this video I have showing how to do it. Backing up and Restoring Group Policies...(read more)

Windows Vista Group Policy Settings

BrianM — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 05:04:06 GMT

Microsoft has always had a great track record of detailing all of the Group Policy settings within their operating systems. They are keeping with that tradition and have released an update to their very popular Group Policy Spreadsheet . The update is...(read more)

Longhorn to add 700 New Group Policies

BrianM — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 04:38:00 GMT

When Windows Server Longhorn is released it will include 700 more Group Policy settings then Windows Server 2003 with SP1! I for one can't wait for Longhorn and just reading about all the new Group Policy settings gets me pumped up. Although it would...(read more)

TechNet's Active Directory Jigsaw

BrianM — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:23:00 GMT

At last year’s Tech-Ed TechNet Magazine gave away a really cool Active Directory Jigsaw puzzle. I just saw that it is now available online to download. I think it is a great resource for everyone who interacts with Active Directory to look at. Check out...(read more)

Two Group Policies to Stop Server Manager in Longhorn

BrianM — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 03:57:00 GMT

Although I really like what Microsoft has done with Server Manager in Windows Server Longhorn, it gets rather annoying having it pop up every time I log on. I'm sure there are easier ways to stop this but being a Directory Services MVP I thought it would...(read more)

Enable Remote Desktop Through a Script

BrianM — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:18:00 GMT

Being a huge Group Policy guy I have always searched for a policy that would allow me to turn on or off Remote Desktop on clients and servers. Well there is no Group Policy that currently does that. I do however have VB script that can be used to enable...(read more)

Group Policy Webcasts

BrianM — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 14:18:00 GMT

Here are some great webcasts for those looking to learn more about Group Policy. There are webcasts of all levels from low to high on all subjects related to Group Policy. Best yet...they are all free. On-demand Webcasts for Group Policy. TechNet Webcast...(read more)

Control Panel Applets

BrianM — Wed, 24 May 2006 21:41:00 GMT

I had an issue today where I had to lock down a server using a group policy. In this scenario I had to remove a lot of the Control Panel applets but not all of them. Hopefully this list will help you lock down your Control Panel as well. By the way, you could just search for *.CPL files and find all of them. This could be useful for future operating systems released by Microsoft.

access.cpl: Accessibility Properties
appwiz.cpl: Add/Remove Programs Properties
desk.cpl: Display Properties
hdwwiz.cpl: Add Hardware Wizard
inetcpl.cpl: Internet Explorer Properties
intl.cpl: Regional Settings Properties
joy.cpl: Joystick Properties
main.cpl: Mouse Properties
mmsys.cpl: Multimedia Properties
modem.cpl: Modems Properties
ncpa.cpl: Network Connections
powercfg.cpl: Power Options
sysdm.cpl: System Properties
timedate.cpl: Time/Date Properties

Disable USB Drives via Group Policy

BrianM — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 18:13:00 GMT

Windows Vista has a great new feature that will allow you to disable the use of external devices like USB drives, and/or CD/DVD drives.

Take a look at this walk-through to read up on how you can do it.

Controlling Office 2003 through Group Policy

BrianM — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 14:56:00 GMT

Most of you are probably aware that you can update the ADM files that come with the OS to get the latest and greatest policy settings from Microsoft. You may not already know that Office 2003 has a set of ADM files that you can load into Group Policy and now use those ADM files to configure Office settings on your client machines.

Download the ADM here.

Included in your download will be the following ADMs:

ADM File-------------Product
OFFICE11.ADM ----Microsoft Office 2003
ACCESS11.ADM ---Microsoft Office Access 2003
EXCEL11.ADM------Microsoft Office Excel 2003
FP11.ADM---------Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
GAL11.ADM-------Microsoft Clip Organizer
INF11.ADM--------Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003
ONENT11.ADM-----Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
OUTLK11.ADM------Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
PPT11.ADM----------Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
PUB11.ADM--------Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
WORD11.ADM-----Microsoft Office Word 2003

Realize that when you add these ADM files into your gpedit.msc you will literally add thousands of Group Policies based on Office 2003. These settings should give you the ability to configure just about anything you want within Office.