Windows 7 & Group Policy not Working ?

[mikerowsopht]

HI All,

I have an issue with Group Policy settings not being applied / not working on my windows 7 client.

The server I am pushing out Group Policy is Windows 2003 server and the client is Windows 7 32 bit Enterprise.

I think that because these OS's aren't part of the same family that Windows 7 isn't working correctly when I push out Group Policy settings from the windows 2003 server.

Basically I am trying to turn on a few simple settings such as :

Remove all icons from Start Menu - can do this

Remove Taskbar - can't do this

Remove all icons from desktop and run only 1 program on startup - this works but if I click on "Show Desktop" there are no icons however if I minimize the program that should be running I can see all icons on the desktop and access them as well as My Computer etc... etcc..

The Group Policy settings are fine ( I think ) but Windows 7 doesn't seem to like these settings from Windows 2003 server. I have been told / read somewhere that I might need some sort of ADM or ADMX files in order to get Windows 7 working correctly with 2003 server GPO.

What I am wondering is can anybody at all shed any light on what exactly I need to do in order to get the settings to be applied correctly so :

1) - Do I need these ADM / ADMX files ?? If yes where can I download them from and where do I install them, eg - the client or the server ?

2) - Any other insight or anything I've left out that you think may be of assistance to me that would be much appreciated.

Thanks ALL !!!

[Tripredacus]

It is possible that some of those GPOs that Server 2003 uses are deprecated in Windows 7.

You won't be able to use Windows 7's updated GPOs from a Server 2003 domain controller, as it is not forwards compatible.

It appears the interim method (before going to a Server 2008 DC) is to add a 2008 R2 or Win7 system into the domain and install RSAT on it.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/846e1ccb-c9ba-474f-81ee-7106be104d39

[Flip1001]

1. Backup your DCs and policies to be on the safe side.

2. Download and install the Administrative Templates (ADMX) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 on a Windows 7 SP1 or 2008 R2 computer.

3. The admx and adml template files will be installed at "%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Group Policy\win72008r2\PolicyDefinitions" on your Win7 SP1 computer. Copy the PolicyDefinitions folder to "%WINDIR%\SYSVOL\domain\Policies\PolicyDefinitions" on the DC.

4. Install the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

You will from now on manage the group policies from your Win7 SP1 computer.

If you open the GPMC on the 2003 server it won't know about the ADMX files. If you open the GPMC on a 2008 server (not R2), you will see some error messages popup, because the admx files are a newer format than what 2008 knows about.

Look at this article for more info Supporting Windows 7 Group Policy Settings with Windows Server 2003 Domain Controllers

[justintjacob]

Are you tried GPRESULT whether policy is applied to client computer ? some times policy not applied to client machine ever if type gpupdate force .our company is also facing this type of problem after changing some modification in GPO client is not updating and got solved by using the following method

you can use PsExec a sysinternal tool to update group policy to single remote computer or to all domain computers,download the PsExec ,the syntax is follows

PsExec \\Computer command argument

for eg

psexec \\computer1 gpupdate /force

if you want to update all computers in a domain

psexec \\* gpupdate /force