by Darren Mar-Elia | Sep 16, 2026 | General Stuff, Group Policy Management, Group Policy Preferences
Once you understand Group Policy storage and structure, the next step is to learn the distinction between Group Policy and Group Policy Preferences (GPP). At a high level, both mechanisms deliver configuration to Windows, but they operate very differently because of...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Jul 20, 2026 | Event Logs, General Stuff, Group Policy, Group Policy Management, Security Policy
Years ago, if you wanted to configure Windows Event Logs for things like maximum log size or retention behavior, you typically did that in Security Settings. Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft added a new Administrative Template that added new Administrative Template...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Apr 8, 2026 | Group Policy Management, Tips & Tricks
I have to say that after 25 years of messing around with Group Policy, I am constantly amazed by the new things I still learn about the technology and its behavior. Especially when those things are substantial and weird. Such was my recent experience when a colleague...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Mar 5, 2026 | Group Policy, Group Policy Blog, Group Policy Management, Tips & Tricks
If you’ve worked with Group Policy for any length of time, you’ve probably heard the term ‘registry tattooing’. The concept dates back to NT 4.0 System Policies, for those Windows veterans who remember it. Tattooing occurred when a registry-based policy...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Feb 16, 2026 | Group Policy, Group Policy Management, Tips & Tricks
Group Policy uses a complex, at times inconsistent, model to store configured settings in a Group Policy Object (GPO). This stems from the historical development of Group Policy. While a central team at Microsoft built the Group Policy infrastructure, individual...
by Darren Mar-Elia | Jan 15, 2026 | Group Policy, Group Policy Management, Group Policy Tools
Anyone who manages Group Policy (GP) knows about the gpupdate.exe utility that ships with Windows. GPUpdate’s job is to refresh Group Policy manually, rather than relying on Windows to do it on its own schedule. Specifically, it can be used to force the system to ask...
