Group Policy Blog by Darren Mar-Elia (The “GPOGUY”)
Detecting Group Policy Changes and Drift Using SDM Software’s Reporting Pak
In this video, SDM Software (www.sdmsoftware.com) CTO & Founder Darren Mar-Elia shows how you can use the GPO Reporting Pak--composed of GPO Compare and Exporter, to detect changes within a Group Policy environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E3xKBDzYXQ...
Come Visit SDM Software at TechEd North America!
I'm happy to announce that SDM Software will be exhibiting for the first time at TechEd North America, this coming June 3rd through the 6th in New Orleans! It should be easy to find us as we are going to be in Booth #2222! So if you are thinking about going to...
WARNING: Installing IE 10 on your Windows 7 Workstation Removes IE Maintenance Policy from Group Policy
Thanks to fellow Group Policy MVP Alan Burchill for warning about this--apparently if you install Internet Explorer 10 on your Windows 7 workstation, and you also happen to manage Group Policy from that machine, the IE 10 installation removes the option to edit IE...
Using GPUpdate /Sync to Your Benefit [VIDEO]
In a previous blog posting, I talked about the gpupdate command-line utility for forcing a GP refresh on a local system. I briefly mentioned the /sync parameter, which doesn't actually do a GP refresh at all, but instead, just marks the next foreground GP refresh...
Cool listing of PowerShell-based Group Policy Scripts
Just a quick note to share a great site that I stumbled upon today (not sure how I hadn't seen it sooner). It's a Microsoft TechNet site up on their Scripting Center, that lists a bunch of user-provided PowerShell scripts for managing Group Policy, including a very...
Group Policy Preferences and Environment Variables
One of the cool features within Group Policy Preferences, is the ability to use environment variables instead of static values, within any number of policy areas. For example, you can use the Files GP Preferences area to copy files from one location to another. In...
A Couple of Good Windows 8 Issues Around Group Policy
In recent days, I've become aware of a couple of interesting "features" around Group Policy in Windows 8. Both were reported by other users and I confirmed their behavior on my own. The first issue, which I would categorize as a bug, is the following. As you probably...
Group Policy Design Webinar this Wednesday!
Don't forget to register for our upcoming Group Policy design webinar this Wednesday, January 30th, at 9am Pacific Time (GMT-8). Details at the link below, but here is a quick synopsis: Title Optimizing Group Policy Design and Performance with SDM Software Description...
New Whitepaper on Group Policy Slow Boot/Slow Logon Reports
As I mentioned in a previous post, our new version of GPO Exporter 2.0 includes a set of free reports that help to identify GPOs and GPO designs that can impact desktop boot and logon performance. I also mentioned that we would be creating a whitepaper that explains...
GPO Exporter 2.0 Released!
Today I'm happy to announce that SDM Software has released our 2.0 version of GPO Exporter! I'm really excited about this release because I think it represents a new milestone in an organization's ability to get insight and add manageability to Group Policy as a...