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# Posts

* [Microsoft, Group Policy and Open Source](/posts/microsoft-group-policy-and-open-source.md) - So, what do these three topics in the title have in common? Some might read that and think, "well, nothing". But indeed its not the case. Microsoft has kicked an open source project and one of the first tools to…
* [TechEd notes](/posts/teched-notes.md) - Well, I'm back from TechEd and settling back into the work groove. If you weren't there, well I'm here to tell you that TechEd is one BIG show. I heard numbers of people ranging from 12,000 to 13,000. The Orlando…
* [WPA2 policy support in XP](/posts/wpa2-policy-support-in-xp.md) - This topic came up on a newsgroup the other day, prompting me to look around a bit. Basically, MS added support for the newer WPA2 encryption protocol for wireless networks in XP, SP2. This KB article describes the Wireless Client update…
* [GP Troubleshooting Webinars](/posts/gp-troubleshooting-webinars.md) - We're going to be giving weekly Group Policy Troubleshooting webinars, starting next Wednesday, July 25th. In the webinars, I'll discuss best practices for GP Troubleshooting and then finish off with a demo of SDM Software's GPExpert Troubleshooting Pack. We're going to…
* [GPExpert Scripting Toolkit Released!](/posts/gpexpert-scripting-toolkit-released.md) - Well, today we announced the release of v.1 of the GPExpert Scripting Toolkit for PowerShell. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is the culmination of something I've talked about doing for a long time--programmatic access into Group Policy…
* [interesting script-based config. tool going open source](/posts/interesting-script-based-config-tool-going-open-source.md) - In the vein of interesting desktop configuration management tools, the company that created the product ScriptStart, Entrigue Systems, announced that it is going to be open sourcing a version of their logon script based desktop configuration tool. While this is not a…
* [GPExpert Scripting Toolkit in Action](/posts/gpexpert-scripting-toolkit-in-action.md) - Just a quick note that if you want to see the GPExpert Scripting Toolkit (GPST) in action, cruise on over to Adam Bell's blog. Adam's been evaluating the Toolkit and has posted some sample PowerShell commands showing how you can use…
* [Understanding RSOP](/posts/understanding-rsop.md) - A question that appeared on the newsgroups today prompted me to blog about Group Policy Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) and its capabilities. RSOP was first introduced in Windows XP as a way of letting administrators find out what happened…
* [Microsoft releases Group Policy Best Practices Analyzer tool](/posts/microsoft-releases-group-policy-best-practices-analyzer-tool.md) - Microsoft has publicly released their Group Policy Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) tool. This tool is designed to collect GP-related data from remote nodes and provide you with some ideas of things to be concerned about as it relates to Group…
* [GPMC not part of Vista, SP1](/posts/gpmc-not-part-of-vista-sp1.md) - In case you hadn't seen it, an article came out last week on Betanews that talked about the fact that MS will be removing GPMC (Group Policy Management Console) from Vista when SP1 ships. This story was blogged heavily, although I have…
* [Survey on future of Group Policy](/posts/survey-on-future-of-group-policy.md) - Here's your chance to contribute some input to the future of Group Policy! The Microsoft Group Policy product team asked me to post this. They need input in the next two weeks so if you're so inclined, have at it! The Microsoft…
* [Group Policy Talks at NetPro’s DEC 2008!](/posts/group-policy-talks-at-netpros-dec-2008.md) - For those of you who have been to NetPro's DEC conference, you know that this is just about the best AD and MS Identity Management conference there is. Well, Group Policy is not left out at this year's upcomfing DEC…
* [Free GUI tool for Server 2008 fine-grained password management](/posts/free-gui-tool-for-server-2008-fine-grained-password-management.md) - As you may have heard, Microsoft is finally providing the ability to have fine-grained password policies within a single AD domain. That means you can now have different password policies for different user groups within AD. This feature is described…
* [more on the removal of GPMC from Vista, SP1](/posts/more-on-the-removal-of-gpmc-from-vista-sp1.md) - I've received a number of comments and have seen a number of blog postings subsequent to my blog posting about this topic. One of the reasons I mentioned that it was probably not a good idea to have GPMC on every…
* [The Minasi Forum Meeting](/posts/the-minasi-forum-meeting.md) - Many of you probably know who Mark Minasi is. Mark's been writing and speaking on Windows for a very long time. Mark is a good friend as well and a really good guy. He maintains a very active Forum, on which…
* [More on registry tattooing–an interesting scenario](/posts/more-on-registry-tattooing-an-interesting-scenario.md) - In my previous post I talked about security policy and its tattooing ways. But how about a scenario where a policy should not have tattooed, and did? That was the situation when I got an email from someone about a…
* [MS makes Office 2007 ADMXs available (finally)](/posts/ms-makes-office-2007-admxs-available-finally.md) - Microsoft has finally shipped some ADMX template files for configuring Office 2007! They are available here. That's good news--now you can use the new template format to customize Office 2007 deployments in your Vista environments without dragging around ADM files…
* [Article about PowerShell, GP and the GPExpert Scripting Toolkit](/posts/article-about-powershell-gp-and-the-gpexpert-scripting-toolkit.md) - Jeff Hicks, scripting-guy extraordinaire at scripting solutions vendor Sapien, wrote a nice article on the Redmond Magazine website about scripting Group Policy with PowerShell. He specifically talks about our free GPOGUY PowerShell cmdlets and how you can use them to perform…
* [Significant Group Policy Announcement by MS](/posts/significant-group-policy-announcement-by-ms.md) - Yesterday at TechEd in Barcelona, Microsoft made a slew of announcements. And buried in those announcements was the note about Group Policy Preferences. This is the name Microsoft has given to the DesktopStandard PolicyMaker extensions that they acquired last year. The…
* [SDM Software GPMC cmdlets updated](/posts/sdm-software-gpmc-cmdlets-updated.md) - Well, I suppose I couldn't help myself. I had planned on updating our cmdlets released last week to correct an omission that Richard Siddaway had kindly pointed out, namely that I didn't have a remove-sdmgplink to go along with add-sdmgplink. So…
* [PowerShell Script for Backing up and editing a GPO](/posts/powershell-script-for-backing-up-and-editing-a-gpo.md) - This is the 2nd in an irregular series of discussions about using SDM Software PowerShell cmdlets for managing Group Policy. In this post, I've written a fairly simple PowerShell script that uses two of our free GPMC cmdlets to first backup…
* [The Clash of the GPO Links](/posts/the-clash-of-the-gpo-links.md) - Someone emailed a question to the GPOGUY GPTalk mailing list today that I thought was worth chatting about. The question pertained to disappearing Group Policy links. Namely, he had a situation where links to GPOs would periodically disappear from Active Directory…
* [Bypassing Group Policy?](/posts/bypassing-group-policy.md) - A while back, Mark Russinovich (the pre-Microsoft Mark Russinovich!) had blogged about being able to circumvent some Group Policy using a DLL injection method that intercepted calls to the registry keys used by policy. He created a tool at the…
* [Some Holiday Reading…](/posts/some-holiday-reading.md) - If you were looking for something to do this holiday season with all that spare time, January's issue of TechNet Magazine has no less then 3 articles devoted to Group Policy, including an article I wrote on optimizng Group Policy…
* [Group Policy Performance and Security Policy](/posts/group-policy-performance-and-security-policy.md) - If you haven't already seen it, check out my article in this month's TechNet Magazine on "Optimizing Group Policy Performance". The article goes into fair bit of detail about things you can do (or not do) to ensure that GP…
* [PowerShell Group Policy Remote Refresh](/posts/powershell-group-policy-remote-refresh.md) - Well, if you've read my blog at all, you know that there are two technology areas that are especially interesting to me--Group Policy and PowerShell. Once again, I've brought the two together in the form of a new freeware cmdlet…
* [Webinar on Group Policy for Mac](/posts/webinar-on-group-policy-for-mac.md) - Just an FYI that the guys over at Centrify are hosting a webinar to talk about their Group Policy implementation for non-Windows systems, including Linux/Unix and the Mac. Fellow GP MVP Jeremy Moskowitz is providing color commentary as well so it should…
* [Got Group Policy Problems?](/posts/got-group-policy-problems.md) - Every once in a while I like to mention that we have a great resource for asking questions and getting answers related to Group Policy. As you may know if you've read my blog for a while, I started the…
* [Update to GPMC Cmdlets!](/posts/update-to-gpmc-cmdlets.md) - Well, we've updated our free SDM Software GPMC PowerShell cmdlets (registration optional)! We are now up to 16 cmdlets! Cool. Here's what we've added:Added the –DomainName parameter to all cmdlets as appropriate to allow you to perform operations against domains other…
* [More GP Q&A Resources](/posts/more-gp-qa-resources.md) - Well, in addition to my earlier blog post about resources for getting Group Policy help, Microsoft has fired up a new TechNet GP 2008 Forum. Check it out!  Tags:Group Policy, TechNet
* [Group Policy Preference CSEs Now Available for Download!](/posts/group-policy-preference-cses-now-available-for-download.md) - One of the members on our GPTalk mailing list just informed me that the Client Side Extension (CSE) packages for the new Group Policy Preference product are now available on the Microsoft download site. These are the installs that allow…
* [Going to DEC 2008? See you there!](/posts/going-to-dec-2008-see-you-there.md) - NetPro is hosting their annual Directory Experts Conference next week in Chicago. If you haven't been to this show, its a great place to mean all the giant brains in the Active Directory world and learn some cool things about…
* [A couple of new PowerShell links](/posts/a-couple-of-new-powershell-links.md) - Today, my inbox was greeted with a couple of new links for those of you looking at and working with PowerShell. The first is a pretty cool e-workbook on getting started with PowerShell, written by Frank Koch of Microsoft Switzerland.…
* [Managing Group Policy Preferences](/posts/managing-group-policy-preferences.md) - With the release of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft made the previously mentioned Group Policy Preferences feature available to all XP, 2003, Vista and 2008 users. This is a great thing, as I've said, but there has definitely been some confusion…
* [New Free Tool for Getting to Least Privileged Use](/posts/new-free-tool-for-getting-to-least-privileged-use.md) - The guys over at BeyondTrust have come out with a cool new (and free) tool for helping folks get to "least privileged use" (i.e., users are not admins on their workstations) on Windows more quickly. This product is a nice compliment…
* [Good article on 3rd-party GP Tools](/posts/good-article-on-3rd-party-gp-tools.md) - Windows IT Pro Magazine has a good article this month on 3rd-party Group Policy tools. It goes over the challenges of Group Policy management and then talks about some of the various solutions in the space. I got a few…
* [SDM Software at TechMentor-San Francisco](/posts/sdm-software-at-techmentor-san-francisco.md) - Just a quick note to let folks know that SDM Software will be exhibiting at the upcoming TechMentor San Francisco show, March 30th to April 3rd. We're excited to have a booth at this show as it will be our…
* [RSAT Tools Now Available for Vista, SP1!!!!](/posts/rsat-tools-now-available-for-vista-sp1.md) - Well, I think this qualifies as a "Yee-Haw" moment. Finally, you can now get the RSAT tools for Vista, SP1 (with GPMC!) at https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9FF6E897-23CE-4A36-B7FC-D52065DE9960&displaylang=en Tags:Group Policy, RSAT
* [GPMC report errors related to IE Maintenance](/posts/gpmc-report-errors-related-to-ie-maintenance.md) - There been a long-standing issue, ever since IE 7 was introduced, related to GPMC and the use of IE Maintenance Policy. Specifically, if you defined zone security in IE Maintenance policy from a machine running IE 7, and then tried to view a settings…
* [Launching the new GP Management Editor from the command-line](/posts/launching-the-new-gp-management-editor-from-the-command-line.md) - If you've installed the new Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Vista, SP1, you will notice some subtle changes in the Group Policy Editor. Namely, if you type gpedit.msc like you used to in the pre-RSAT days, you will still…
* [SDM Software announces the release of Desktop Policy Manager!](/posts/sdm-software-announces-the-release-of-desktop-policy-manager.md) - Well, today we announced the release of a product I've mentioned in previous blog posts--the GPExpert Desktop Policy Manager. I'm very excited about this product because it is the first product that really seeks to address the complexity of managing…
* [Desktop Policy Manager press coverage](/posts/desktop-policy-manager-press-coverage.md) - Since we introduced the GPExpert Desktop Policy Manager last week, there's been some nice press coverage, including this article from Windows IT Pro, and this one from Network World. I'm very excited about this product. As someone said to me…
* [It’s Not All About Group Policy…](/posts/its-not-all-about-group-policy.md) - Well, its a been a bit of time since my last blog post and this being the 1st of May, I thought I would take the opportunity to write a new entry. The last few weeks have been busy. As…
* [Group Policy Delegation](/posts/group-policy-delegation.md) - The other day I got a question about one of our free GPMC PowerShell cmdlets--namely, the Add-SDMgpoSecurity that lets you modify GPO security. One of the permissions that you can grant using the cmdlet is the GPO creation permission--which controls…
* [“Securing Windows Desktops with Group Policy” Webinar](/posts/securing-windows-desktops-with-group-policy-webinar.md) - Hey folks. I just wanted to let you all know that I will be giving a webinar about using Group Policy to create secure desktop configurations next week. The webinar is all about looking at the technology within Group Policy related to…
* [XMLLite and Group Policy Preferences](/posts/xmllite-and-group-policy-preferences.md) - I have heard a lot of questions about the need to install the pre-requisite XMLLite package on XP and Server 2003 prior to installing the Group Policy Preferences Client Side Extensions to those versions of Windows. The fact is that XMLLite…
* [PowerShell hits the morgue](/posts/powershell-hits-the-morgue.md) - Well, despite the morbid title, this is not about dead things. Well, not quite.  And amazingly its not about Group Policy either. In my ever increasing thirst for PowerShell knowledge, I thought I would experiment a bit with some Active Directory-based…
* [PowerShell Script to leverage AD Tombstone cmdlets](/posts/powershell-script-to-leverage-ad-tombstone-cmdlets.md) - Well, Active Directory MVP and well-known speaker Guido Grillenmeier from HP has taken my AD tombstone reanimation cmdlets and fashioned a very cool PowerShell script that uses the cmdlets and the new AD snapshot mounting feature in Server 2008 to…
* [Whitepaper on Group Policy Management using PowerShell](/posts/whitepaper-on-group-policy-management-using-powershell.md) - I created a whitepaper a while back that describes how you can use SDM Software's free GPMC cmdlets along with our commercial GPExpert(tm) Scripting Toolkit product to automate Group Policy management using PowerShell. That whitepaper, entitled "Automating Group Policy Management" is…
* [Scripting/SysAdmin Meme](/posts/scriptingsysadmin-meme.md) -  I noticed that Jeff Hicks called me out on his blog for the Scripting/SysAdmin Meme, so I figured I would follow through with the chain and answer the questions here:How old were you when you started using computers?I was about…
* [GP Change Auditing](/posts/gp-change-auditing.md) - The folks at NetWrix have just announced their newest product--Group Policy Change Reporter. The product comes in both a freeware and commercial version and can provide detailed change reporting on who made changes to GPOs, what settings were changed and when.…
* [Enjoying Vista? Sure, why not.](/posts/enjoying-vista-sure-why-not.md) - I suppose the din of Vista haters has been increasing lately to the point where I've actually noticed it. Lastw week, I read a blog post from my good buddy Jackson Shaw, who expressed his frustrations over Vista and IE7.…
* [Power Management in XP](/posts/power-management-in-xp.md) - [et_pb_section admin_label="section"] [et_pb_row admin_label="row"] [et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"]I frequently find that a lot of folks have not yet discovered all of the cool new Group Policy management features that Group Policy Preferences brings to Windows. As a result, I thought it…
* [Good article on Group Policy & Security Compliance](/posts/good-article-on-group-policy-security-compliance.md) - I thought this Information Week article did a good job of articulating the challenges of security compliance on Windows, and the use of Group Policy as the first line of defense here. Most folks have been using GP to lockdown…
* [Group Policy Troubleshooting Posts](/posts/group-policy-troubleshooting-posts.md) - Starting today, I'll be guest blogging at https://www.realtime-windowsserver.com/ on Group Policy troubleshooting. I'm doing a series of blog items on the steps that you can go through to successfully troubleshoot Group Policy. Check it out! Tags:Group Policy Troubleshooting
* [Quest acquires Netpro](/posts/quest-acquires-netpro.md) - For those who haven't seen the news, it was just announced this morning: https://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080912/20080912005372.html?.v=1 Our little part of the world just got a little smaller and the folks who brought you DEC are now part of a much larger company. If I may…
* [Group Policy Troubleshooting Series](/posts/group-policy-troubleshooting-series.md) - Last week I did a series of GP Troubleshooting blog entries for the folks at Realtime Publishers. I posted 4 blog entries that walk through, step-by-step, the process I typically use when helping someone troubleshoot a GP problem. Many of…
* [Podcast Interview on ConcentratedTech Blog](/posts/podcast-interview-on-concentratedtech-blog.md) - I just did an interview yesterday for MVPs Don Jones and Greg Shield's ConcentratedTech Podcast. You can check it out at https://concentratedtech.com/content/index.php/2008/10/episode-3/. In the interview, I talked about Microsoft's release of the new version of AGPM and provided some updates…
* [New/Updated Group Policy Products from SpecOps](/posts/newupdated-group-policy-products-from-specops.md) - My friends at SpecOps are getting ready to release one updated and one new product that continues to make Group Policy a more powerful solution for managing Windows desktops and servers. They are getting ready to release an update to their…
* [SpecOps GPUpdate 2.0 Ships](/posts/specops-gpupdate-2-0-ships.md) - Just a quick update to my previous blog posting to let you all know that the 2.0 version of GPUpdate has shipped from SpecOps:https://www.specopssoft.com/products/specopsgpupdate/Tags:SpecOps, GPUpdate
* [MVP for Another Year…](/posts/mvp-for-another-year.md) - Well, I received the always welcome email yesterday indicating that my Group Policy MVP status has been renewed. Its an honor to receive this status, though I have to admit that it was touch and go as yesterday dragged on…
* [Demystifying Loopback Processing in Group Policy](/posts/please-explain-loopback-processing.md) - Discover how to apply consistent user policies to specific computers like Terminal Servers and kiosks, regardless of who logs on
* [Intro to Win 7 GP PowerShell Cmdlets](/posts/intro-to-win-7-gp-powershell-cmdlets.md) - I previously blogged about how Microsoft is going to deliver some PowerShell cmdlets in Windows 7 for Group Policy. Now that Windows 7 beta is out, information is starting to flow about what these will look like. A recent blog…
* [Group Policy Preferences and the Registry](/posts/group-policy-preferences-and-the-registry.md) - So, the other day I was trading some email with a friend and mentioned that I was working on a nifty little utility to allow someone to import the contents of a .reg file into Group Policy Preferences registry extensions…
* [Automating GP Preferences](/posts/automating-gp-preferences.md) - In a recent posting on the Activedir.org mailing list, I happened to mention that we're getting ready to release v. 2.0 of our GPExpert(r) Scripting Toolkit. The Toolkit is actually getting a new name, but I won't spoil the surprise…
* [GPMC Cmdlets Update](/posts/gpmc-cmdlets-update.md) - Just a quick shout-out to let folks know that I posted an update to our SDM Software GPMC Cmdlets on our freeware page. This is version 1.3 and primarily just fixes some bugs including an issue when you tried to…
* [SDM Software Ships new Group Policy Automation Engine](/posts/sdm-software-ships-new-group-policy-automation-engine.md) - As I mentioned in a previous post, SDM Software was close to shipping the next version of our GPExpert Scripting Toolkit product, and that has happened! Today we announced the release of the GPExpert(r) Group Policy Automation Engine 2.0. This newly…
* [SBS 2008 Group Policy Webinar for Microsoft Partners!](/posts/sbs-2008-group-policy-webinar-for-microsoft-partners.md) - Just a quick note to let those of you who are Microsoft partners know that I'm going to be giving a webinar on using Group Policy in Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 on April 24th. Here's the info on the webinar…
* [Going to MMS?](/posts/going-to-mms.md) - If you're planning on being at the Microsoft Management Summit next week, I'll be presenting a Group Policy Troubleshooting session there on Wednesday morning. Stop by and say hi or attend the session or the Birds of a Feather I'll…
* [Russinovich demos Group Policy cmdlets at TechEd](/posts/russinovich-demos-group-policy-cmdlets-at-teched.md) - I thought this was cool: https://blogs.technet.com/grouppolicy/archive/2009/05/12/group-policy-at-tech-ed-2009-mark-russinovich-demos-group-policy-powershell-cmdlets.aspxMark demo'd Microsoft's upcoming Group Policy PowerShell cmdlets that will ship with Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. I think its cool primarily because it validates the work we have done at SDM Software over…
* [ActiveX Killbits and Group Policy](/posts/activex-killbits-and-group-policy.md) - Recently, Microsoft announced a zero-day vulnerability in IE's ActiveX video control, that required folks to react quickly to prevent exploits of this vulnerability. One of the possible routes for preventing this was to disable the affected ActiveX control in IE using…
* [Win7 issue reporting on Software Restriction Policies](/posts/win7-issue-reporting-on-software-restriction-policies.md) - I found this issue recently--at first I thought it was just my environment, but have confirmed it on a couple of different environments. When you are on a Win 7 box (and probably R2 as well), in GPMC and viewing…
* [Group Policy Automation Engine wins Editor’s Choice Gold!](/posts/group-policy-automation-engine-wins-editors-choice-gold.md) - Well, I was very surprised and happy to receive an IM from a colleague this morning, directing me to https://windowsitpro.com/Windows/Articles/ArticleID/102984/pg/2/2.html, where I read that our SDM Software Group Policy Automation Engine won GOLD as Best Active Directory and Group Policy…
* [The Minasi Conference](/posts/the-minasi-conference.md) - 5th Annual Minasi Conference coming soon!
* [GPMC Backups from Downlevel Systems](/posts/gpmc-backups-from-downlevel-systems.md) - I had a question recently that I thought was worth blogging. The question was, "if I create a GPO using Windows 7, Server 2008 or similar newer platform", then backup that GPO using XP or Server 2003, will it back…
* [Why Win32_Product is Bad News!](/posts/why-win32_product-is-bad-news.md) - This entry isn't strictly related to Group Policy, but something I came across in that context a few days ago. There is a WMI class called Win32_Product. Querying this class lets you enumerate all installed MSI applications on a given system.…
* [MS Releases Hotfix for Software Restriction Policy Reporting Bug](/posts/ms-releases-hotfix-for-software-restriction-policy-reporting-bug.md) - Thanks to reader Ryan Steele for bringing my attention to the fact that MS has released a hotfix to resolve the GPMC reporting bug that was introduced when Win7 and Server 2008, R2 shipped. I had documented this bug in…
* [Controlling shares on Windows systems](/posts/controlling-shares-on-windows-systems.md) - remove Windows shares easily using Group Policy Preferences
* [Using GP Preferences to protect against the zero-day shortcut vulnerability](/posts/using-gp-preferences-to-protect-against-the-zero-day-shortcut-vulnerability.md) - Microsoft recently announced a new security vulnerability in Windows shortcuts that affects all versions of Windows since XP! Its references here: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2286198. This particular vulnerability takes advantage of the icon that appears in shortcut (.lnk and .pif) files on Windows.…
* [VDI Skepticism](/posts/vdi-skepticism.md) - In a bit of a departure from my normal Group Policy banter, I wanted to talk a little bit about VDI, or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Like most things around virtualization, there's a ton of hype about the promise of virtualizing…
* [Cmdlet Wins a Prize!](/posts/cmdlet-wins-a-prize.md) - Well, I just blogged about a little GP PowerShell cmdlet that I wrote recently to retrieve GPO information. I also mentioned that I created a Quest PowerGUI snap-in for it. Well it turns out Quest has a weekly drawing for the…
* [Office 2007 & GPSI, revisited](/posts/office-2007-gpsi-revisited.md) - While there hasn't been much in the way of updates since my previous blog entry on the challenges of deploying Office 2007, one thing has happened, and that is that MS has re-published their previously yanked article on how to…
* [GPExpert Health Reporter 1.5 Ships!](/posts/gpexpert-health-reporter-1-5-ships.md) - Well, SDM Software has shipped the update to the popular GPExpert Health Reporter tool. This tool provides some great troubleshooting features for ensuring Group Policy is healthy on a given Windows system. The tool now supports installation on Windows Vista…
* [A better way to deploy Office 2007 with Group Policy?](/posts/a-better-way-to-deploy-office-2007-with-group-policy.md) - Since I've been blogging fairly regularly about the problems using GP to deploy Office 2007, and in fact even wrote about it in this month's Windows IT Pro Magazine, it was no surprise that I heard recently from my good…
* [Netpro’s DEC Conference](/posts/netpros-dec-conference.md) - I had an opportuntiy to attend this week's Directory Expert's Conference, put on by Netpro. I'm told that this year's conference was the biggest ever, at nearly 800 people. If you go to only one AD related conference in a year,…
* [Desktop Optimization Pack with GPOVault ships](/posts/desktop-optimization-pack-with-gpovault-ships.md) - I read today that Microsoft has shipped the updated Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance customers that includes the DesktopStandard GPOVault product, which MS is calling "Advanced Group Policy Management". For those who don't know, GPOVault is a Group Policy…
* [SDM GPExpert Troubleshooting Pak Ships!](/posts/sdm-gpexpert-troubleshooting-pak-ships.md) - Well, after a lot of hard work and late nights, we just shipped the GPExpert Troubleshooting Pak 1.0 last night. This is a significant milestone for the company as its our first suite of products for troubleshooting Group Policy. The…
* [SDM Software to visit TechEd](/posts/sdm-software-to-visit-teched.md) - In addition to shipping the Troubleshooting Pak, we will be at the upcoming Microsoft TechEd show in Orlando this next week. If you are at the show, stop by and see us at our partner Special Operations Software's booth #914!
* [The Virtues and Vices of GPO Deny ACEs](/posts/the-virtues-and-vices-of-gpo-deny-aces.md) - Someone asked me recently what I thought of using Deny ACEs on GPOs for security group filtering. First, a little background. As you probably know, you can control which users and computers will process a particular GPO by using security…
* [Group Policy Tip of the Day Tweets!](/posts/group-policy-tip-of-the-day-tweets.md) - If you aren't already following my twitter feed (@grouppolicyguy) then here's a new reason to do so. I'm posting quick Group Policy "Tips of the Day" on Twitter, for as long as I can think of them :-). Check them…
* [Performing Bulk GPO Renames](/posts/performing-bulk-gpo-renames.md) - Someone recently asked about the best way to perform bulk GPO renames. Of course, there are probably many reasons why you would want to do this (e.g. moving to a standard naming convention, cleaning up mis-named GPOs, etc.) but for…
* [iPads in the Enterprise—running Windows](/posts/ipads-in-the-enterprise-running-windows.md) - Saw this site put up by Citrix today--www.ipadsatwork.com. I thought it was an interesting approach--pitching iPads in the enterprise by making the iPad a glorified dumb terminal, via the Citrix Receiver, for accessing your Windows desktop and apps. While I…
* [Getting Group Policy Counts with PowerShell](/posts/getting-group-policy-counts-with-powershell.md) - Sometimes you want to know how many GPOs you have in a domain. Powershell provides a way to do this quickly and easily. Earlier today I tweeted about the way to do this in Windows 7 or Server 2008-R2, using the…
* [Got Group Policy Questions or Problems? Join me for a Q&A](/posts/got-group-policy-questions-or-problems-join-me-for-a-qa.md) - Just a quick reminder to let folks know that I'll be on the Talk Technet Episode tomrrow (Mar-30) morning at 9am (GMT-8) to take questions on Group Policy. Hope you can join me! Register here: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032477762&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US Thanks Darren
* [Visit me at TechEd North America](/posts/visit-me-at-teched-north-america.md) - If you're going to be at TechEd North America next week, stop by and say hello. I'll be manning the Microsoft Windows 7 & MDOP booth on Tue morning and then presenting on Group Policy and VDI on Thursday afternoon.…
* [Retrieving GPO Links with PowerShell](/posts/retrieving-gpo-links-with-powershell.md) - Sometimes I'm reminded that, even though Microsoft has been shipping their Group Policy PowerShell module for a while now, it is missing some key functionality. Fortunately, it took someone else asking me a question about how they could script something in…
* [Re-ordering Group Policy Client Side Extensions](/posts/re-ordering-group-policy-client-side-extensions.md) - Recently a fellow Group Policy MVP asked about whether it was possible to control the order of Client-Side Extension (CSE) processing in Group Policy. The CSEs are the DLLs that do the real work of policy processing in GP. They…
* [WMI Filter Test Utility Updated to Include timings](/posts/wmi-filter-test-utility-updated-to-include-timiings.md) - Just a quick note before the weekend starts to let folks know I updated the GPOGUY.COM WMI Filter Test Utility to include timing information (see below). Specifically, this lets you see how long a given WMI filter took to evaluate…
* [GPO Exporter Demonstration [Video]](/posts/group-policy-management-gpo-exporter-demo.md) - In this video, Darren Mar-Elia, SDM Software's CTO and Founder, demonstrates the SDM Software GPO Exporter product, a tool that quickly and easily document your Group Policy Environment. Whether you are trying to discover an existing environment, find overlapping or…
* [GPO Compare Demonstration](/posts/sdm-software-gpo-compare-demo-group-policy-tool.md) - In this video, Darren Mar-Elia, SDM Software's CTO and Founder, demonstrates the SDM Software GPO Compare product, a tool for being able to perform actions such as comparing group policy objects across your Windows enterprise network and creating reports about…
* [Mastering GPUpdate: Best Practices for Group Policy Refresh](/posts/understanding-the-group-policy-gpupdate-command.md) - A practical guide to using gpupdate to refresh Group Policy settings in Windows, with examples, switches, and troubleshooting tips
* [Group Policy: Policy vs. Preferences — what does it all mean?](/posts/group-policy-policy-vs-preferences-what-does-it-all-mean.md) - I recently had a good conversation with a fellow Group Policy MVP about the difference between policies and preferences (i.e. Group Policy Preferences). He asserted that with preferences, the "user can work around the settings (generally.)". This got me thinking…
* [SDM GPMC Cmdlets Updated to Support PowerShell v.2](/posts/sdm-gpmc-cmdlets-updated-to-support-powershell-v-2.md) - When we created our GPMC PowerShell cmdlets in 2008, they made it easy to get at GPMC functionality within PowerShell v1. When Microsoft shipped Windows 7/2008-R2, they also provided their own set of GPMC-related cmdlets within their GroupPolicy module. At the…
* [Good Guide to Group Policy ADMX Files Provided by Microsoft](/posts/good-guide-to-group-policy-admx-files-provided-by-microsoft.md) - Someone at Microsoft was kind enough to put together a nice list of all the various ADMX files that Microsoft product groups provide for extending Administrative Templates within Group Policy. Bravo for him doing this work: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4976.aspx   Enjoy!  …
* [Leveraging Group Policy Preferences Item-Level Targeting from “Downlevel” Group Policy](/posts/leveraging-group-policy-preferences-item-level-targeting-from-downlevel-group-policy.md) - Recently I've had some conversations with folks that related to their irritation that "legacy" Group Policy settings such as Admin. Templates, Security Settings, Software Installation, etc. could not benefit from the fine-grained "Item-Level-Targeting" (ILT) feature that is available with Group…
* [The Dichotomy of the “Cloud”](/posts/the-dichotomy-of-the-cloud.md) - I spent the last two days at Cloud Expo in Santa Clara, sitting in on sessions and talking to vendors that produce solutions in this space. As a backdrop to this, I've spent a fair bit of time over the…
* [Comparing GPOs to a Baseline Using GPO Compare](/posts/comparing-gpos-to-a-baseline-using-gpo-compare.md) - One of the cool things about our GPO Compare product is it's support for PowerShell. The product ships with a PowerShell cmdlet called Compare-SDMGPO that lets you compare live and backed-up GPOs--just like the GUI. We can use this capability to…
* [Digging Into Group Policy WMI Filters and Managing them through PowerShell](/posts/digging-into-group-policy-wmi-filters-and-managing-them-through-powershell.md) - [et_pb_section admin_label="section"] [et_pb_row admin_label="row"] [et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"]WMI Filters have been available as a mechanism for filtering the effects of Group Policy Objects (GPOs) since Server 2003 & XP shipped. They are a valuable tool in your Group Policy Management arsenal. As the…
* [Have a Group Policy New Year from SDM Software!!](/posts/have-a-group-policy-new-year-from-sdm-software.md) - Well, 2011 is almost over, and it's a been a great year for SDM Software. We achieved record revenue results this year--smashing last year's total by over 300%-- and have over 150 customers to thank for our continued success. This is…
* [GPO Compare 2.5 (New) Demo | Group Policy Management [Video]](/posts/gpo-compare-2-5-new-demo-group-policy-management-video.md) - Today we released an updated version of our widely used GPO Compare product. The 2.5 release brings some cool new features and improvements over 2.0, including: Ability to now compare up to 4 GPOs or GPO backups, for comparing GPOs…
* [New Group Policy Freeware Utility Finds GPOs with Deny ACE](/posts/new-group-policy-freeware-utility-finds-gpos-with-deny-ace.md) - One of the challenges of the GPMC's reporting is that it is not easy to find GPOs that have had Deny ACEs (Access Control Entries) set on their delegation. Deny ACEs are typically used to deny a particular user, computer…
* [Automating Group Policy Preferences Drive Mapping with PowerShell [VIDEO]](/posts/automating-group-policy-preferences-drive-mapping-with-powershell-vide.md) - One of the cool things I like about our Group Policy Automation Engine product is the scenarios that it's open up by providing what is essentially an automation portal into GPOs. One of those key scenarios is the ability to…
* [Come Visit SDM Software at the Microsoft Management Summit!](/posts/come-visit-sdm-software-at-the-microsoft-management-summit.md) - SDM Software will be exhibiting at this year's upcoming Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) on April 16-19th in Las Vegas! If you're attending MMS or are thinking about it, come on by our booth (#129) on the exhibit floor Monday-Thursday. We'll be…
* [Group Policy Consolidation and Optimization just got a lot easier! GPO Exporter 1.5 Ships!](/posts/group-policy-consolidation-and-optimization-just-got-a-lot-easier-gpo-exporter-1-5-ships.md) - I'm proud to announce that today we released GPO Exporter 1.5. This new release represents a huge step up in the arsenal of tools for analyzing and optimizing Group Policy deployments. I can't tell you how many IT folks come to…
* [Group Policy Health PowerShell Cmdlet Updated!](/posts/group-policy-health-powershell-cmdlet-updated.md) - Just a quick note that I finally got around to updating our freeware Group Policy Health Cmdlet to add module support for PowerShell v2. Hopefully this makes the cmdlet more discoverable for those of you using it in PowerShell v2…
* [The Word on the Street–Group Policy Cleanup and Consolidation](/posts/the-word-on-the-street-group-policy-cleanup-and-consolidation.md) - We're here at MMS 2012 in Las Vegas this week (see a picture of our booth attached to this post!) talking to customers about their Group Policy needs. A couple of interesting themes emerged. One is kind of humorous. More often than…
* [The Many Faces of Windows Configuration Management](/posts/the-many-faces-of-windows-configuration-management.md) - I was reading Paul Thurrott's most recent column on the Windows IT Pro Magazine website today. The column ostensibly talked about naming of features and products in Windows 8, but at the bottom, was this interesting tidbit, "Blurring the lines…
* [Using Group Policy to Manage the Internet Explorer Popup Blocker Allow List](/posts/using-group-policy-to-manage-the-internet-explorer-popup-blocker-allow-list.md) - A recent thread on the GPOGUY.COM GPTalk Mailing list prompted me to write about managing IE settings using Group Policy. In an article I wrote for Windows IT Pro Magazine in 2011, I talked about the various technologies in Group Policy…
* [Changes to GroupPolicy RSOP in Windows 8](/posts/changes-to-grouppolicy-rsop-in-windows-8.md) - While much is changing in Windows 8, the changes related to Group Policy are more modest. One of these modest changes is in the Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) functionality, exposed through the Group Policy Results Wizard in GPMC. This…
* [New Video on Combating GroupPolicy Sprawl Using GPO Exporter](/posts/new-video-on-combating-grouppolicy-sprawl-using-gpo-exporter.md) - This video describes the concept of "GPO Sprawl", how it impacts you and how you can help clean up your Group Policy environment using GPO Exporter 1.5.
* [Where Are My Group Policy Settings?](/posts/where-are-my-group-policy-settings.md) - One of the challenges any reasonable-sized IT shop has around Group Policy is the need to be able to find and discover all the settings that have been deployed. Something as simple as searching for one or more settings across…
* [SDM Software at #MSTECHED 2012!](/posts/sdm-software-at-msteched-2012.md) - All- If you're headed to MS TechEd next week in Orlando, SDM Software will be there in spirit. We won't have a booth there, but I'm speaking on Monday at 3pm on "Best Practices for Group Policy Design". In addition,…
* [Best Practices for GroupPolicy Design Talk from TechEd](/posts/best-practices-for-grouppolicy-design-talk-from-teched.md) - Well, TechEd was great as usual--lots of Win8 info sloshing around as well as Azure everywhere, including the recent announcement that Microsoft will be offering "Infrastructure-as-a-Service" (IaaS) instances in Azure now, ala Amazon EC2. It will be interesting to see…
* [The Effect of Synchronous CSEs on GroupPolicy and Windows Performance](/posts/the-effect-of-synchronous-cses-on-grouppolicy-and-windows-performance.md) - At the recent TechEd North America talk I gave, entitled, "Best Practices for Group Policy Design with Performance and Security in Mind", one of the areas I covered was the impact of Client Side Extensions (CSEs) that only run during…
* [Interesting Change to Group Policy in Server 2012/Windows 8](/posts/interesting-change-to-group-policy-in-server-2012windows-8.md) - Fellow Group Policy MVP Alan Burchill brought this topic up on our GP MVP mailing list and I had to look into it. He pointed out that in the release candidate for Server 2012/Windows 8, the IE Maintenance Policy node can…
* [Group Policy Automation Engine Wins an Award!](/posts/group-policy-automation-engine-wins-and-award.md) - Today we here at SDM Software were notified that our Group Policy Automation Engine product won the WindowSecurity.com Readers' Choice Award -- 2nd runner up for Group Policy Management products! This goes along with this product's 2009 Windows IT Pro Editor's…
* [Microsoft Guidance on IE Maintenance GroupPolicy Removal in Windows 8](/posts/microsoft-guidance-on-ie-maintenance-grouppolicy-removal-in-windows-8.md) - As I blogged a few days back, Microsoft has deprecated (or removed) IE Maintenance Policy in Windows 8/Server 2012. And while I think this is a generally good thing, some folks may be wondering how they're going to configure IE…
* [The Return of Group Policy Health Reporter!](/posts/the-return-of-group-policy-health-reporter.md) - Way back in 2006 when I started SDM Software as THE Group Policy solutions company, our first product release was a little GUI utility called GP Health Reporter. We stopped selling it a few years back but I decided to…
* [Detecting Group Policy Settings Drift Using GPO Exporter [VIDEO]](/posts/detecting-group-policy-settings-drift-using-gpo-exporter-video.md) - This week we'll be releasing an minor update to our GPO Exporter product. One of the cool things that we're adding to this release is the ability to generate GPO settings snapshots using PowerShell. The GUI version of the product…
* [Detecting Group Policy Changes and Drift Using SDM Software’s Reporting Pak](/posts/detecting-group-policy-changes-and-drift-using-sdm-softwares-reporting-pak.md) - 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 Video Transcript: Detecting Group Policy Changes…
* [GPO Exporter 1.6 Ships!](/posts/gpo-exporter-1-6-ships.md) - It's often the case in software that there's more stuff that you want to do in a product than you have time for in a given release. That was the case with our recent release of GPO Exporter -- 1.6.…
* [Best Practices for Group Policy Design Talk — Slides Posted](/posts/best-practices-for-group-policy-design-talk-slides-posted.md) - Last Tuesday, I gave a talk locally in San Francisco at the Pacific IT Pros monthly meeting, on "Best Practices for Group Policy Design". It was largely based on the talk I gave at TechEd 2012 this past June, related…
* [Managing Group Policy in a Windows 8 World](/posts/managing-group-policy-in-a-windows-8-world.md) - Now that Windows 8 is out (or almost out), the inevitable questions will arise about introducing it into your Group Policy Management world. As with previous versions of Windows, the approach with Windows 8 (and Server 2012) will be similar.…
* [Windows 8 Group Policy Settings: Blocking Connected Accounts](/posts/windows-8-group-policy-settings-blocking-connected-accounts.md) - Whenever a new Windows OS ships, there's always the inevitable period of discovery--especially for us Group Policy geeks--where we learn about all the new settings that come in GP, and how or whether we can control new OS features using Group…
* [Vote for SDM Software’s Group Policy Products!](/posts/vote-for-sdm-softwares-group-policy-products.md) - Windows IT Pro Magazine is holding their annual Community Choice Awards for IT products. SDM Software has three products nominated this year, as follows: Best Active Directory & Group Policy Product SDM Software GPO Reporting Pak SDM Software Group Policy…
* [Cleaning Group Policy When Removing a Machine from the Domain](/posts/cleaning-group-policy-when-removing-a-machine-from-the-domain.md) - A recent thread on Mark Minasi's forum site reminded me of a topic that comes up every once in a while--namely, how do you cleanly remove Group Policy settings from a machine that has been removed from an AD domain. The…
* [New Version of SDM Software GPO Compare Ships!](/posts/new-version-of-sdm-software-gpo-compare-ships.md) - Just wanted to drop a quick note to let folks know that we just shipped version 2.6 of GPO Compare! This is an incremental update but it includes some key new features, including support in our GPO Compare PowerShell cmdlet for…
* [Finding Empty Group Policy Objects](/posts/finding-empty-group-policy-objects.md) - It's often the case in larger Group Policy environments, that over time you collect so many GPOs, that you no longer know what all of them do or what's contained within them. If you're in the process of trying to…
* [Interesting “Bug” in GroupPolicy Folder Redirection results in lost data](/posts/interesting-bug-in-grouppolicy-folder-redirection-results-in-lost-data.md) - One of the members of my gptalk mailing list posted this very informative email today regarding some issues he encountered with Folder Redirection. I figured it was worthwhile to re-post it here for everyone's benefit. Hope everyone finds it useful!…
* [New Article Posted on “Best Practices for Group Policy Design”](/posts/new-article-posted-on-best-practices-for-group-policy-design.md) - Describes best practices for Windows Group Policy Design
* [Windows RT and Group Policy — Or Not](/posts/windows-rt-and-group-policy-or-not.md) - As you've probably heard, Microsoft new Windows RT (ARM-based) platform will be shipping soon (Microsoft's own Surface will be the first incarnation of this), along with Windows 8 itself. And while I think Windows 8 will be a good touch…
* [Join Group Policy MVP Darren Mar-Elia for Weekly Webinars on the GPO Reporting Pak](/posts/join-group-policy-mvp-darren-mar-elia-for-weekly-webinars-on-the-gpo-reporting-pak.md) - Here at SDM Software, we're all about Group Policy, and enabling our customers to get more out of this great technology. To that end, we're starting a weekly webinar series where you can listen to me talk about and demo…
* [GPMC PowerShell Cmdlets Updated!](/posts/gpmc-powershell-cmdlets-updated.md) - Thanks to a thread on our GPOGUY.COM GPTalk Mailing list, I decided it was time to crack open our GPMC PowerShell module and make a couple of updates. The most significant of these is two new cmdlets: Get-SDMGPOOwner Set-SDMGPOOwner As…
* [What’s New in Group Policy in Server 2012](/posts/whats-new-in-group-policy-in-server-2012.md) - Hi Folks. Just a quick note to let you know that I just posted a little article on the Microsoft MSDN blog site with a review of the big changes for Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 (and Windows 8).…
* [The Group Policy Client Service in Windows 8](/posts/the-group-policy-client-service-in-windows-8.md) - I saw a thread on the Microsoft TechNet forums yesterday that prompted me to write a quick post about this behavior change for the Group Policy client service in Windows 8. In order to live in a world of new…
* [Retrieve Group Policy Processing Times Remotely](/posts/retrieve-group-policy-processing-times-remotely.md) - freeware group policy tools
* [Doing Remote GP Updates Against OUs Using PowerShell in Windows 8](/posts/doing-remote-gp-refreshes-using-powershell-in-windows-8.md) - A couple of weeks ago I wrote this post on the MSDN site, reviewing some of the new Group Policy features in Windows 8/Server 2012. One of those features was a new PowerShell cmdlet in the Group Policy PowerShell module called…
* [Gaining Insight Into Group Policy And Desktop Performance](/posts/gaining-insight-into-group-policy-and-desktop-performance.md) - If you've followed my blog postings and articles recently, you know that I've been speaking and writing on decisions that you can make in your Group Policy design that impact GP processing performance, and often, perceived desktop performance by the…
* [Expensive Group Policy Preferences Item-Level Targeting](/posts/expensive-group-policy-preferences-item-level-targeting.md) - In my previous blog post, I wrote about some new reporting we'll be providing in version 2.0 of our GPO Exporter product. One of the reports in that new version identifies GPOs that contain "expensive" Group Policy Preferences Item-Level Targeting…
* [Configuring Event Logs with Group Policy and Intune](/posts/configuring-event-logs-with-group-policy.md) - Explore how to manage Windows Event Logs with Group Policy and Intune, including configuration methods, policy precedence, and best practices
* [Happy New Year from SDM Software!](/posts/happy-new-year-from-sdm-software.md) - Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I am hard pressed to understand how another year has come and gone. Here at SDM, we have been non-stop busy delivering awesome new Group Policy Management Tools to you, our customers. 2012…
* [My TechNet Radio Interview on Group Policy in Server 2012 (and more!)](/posts/my-technet-radio-interview-on-group-policy-in-server-2012-and-more.md) - Just a quick note to let folks know that the interview I gave with TechNet Radio about the changes for Group Policy in Server 2012/Windows 8 is up now at: https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/TechNet+Radio/TechNet-Radio-STB-News-Bytes-Whats-New-for-Group-Policy-in-Windows-Server-2012 In the interview, I talk to Microsoft Director Karen…
* [GPO Exporter 2.0 Released!](/posts/gpo-exporter-2-0-released.md) - 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…
* [Register for our Group Policy Design Webinar on January 30th– Two Group Policy MVPs Presenting about Group Policy!](/posts/register-for-our-group-policy-design-webinar-on-january-30th-two-group-policy-mvps-presenting-about-group-policy.md) - I'm happy to announce that on January 30th at 9am Pacific Time (GMT-8), SDM Software will be presenting a webinar entitled, "Optimizing Group Policy Design and Performance with SDM Software". In this webinar, fellow Group Policy MVP Derek Melber and myself…
* [New Whitepaper on Group Policy Slow Boot/Slow Logon Reports](/posts/new-whitepaper-on-group-policy-slow-bootslow-logon-reports.md) - 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…
* [Group Policy Design Webinar this Wednesday!](/posts/group-policy-design-webinar-this-wednesday.md) - 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…
* [A Couple of Good Windows 8 Issues Around Group Policy](/posts/a-couple-of-good-windows-8-issues-around-group-policy.md) - 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…
* [Group Policy Preferences and Environment Variables](/posts/group-policy-preferences-and-environment-variables.md) - 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…
* [Cool listing of PowerShell-based Group Policy Scripts](/posts/cool-listing-of-powershell-based-group-policy-scripts.md) - 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…
* [Using GPUpdate /Sync to Your Benefit [VIDEO]](/posts/using-gpupdate-sync-to-your-benefit-video.md) - 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…
* [WARNING: Installing IE 10 on your Windows 7 Workstation Removes IE Maintenance Policy from Group Policy](/posts/warning-installing-ie-10-on-your-windows-7-workstation-removes-ie-maintenance-policy-from-group-policy.md) - 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…
* [Come Visit SDM Software at TechEd North America!](/posts/come-visit-sdm-software-at-teched-north-america.md) -   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…
* [Getting Group Policy Help on GPOGUY.COM](/posts/getting-group-policy-help-on-gpoguy-com.md) -         A couple of months ago, we upgraded our partner site--https://gpoguy.com-- to a new look and feel. We also converted the venerable GPTalk Listserv-based mailing list, with over 1000 subscribers, to the new GPOGUY GPTalk Forum. While…
* [Evaluating OU Membership Using WMI Filters](/posts/evaluating-ou-membership-using-wmi-filters.md) - Learn how to use WMI filters to evaluate OU membership for GPOs. Discover the RSOP_Session class technique for faster Group Policy targeting.
* [My Private Cloud Success Tips From TechDays San Francisco](/posts/my-private-cloud-success-tips-from-techdays-san-francisco.md) - Today I had the pleasure of presenting at the TechDays conference in San Francisco. I presented on a topic other than Group Policy! And it was fun. I gave a talk entitled, "10 Tips for Success with Private Cloud", based…
* [Join Me on the Powerscripting Podcast!](/posts/join-me-on-the-powerscripting-podcast.md) - This coming Thursday night, May 9th, I'll be interviewed live on the PowerScripting Podcast, hosted by PowerShell gurus Hal Rottenberg and Jonathan Walz. Tune in at 9:30PM Eastern Daylight Time to catch the live show, or catch the recorded version…
* [Slow Boot/Slow Logon, Group Policy and SDM Software](/posts/slow-bootslow-logon-group-policy-and-sdm-software.md) - Just a quick note to let folks know that, in case you missed it, the Group Policy product team at Microsoft posted a nice blog entry discussing Group Policy design decisions that can impact Windows boot and logon times. And, most…
* [Group Policy at TechEd 2013](/posts/group-policy-at-teched-2013.md) - Hi folks. Just a quick note about next week's Microsoft TechEd North America conference in New Orleans. If you plan to be at the show and are looking for Group Policy sessions, you will be surprised, as I was, to…
* [Desired State Configuration in Windows 8.1 and Group Policy](/posts/desired-state-configuration-in-windows-8-1-and-group-policy.md) - On Monday, here at TechEd North America, Microsoft took the wraps off of some new technology that will be shipping when Windows 8.1 is released later this year. I had had a preview of this technology a few weeks ago…
* [Group Policy Change Auditing and Attestation from SDM Software](/posts/group-policy-change-auditing-and-attestation-from-sdm-software.md) - A couple of weeks ago at Microsoft's TechEd North America conference, we (SDM Software) exhibited at the Tech Expo there, showing off both our existing products, like GPO Exporter and GPO Compare, as well as our brand-new offering: Group Policy…
* [Group Policy Attestation and tackling GPO bloat](/posts/group-policy-attestation-and-tackling-gpo-bloat.md) - We released a new product last month called Group Policy Auditing & Attestation (GPAA), which provides Group Policy change auditing, rollback, and a cool feature called "GPO Attestation". If you work for a company that is regulated by one of…
* [Understanding Group Policy Caching in Windows 8.1](/posts/understanding-group-policy-caching-in-windows-8-1.md) - The other day I tweeted about an article posted on the Microsoft TechNet site, that gave a brief overview of the new Group Policy features coming in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012, R2. One of the items mentioned in the article, albeit…
* [An In-Depth Walkthrough of Desired State Configuration in PowerShell Windows Management Framework v4](/posts/an-in-depth-walkthrough-of-desired-state-configuration-in-powershell-windows-management-framework-v4.md) - A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my first experiences with the new Desired State Configuration (DSC) feature that is part of Windows Server 2012-R2 and Windows 8.1 Preview (and will also be available for Windows 8/2012 and Windows…
* [Group Policy vs. Desired State Configuration vs. …](/posts/group-policy-vs-desired-state-configuration-vs.md) - If you haven't read my most recent post on Desired State Configuration (DSC)--the new feature coming with the Windows Management Framework v4 (i.e. PowerShell v4, which will ship in the box in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012-R2) then I…
* [SDM Software Founder Darren Mar-Elia Giving Group Policy Webinar — July 24th](/posts/sdm-software-founder-darren-mar-elia-giving-group-policy-webinar-july-24th.md) - Next Wednesday, July 24th, SDM Software CTO & Founder Darren Mar-Elia will be giving a webinar entitled, "Achieve Better Group Policy Lifecycle Management with SDM Software", where he'll discuss and demo our new Group Policy Auditing & Attestation product. Here's…
* [GPO Compare 2.8 Ships!](/posts/gpo-compare-2-8-ships.md) - Hi folks. Just wanted to drop a quick posting to let folks know that last week, we shipped a minor update to our popular GPO Compare product--version 2.8! This new version included some big and little things to help make…
* [Vote for GPO Reporting Pak for Windows IT Pro’s Community Choice Awards!](/posts/vote-for-gpo-reporting-pak-for-windows-it-pros-community-choice-awards.md) - All- Just a quick note to encourage you to vote for our GPO Reporting Pak-- which combines the GPO Compare and GPO Exporter products--in the category of "Best Active Directory/Group Policy product" for Windows IT Pro Magazine's Community Choice Awards.…
* [Consolidating & Cleaning Up Group Policy — Best Practices](/posts/consolidating-cleaning-up-group-policy-best-practices-a.md) - A fair bit of what we do here at SDM Software is helping folks get a handle on their Group Policy environments. Using products such as our GPO Reporting Pak, we've had lots of customers clean up and reduce the…
* [Converting Group Policy Settings to Desired State Configuration Documents](/posts/converting-group-policy-settings-to-desired-state-configuration-documents.md) - If you've been following my blog, you know I've become a big fan of the new Desired State Configuration feature in Windows Management Framework 4 (i.e. PowerShell 4). It makes configuring Windows Servers a snap and provides a whole new…
* [Getting Control of Group Policy with SDM Software and GPO Exporter](/posts/getting-control-of-group-policy-with-sdm-software-and-gpo-exporter.md) - Folks- I've been wanting to record a video for a while now, where I talk about some specific examples of how our GPO Exporter product can really help customers get a handle on their Group Policy environments. In this new…
* [More on Group Policy Caching in Windows 8.1](/posts/clarifying-group-policy-caching-in-windows-8-1.md) - A while back I wrote a post describing the new Group Policy caching feature in Windows 8.1. As I mentioned in the post, this feature was designed to speed up GP processing when "synchronous" foreground policy processing was occurring. Synchronous foreground processing,…
* [Renaming GPOs with PowerShell](/posts/renaming-gpos-with-powershell.md) - Recently, as part of one of our Group Policy consulting engagements, we recommended to a customer to adopt a consistent GPO naming standard. This kind of standard makes the function and purpose of a GPO more clear and eases discovery…
* [Group Policy Settings Reference Available for Windows 8.1](/posts/group-policy-settings-reference-available-for-windows-8-1.md) - Hey Folks- Just a quick note to let you know that Microsoft just released their settings spreadsheet for Admin Template settings available in Windows 8.1 and Server 2012-R2. This handy Excel doc lets you search for available Admin Template and…
* [GP Preferences for Internet Explorer 11](/posts/gp-preferences-for-internet-explorer-11.md) - [animate animation="fadeIn" delay="0" duration="2s" iterations="1"][/animate] With IE 11 now generally available for Windows 7 and newer versions, the obvious question is, how do I manage IE 11 configuration using Group Policy? Of course, now that IE Maintenance Policy has been…
* [Warning!!!–Group Policy Logon Scripts Delays in Windows 8.1](/posts/warning-group-policy-logon-scripts-delays-in-windows-8-1.md) - Last month, I wrote an article on the Petri.co.il website, reviewing the new features around Group Policy in Windows 8.1. Buried in that list of new stuff was a feature that was perhaps a little unheralded and under-advertised, but one that…
* [Script Group Policy Changes With The New Version of Group Policy Automation Engine!](/posts/new-version-of-group-policy-automation-engine-ships.md) - Script Group Policy Changes with Powershell
* [Understanding Group Policy Change Auditing](/posts/understanding-group-policy-change-auditing.md) - Understanding the basics of Group Policy Change Auditing--what is available natively.
* [Locating Those Nasty Passwords in Group Policy Preferences Using PowerShell](/posts/getting-rid-of-passwords-in-group-policy-preferences.md) - Passwords in Group Policy Preferences are stored insecurely. This article shows how you can find them in your GPOs
* [Override the Group Policy ADMX Central Store](/posts/override-the-group-policy-admx-central-store.md) - Describes a hotfix for Windows 8 that allows you to temporarily bypass using the ADMX Central Store during Group Policy editing
* [Group Policy Cleanup and GPO Exporter](/posts/new-options-group-policy-cleanup-gpo-exporter.md) - Group Policy Cleanup using PowerShell and SDM Software's GPO Exporter
* [Circumventing IE Proxy Policy with…Charms!](/posts/circumventing-ie-proxy-policy-charms.md) - This article shows how Windows Charms menus can circumvent your IE proxy policy.
* [Get Your Group Policy Questions Answered by the “GPOGUY”!](/posts/get-group-policy-questions-answered-gpoguy.md) - Get your Group Policy questions answered by Group Policy expert Darren Mar-Elia
* [The New GPOGUY.COM Portal Coming to SDMSoftware.com](/posts/new-gpoguy-com-portal-coming-sdmsoftware-com.md) - GPOGUY.COM is joining forces with SDM Software!
* [Migrating from IE Maintenance Home Page Policy Using PowerShell](/posts/migrating-ie-maintenance-policy-using-powershell.md) - Migrating IE Maintenance settings into other Group Policy areas is a snap with GPO Exporter and the Group Policy Automation Engine (and PowerShell)
* [Anything New in Group Policy for Windows 8.1 Update One?](/posts/anything-new-group-policy-windows-8-1-update.md) - This article describes the changes to Group Policy found in Windows 8.1 Update 1
* [Ready to Share your Feedback on Group Policy?](/posts/ready-share-feedback-group-policy.md) - Take a survey about Microsoft Group Policy
* [Using Group Policy & PowerShell to Mitigate Recent Internet Explorer Vulnerability](/posts/using-group-policy-mitigate-recent-internet-explorer-vulnerability.md) - This article describes how you can use Group Policy and SDM Software's PowerShell tools to enable Internet Explorer vulnerability workarounds
* [Group Policy Preferences Passwords Bite the Dust!](/posts/group-policy-preferences-passwords-bite-dust.md) - Group Policy Preferences Password hotfix
* [Finding Group Policy Differences Between OUs](/posts/finding-group-policy-differences-ous.md) - Finding Group Policy Differences between OUs using SDM Software GPO Reporting Pak
* [Delegate Group Policy Update in Windows 8.x](/posts/delegate-group-policy-update-windows-8-x.md) - This article describes how you can delegate Group Policy Update function in GPMC in Windows 8.x
* [Group Policy Attestation Explained](/posts/group-policy-attestation-explained.md) - This post contains a video describing SDM Software's Group Policy Auditing & Attestation product and in particular, explain Group Policy Attestation
* [Group Policy Auditing & Attestation 1.1](/posts/group-policy-auditing-attestation-1-1.md) - Group Policy Auditing & Attestation (GPAA) provides new features to automatically assign ownership to newly created GPOs
* [SDM Software Group Policy Products Now Available to Government GSA Customers](/posts/sdm-software-now-available-gsa-customers.md) - SDM Software, the leader in Group Policy Management, announces its products are available via GSA Schedule.
* [Deploying Desired State Configuration through Group Policy](/posts/deploying-desired-state-configuration-group-policy.md) - Using Group Policy to deploy Desired State Configuration Documents
* [Folder Redirection–To the Cloud (Storage)!](/posts/folder-redirection-cloud.md) - This article describes using folder redirection features in cloud storage environments
* [Searching Group Policy Settings](/posts/search-group-policy-settings.md) - Describes how you can use SDM Software's GPO Exporter PowerShell cmdlet to search for Group Policy Settings in your environment.
* [Are We Moving Towards a “Post-AD” World?](/posts/moving-post-ad-world.md) - This article explores whether Active Directory may soon become a thing of the past--no longer needed in today's cloud and mobile world
* [Optimizing Group Policy WMI Filters](/posts/optimizing-group-policy-wmi-filters.md) - Learn how to optimize and improve performance of your WMI filters.
* [PowerShell and WMI Webinar This Friday!](/posts/powershell-wmi-webinar-friday.md) - Hi Folks- Just wanted to drop a quite note to let everyone know that myself (Darren Mar-Elia) and Kevin Sullivan (@kevsully67), Director of Sales Engineering at SpecOps Software are doing a webinar on PowerShell and WMI. If you've always wanted…
* [Controlling Windows Search in Windows 10 (and Windows 8)](/posts/controlling-windows-search-windows-10-windows-8.md) - This article shows how you can control Windows Search behavior in Windows 8 or Windows 10, using Group Policy
* [Group Policy Best Practices Play-by-Play at Pluralsight](/posts/group-policy-best-practices-play-play-pluralsight.md) - A Pluralsight video talking about Group Policy Best Practices with the GPOGUY
* [Group Policy Compliance Manager has arrived!](/posts/group-policy-compliance-manager-arrived.md) - Group Policy Compliance Manager answers the question, "Are my Windows desktops and servers receiving Group Policy?"
* [Group Policy Loopback Everywhere?](/posts/group-policy-loopback-everywhere.md) - Describes the ups and downs of Group Policy loopback processing enabled on every desktop
* [Auditing Group Policy Security Settings with Group Policy Compliance Manager](/posts/auditing-group-policy-security-settings-group-policy-compliance-manager.md) - A video showing how you can use Group Policy Compliance Manager to test for security setting compliance on Windows systems
* [How Much Group Policy Lockdown is Too Much Lockdown?](/posts/much-group-policy-lockdown-much-lockdown.md) - This article describes best practices for applying Group Policy lockdown, discussing when it's too much and the good vs. bad lockdown policies
* [Understanding the JASBUG Vulnerability and Group Policy](/posts/understanding-jasbug-vulnerability-group-policy.md) - A description of the JASBUG vulnerability and how to implement mitigations
* [Group Policy Training Course Now Available!](/posts/group-policy-training-course-now-available.md) - Announcing a Group Policy Training course from Group Policy expert--the "GPOGUY"--Darren Mar-Elia
* [Group Policy And PowerShell–The “Unholy Alliance”](/posts/group-policy-and-powershell-the-unholy-alliance.md) - Describes a presentation by Darren Mar-Elia on using PowerShell to manage Group Policy
* [SDM Software and the “GPOGUY” at Microsoft Ignite](/posts/sdm-software-and-the-gpoguy-at-microsoft-ignite.md) - Hi Folks- Just a quick heads up--there's a lot going on in the next two weeks in Microsoft-land. This week is the developer-oriented Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, where a lot of new announcements are expected. Following close on…
* [Group Policy Session at Microsoft Ignite Conference](/posts/group-policy-session-at-microsoft-ignite-conference.md) - Hi folks I wanted to drop a quick note to remind those of you at Microsoft Ignite conference here in Chicago, that I'll be presented a Group Policy session in about 45 minutes (9am local time) with fellow MVP Jeremy Moskowitz,…
* [Desired State Configuration and Group Policy Come Together!](/posts/desired-state-configuration-and-group-policy-come-together.md) - Announcing a new Group Policy extension to allow you to deploy PowerShell Desired State Configuration
* [“Secure by Default” and Hardening Your Windows Configurations](/posts/secure-by-default-and-hardening-your-windows-configurations.md) - This article talks about using Group Policy security filtering to secure sensitive configurations on Windows
* [Ghosts in the GPO Machine–Local Security Policy Changes on DCs](/posts/ghosts-in-the-gpo-machine-local-security-policy-changes-on-dcs.md) - Describes a scenario where changes to local security policy on a DC are written back up to domain GPOs
* [Longtime Expert Microsoft Technologist Kevin Sullivan Joins SDM Software](/posts/longtime-expert-microsoft-technologist-kevin-sullivan-joins-sdm-software.md) - All- I'm super excited to announce today that longtime friend, colleague and all around superstar in the Microsoft technology space, Kevin Sullivan, is joining SDM Software today as Vice President of Product Management and Business Development. Kevin was most recently…
* [Hello World!](/posts/hello-world.md) - Darren posted a very thoughtful item related to my joining SDM software. It was very nice and made me realize I have a lot of expectations to meet! I'm up for the challenge. I've known Darren Mar-Elia for about 13…
* [Group Policy Preferences in the Local GPO? Yes!](/posts/group-policy-preferences-in-the-local-gpo-yes.md) - Describes a way to implement Group Policy Preferences in the Local GPO
* [Group Policy Auditing & Attestation 2.0 Hits with new AD Group Attestation Feature](/posts/group-policy-auditing-attestation-2-0-hits-with-new-ad-group-attestation-feature.md) - Active Directory Group Attestation in SDM Software's Group Policy Auditing & Attestation Product
* [Group Policy Comment](/posts/group-policy-comment.md) - Do you place 'comments' on your GPOs? Did you ever wonder how to manage these, or how they may be useful. I put up a quick post on my blog (https://scituated.blogspot.com) that walks through GP Comments and how to manage…
* [Remediating Group Policy Preference Passwords](/posts/remediating-group-policy-preference-passwords.md) - Describes a new tool from SDM Software for remediating and removing Group Policy Preference password entries
* [Video on Group Policy Preference Password Remediation](/posts/video-on-group-policy-preference-password-remediation.md) - Provides a link to a video walkthrough of GP Preference passwords and their removal
* [Spiceworld 2015 – Austin, TX!](/posts/spiceworld-2015-austin-tx.md) - Use PowerShell to better manage Group Policy and Active Directory. Learn more at Spiceworld.
* [Troubleshooting GP Processing tip](/posts/troubleshooting-gp-processing-tip.md) - Troubleshooting is a bit of an art form. It requires creativity but that creativity needs to be expressed inside certain parameters. Those parameters depend on what is being troubleshot. (Is that really a word?) There is a TechNet article that…
* [A Peek Inside Registry.pol](/posts/a-peek-inside-registry-pol.md) - Hello everyone! I posted a quick video on polviewer.exe. The tool called 'Registry.pol Reader' is a free tool Darren Mar-Elia built to solve a pretty important issue. And because he's a great guy, there is that! The need for the tool…
* [DevOps and the Cross Platform Windows Group Policy SDK](/posts/devops-and-the-cross-platform-windows-group-policy-sdk.md) - SDM Software adds support for Dell Authentication Services Linux Group Policy Settings modification via PowerShell-based GPAE product
* [Move Azure VM from One Subnet to Another](/posts/move-azure-vm-from-one-subnet-to-another.md) - I was needing to test something on an unpatched 2008 R2 box and in my Azure lab the subnet that machine was pointed to was all full up! So, how to fix it? Of course PowerShell to the rescue. I…
* [Helping with a SQL CE challenge using Here-Strings](/posts/helping-with-a-sql-ce-challenge-using-here-strings.md) - While working through a challenge I stumbled through a few interesting items that are worth jotting down. I've used both of these constructs before but I had to re-search for some assistance. This created the realization that I need the…
* [Azure AD Domain Services](/posts/azure-ad-domain-services.md) - Darren Mar-Elia was kind enough to take some time to walk through and share his thoughts on the Azure AD Domain Services. Microsoft recently released a preview and Darren jumped right in there picking it apart and helping us make…
* [Administrative Template files for Office 2016 Now Available](/posts/administrative-template-files-for-office-2016-now-available.md) - Microsoft releases the ADMX files for Office 2016
* [It’s 2016– And the future of Group Policy Is …?](/posts/2016-future-group-policy.md) - For my first post of the new year, I thought I'd go big and talk about some existential questions facing Windows configuration management. First, whither Group Policy? Second, how do we think about all this here at SDM Software--as we consider…
* [PowerShell ISE Tip](/posts/powershell-ise-tip.md) - Just a quick tip. I found this a bit too cool not to share. I was working in the PowerShell ISE building up a demo script for our Group Policy Automation Engine. If you are not familiar with it you…
* [What’s New in Group Policy in Windows 10?](/posts/whats-new-in-group-policy-in-windows-10.md) - With each new version of Windows, I try to write up something to summarize what's new in Group Policy from the last version. As those of you who follow me know, I've noted that the list of "What's Changed" in…
* [Group Policy to Desired State Configuration](/posts/group-policy-to-desired-state-configuration.md) - Group Policy has been a bit of a comfort for many of us for the past 15 years. It is a technology that is full of promise and capability. It is sufficiently complex, and incredibly powerful. As PowerShell has evolved…
* [The [wmisearcher] Type Accelerator](/posts/the-wmisearcher-type-accelerator.md) - Happy New Year everyone! 2016 is going to completely ROCK! I love the feeling of optimism with all new beginnings, and the beginning of the year always has me take time to think about what was great about the previous…
* [Group Policy Automation Engine – Deployed Printers](/posts/group-policy-automation-engine-deployed-printers.md) - The SDM Group Policy Automation Engine provides a PowerShell interface for getting and setting configuration in Group Policy Objects (GPOs). We utilize a single cmdlet called Get-SDMGPObject. This single cmdlet provides all the secret sauce that makes the magic happen.…
* [Move-Printer – creating the advanced function](/posts/move-printer-creating-the-advanced-function.md) - Why a PowerShell Advanced Function This is a bit of a stream of conscious follow-up to a previous post related to managing Deployed Printers with the Group Policy Automation Engine. I decided today, while working with someone, that porting this to…
* [Find all Registry Settings Managed in a GPO](/posts/find-all-registry-settings-managed-in-a-gpo.md) - Group Policy Objects (GPOs) can contain many different kinds of settings. Much of that data is simple registry data. Finding registry settings in GPOs and handling them is not the simplest of tasks and requires some PowerShell. Microsoft has provided…
* [GPO Reporting Pak – Find-DupGPSettings](/posts/gpo-reporting-pak-find-dupgpsettings.md) - Following a bit of a theme here. I did some exploring on scenarios related to using the GPO Reporting Pak PowerShell cmdlets to automate some GP troubleshooting. This video talks about searching through the output of your report inside the…
* [Auditing Security Access Changes on Critical Windows Servers](/posts/auditing-security-access-changes-on-critical-windows-servers.md) - Here's the scenario: You've got some Windows servers that contain critical customer data--it might be customer records, or PCI (Payment Card Industry) data, or just a critical system on your network. You rightly use Group Policy Restricted Groups policy or…
* [Darren’s 9 Group Policy Principles](/posts/darrens-9-group-policy-principles.md) - Darren Mar-Elia and I spent some time this week with a group of consultants and service providers. These folks come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Our goal was to talk about Group Policy, some best practices, and…
* [PowerShell and DevOps Summit Global Summit 2016 – my week at a glance](/posts/powershell-devops-summit-global-summit-2016-week-glance.md) - What a great week! I have been wanting to attend this summit for years and it just never got on my short priority list. This year was different and to be honest, it took DSC and DevOps to get me…
* [Group Policy Automation and Dell Authentication Services](/posts/group-policy-automation-dell-authentication-services.md) - As you may have heard last week, or seen in our newsletter, or read graffiti'd all over the New York subway system, our Group Policy Automation Engine (GPAE) has added support to help organizations manage their Unix systems with Group…
* [GP Automation – Folder Options/Open With](/posts/gp-automation-folder-optionsopen.md) - OK, so this is not a 'new' story but it is an interesting one. Since the first script kitties were writing viruses that did nefarious things we had ways to ensure we could limit their impact. Redirecting .vbs to notepad…
* [Group Policy Security Compliance with PowerShell](/posts/group-policy-security-compliance-powershell.md) - Windows Security Configuration Compliance with PowerShell and SDM Software's Group Policy Compliance Manager
* [Welcome Walt Ramick](/posts/welcome-walt-ramick.md) - SDM Software is extremely excited to have Walt Ramick join our team leading both our tactical and strategic sales efforts. Walt has been involved with organizations selling enterprise software and services for over a decade and brings a wealth of knowledge around the…
* [Windows Nano Server–The “Group Policy-less Future?”](/posts/windows-nano-server-gp-less-future.md) - Windows Nano Server will ship with NO Group Policy support!
* [Migrate Windows Firewall and AppLocker to Desired State Configuration](/posts/migrating-windows-firewall-applocker-desired-state-configuration.md) - Script to let you migrate Group Policy settings to PowerShell DSC documents
* [New Group Policy Patch MS16-072– “Breaks” GP Processing Behavior](/posts/new-group-policy-patch-ms16-072-breaks-gp-processing-behavior.md) - This morning I woke up to an email from a fellow Group Policy MVP--Martin Binder--warning that folks were seeing GP Processing issues after the recent slew of Patch Tuesday updates were applied. Indeed, I had noted late on Tuesday via…
* [MS16-072 – GP Permissions and an overview](/posts/ms16-072-gp-permissions-overview.md) - Hello Group Policy fans enthusiasts happy people! Darren and I had a quick discussion about his script to remediate the problems created by applying MS16-072 and GP processing. Read Darren's previous post for context but here is a recording of…
* [Modifying Default GPO Permissions at Creation Time](/posts/modifying-default-gpo-permissions-creation-time.md) - Now that we are all digging out from MS16-072, and the reality that it likely won't be "fixed" anytime soon, I think it's worthwhile to drop a quick blog post about how you can ensure that all GPOs that get…
* [Find and Delete All Empty GPOs – GP Reporting Pak](/posts/find-delete-empty-gpos.md) - Find and Delete All Empty GPOs The SDM Software GPO Reporting Pak is full of nifty features and is simple to use. There are many common scenarios that organizations require. The PowerShell components of the product are sometimes overlooked. From…
* [Video – Remove Empty GPOs](/posts/video-remove-empty-gpos.md) - As promised I posted a quick video (OK not too quick) to walk through using the PowerShell pieces of GPO Reporting Pak to remove empty GPOs. The previous post describes the process and this video simply provides the walk through.…
* [Analyze GPO Impact – Part 1](/posts/using-gp-reporting-pack-powershell-analyze-gpo-differences-part-1.md) - One of the many scenarios that organizations contend with is impact analysis. For SDM Software this is about configuration and most importantly security configuration. For example, what happens if you go into Active Directory Users and Computers and move Server1 from…
* [Analyze GPO Impact – Part II – Export-SDMGPSettings](/posts/analyze-gpo-impact-part-ii-export-sdmgpsettings.md) - Part II of our GPO Impact Analysis. For the purpose of this post the primary capability of Export-SDMGPSettings is to grab a 'snapshot' of all of the settings managed in a set of GPOs. Export-SDMGPSettings is one of the core…
* [Security Fun: Bloodhound, MS16-072 and GPO Discoverability](/posts/security-fun-bloodhound-ms16-072-gpo-discoverability.md) - I had a chance to attend my first BlackHat/Defcon conference last week in Las Vegas. I also attended the very excellent BSides conference, happening concurrently. Besides being shaken to my core from the skills demonstrated during the week :-), I…
* [Just In Time for Microsoft Ignite–A Sneak Peek of GPO Migrator 1.0!](/posts/just-in-time-for-microsoft-ignite-a-sneak-peek-of-gpo-migrator-1-0.md) - GPO Migrator makes GPO to GPO or GPO to DSC migration a snap
* [GPO Migrator makes Group Policy Migration a Snap!](/posts/gpo-migrator-now-available.md) - GPO Migration is now simplified--migrate, consolidate and clean-up settings across your GPOs with GPO Migrator--migration of settings between GPOs is a snap
* [Updates to Group Policy Automation Engine and Group Policy Compliance Manager!](/posts/updates-to-group-policy-automation-engine-and-group-policy-compliance-manager.md) - Updates to SDM Software's Industry-leading Group Policy Automation and Compliance products
* [Fun with the Group Policy Automation Engine and Out-GridView](/posts/fun-group-policy-automation-engine-gridview.md) - Fans of PowerShell We are all fans right? We have been for a while. PowerShell is one of those things that the more you learn, the more you explore, the more you play, the more you appreciate what it has…
* [Group Policy Compliance Manager 1.5 – Getting Started](/posts/group-policy-compliance-manager-1-5-getting-started.md) - Getting Started It is great to have this update to Group Policy Compliance Manager. Some great features to provide for management at scale, some nice refinements and fixes. Overall the system is running great and the ability to get up…
* [Updated Group Policy Health Reporter](/posts/updated-group-policy-health-reporter.md) - The FREE Group Policy Health Reporter provides quick status on the health of Group Policy on your Windows desktop and server systems.
* [Registry Policy Viewer 1.5](/posts/registry-policy-viewer-1-5.md) - Darren took the time to prove to us that even the greatest tools can be improved! Thank you for that. The Registry Policy Viewer that GPOGuy introduced years ago has continued to be a favorite. A few new features have…
* [Getting Started with Group Policy Automation Engine](/posts/group-policy-automation-engine.md) - PowerShell has increased in popularity quite a bit over the past few years. I recall my initial reaction to Jeffrey Snover's 'Monad Manifesto' that was published back in 2002 or so. It was quite revolutionary. Over the years it has…
* [Answering the Boss’s Question–“Can You Prove to Me That Critical Security Setting is on Every Machine?”](/posts/answering-the-bosss-question-prove-to-me-that-critical-security-setting-is-on-every-machine.md) - Using SDM Software's Group Policy Compliance Manager, you can quickly and easily determine whether your Windows systems have required security settings.
* [Making Sense of Group Policy SYSVOL Mismatch Errors](/posts/making-sense-of-group-policy-sysvol-mismatch-errors.md) - What to do about GPO Sysvol mismatch errors
* [When Malware Abuses Group Policy](/posts/group-policy-malware-delivery-system.md) - Learn how Group Policy permissions enabled malware delivery across an AD domain & how to harden GPO delegation to protect your organization
* [SDM Software and Semperis Partner to Provide World-Class AD & Group Policy Solutions](/posts/sdm-software-semperis-partner-provide-world-class-ad-group-policy-solutions.md) - Semperis and SDM Software partner to bring world-class Active Directory and Group Policy solutions to customers.
* [Managing ADMX Files in a Windows 10 World](/posts/managing-admx-files-in-a-windows-10-world.md) - Managing ADMX settings when Microsoft deprecates settings from one version of Windows to another
* [ADMX Files for Windows 10 Build 1703 “Creators Update” Now Available](/posts/admx-files-for-windows-10-build-1703-creators-update-now-available.md) - Microsoft has released updated Group Policy ADMX files for Windows 10 Creators Update
* [Sick of WannaCry? Don’t Read This…](/posts/sick-wannacry-dont-read.md) - Some tips and tricks for avoiding WannaCry and similar exploits in the future.
* [A New, Old Threat: Dealing with AD and Group Policy Information Exposure](/posts/a-new-old-threat-dealing-with-ad-and-group-policy-information-exposure.md) - AD and Group Policy can be exploited by new sophisticated tools that take advantage of default delegations.
* [GPO Migrator 1.6 is Here–Make Quick Work of GPO Migrations and Reorganizations!](/posts/gpo-migrator-1-6-make-quick-work-gpo-migrations-reorganizations.md) - GPO Migration, Cleanup and Consolidation Made Easy
* [Removing Extra Registry Settings from GPOs](/posts/removing-extra-registry-settings-from-gpos.md) - Remove Extra Registry Settings from a GPO using PowerShell
* [“Hip” New Active Directory-Azure AD Conference Coming!](/posts/new-active-directory-azure-ad-conference-coming.md) - Hybrid Identity Protection Conference (www.hipconf.com), Nov 6-7 in NYC!
* [New Version of the Group Policy GPMC PowerShell Module](/posts/new-version-group-policy-gpmc-powershell-module.md) - One of the very first freeware projects I undertook when I started SDM Software, was to build a PowerShell snap-in (yes, they were called snap-ins back then) for Group Policy. That was back in 2007, long before Microsoft had their…
* [Take the Group Policy Usage Survey!](/posts/take-group-policy-usage-survey.md) - All- Over the past few years, I've sent out a survey to the general population looking at trends in Group Policy usage. I've updated the survey for this year and it is now live and ready for your responses. It…
* [How To Think About Windows Group Policy–An Infrastructure Architect’s Take](/posts/how-to-think-about-windows-group-policy-an-infrastructure-architects-take.md) - Long before I got into the software business, and even during that time, I was first and foremost, an IT guy. I have spent nearly 20 years of my 30+ years in technology in IT--mostly in large organizations. Much of…
* [Protecting Active Directory–Making AD and Group Policy Less “Visible” to Attackers](/posts/protecting-active-directory-making-ad-and-group-policy-less-visible-to-attackers.md) - A couple of weeks ago, I gave a webinar for Semperis, on the topic of protecting AD from attackers. I presented 5 tips on the things you can do within your AD and Windows environments, to protect against "information exposure"…
* [Performing a Denial of Service on AD–How Hard Is it Really?](/posts/denial-of-service-on-active-directory.md) - Denying user rights for all users in AD--how easy it is and how you can protect against it.
* [Elevating AD Domain Access With Write Access on the Domain NC Head](/posts/elevating-ad-domain-access-with-write-access-on-the-domain-nc-head.md) - %%excerpt%% Write access to the Domain object could allow domain admin access.
* [Group Policy Storage Whitepaper Updated!](/posts/group-policy-storage-whitepaper-updated.md) - Hey Folks. It's been too long since I posted here, so I thought I'd break my fast by posting something a bit meaty. Many moons ago, I created a whitepaper, which is on the Gpoguy portion of this site, that…
* [Speaking in Chicago Next Month!](/posts/speaking-in-chicago-next-month.md) - Hey folks! Just a quick note that I'm giving a talk next month in Chicago. This is a follow-on to the Semperis Hybrid Identity Protection (HIP) Conference that I spoke at last November. This Chicago "Tech Day" event is a…
* [Group Policy Security– Tinkering with External Paths](/posts/group-policy-security-tinkering-with-external-paths.md) - If you've been following this blog, you know that about 2 and half years ago, I started talking about Group Policy's precarious role in the typical enterprise's security posture. Many, if not most, AD shops use GP to perform security…
* [Sending GPOs Down the Wrong Track–Redirecting the GPT](/posts/sending-gpos-down-the-wrong-track-redirecting-the-gpt.md) - At this blog title implies, this is a bit of a science experiment. Many years ago I played around with this idea that, there is nothing in the GP infrastructure that REQUIRES you to use SYSVOL to store the settings…
* [What Does Group Policy Do When It Can’t Contact a DC?](/posts/what-does-group-policy-do-when-it-cant-contact-a-dc.md) - Learn what happens to Group Policy when a device is offline or can't contact a domain controller, incl. cached settings and local changes
* [Hijacking Administrative Templates](/posts/hijacking-administrative-templates.md) - As I think about Group Policy as a target for attackers, there are many obvious avenues to take advantage of a poorly protected GP infrastructure. I've written about many of these here: https://sdmsoftware.com/group-policy-blog/security-related/sending-gpos-down-the-wrong-track-redirecting-the-gpt/ https://sdmsoftware.com/group-policy-blog/security-related/group-policy-security-tinkering-with-external-paths/ https://sdmsoftware.com/group-policy-blog/security-related/protecting-active-directory-making-ad-and-group-policy-less-visible-to-attackers/ https://sdmsoftware.com/group-policy-blog/security-policy/a-new-old-threat-dealing-with-ad-and-group-policy-information-exposure/ However, I was recently…
* [What Is the Registry Policy Archive File and How It Can Be Abused](/posts/understanding-the-registry-policy-archive-file.md) - Learn what the Registry.pol file is, how it stores Group Policy registry settings, and how it helps troubleshoot and manage Group Policy
* [Quirks in Restricted Groups Policy on AD Groups](/posts/quirks-in-restricted-groups-policy-on-ad-groups.md) - About a year ago, I posted about the perils of granting someone write access on the Active Directory Domain NC "head" object, and how you could use that and some quirks in Restricted Groups policy to essentially elevate your access…
* [Welcome!](/posts/welcome.md) - Welcome to my new Group Policy blog home! If you are just finding this, you can see my old Group Policy-related blog posts at https://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/gpoguy/I plan to use this location going forward for all of my Group Policy, GPOGUY and…
* [New Group Policy PowerShell Cmdlet](/posts/new-group-policy-powershell-cmdlet.md) - Well, I took a crack at writing a PowerShell cmdlet and of course started with a Group Policy related one. Its called get-SDMgpo and basically lets you list out one or all GPOs in an AD domain, along with some properties…
* [New GP PowerShell cmdlet](/posts/new-gp-powershell-cmdlet.md) - Well, I've created a new PowerShell cmdlet to go along with my get-SDMgpo cmdlet. Its called new-SDMgpo, and its purpose in life is to let you use PowerShell to create new GPOs. As with the previous cmdlet I created, it…
* [GPMC scripts download now available for Vista](/posts/gpmc-scripts-download-now-available-for-vista.md) - If you're running Vista with GPMC pre-installed, you know that the one big difference between the Vista version of GPMC and the version you install from the MS download site onto XP, is that the sample scripts that the XP version…
* [Scripting Toolkit webinar on Oct. 10!](/posts/scripting-toolkit-webinar-on-oct-10.md) - Just a quick note to let folks know that I'm going to be giving a webinar on our GPExpert™ Scripting Toolkit for PowerShell product next Wednesday, October 10th, at 8:30am Pacific Time. In this webinar, I'll go over how you can…
* [Restricted Groups policy](/posts/restricted-groups-policy.md) - Under the category of "you learn something new every day" I was playing around with some stuff yesterday and finally got a chance to confirm something that someone had posted on the ActiveDir mailing list. We all know about how some…
* [Retrieving Admin Template settings using Powershell](/posts/retrieving-admin-template-settings-using-powershell.md) - This is the first in a series of blogs postings I plan to do showing how you can use Microsoft's very cool PowerShell scripting environment and SDM Software's Group Policy Automation Engine, to manage Group Policy settings. One of the…
* [New free Group Policy PowerShell cmdlets](/posts/new-free-group-policy-powershell-cmdlets.md) - Well, many of you know that we released the GPExpert Scripting Toolkit for PowerShell back at the end of July. The Toolkit lets you modify the settings within Group Policy objects using PowerShell. I also had a couple of cmdlets…
* [GPExpert Troubleshooting Pak review](/posts/gpexpert-troubleshooting-pak-review.md) - Windows IT Pro Magazine has a good review of SDM Software's GPExpert Troubleshooting Pak in the December issue. The reviewer did a pretty good job of covering the product, and while there were a few technical inaccuracies, I think we…
* [Happy New Year!](/posts/happy-new-year.md) - I just wanted to take this time to wish everyone who is celebrating their new year tonight (or maybe already has celebrated!) a happy new year. 2008 should be a great year! 2007 brought many cool things, including the release of SDM…
* [MVP Status & Community Resources](/posts/mvp-status-community-resources.md) - Well, for those of you out there who are Microsoft MVPs, you know that getting that email announcing that you've been renewed for another year is a good feeling. Since my MVP status expires on the year end, I usually…
* [New Group Policy Backup & Recovery Product](/posts/new-group-policy-backup-recovery-product.md) - Late last year, we (SDM Software that is!) announced the GPExpert™ Backup Manager for Group Policy product. Well, the product is now available to trial on our website. The product leverages the GPMC's backup format but also includes some neat…
* [Group Policy Preferences](/posts/group-policy-preferences.md) - I sat in on a Microsoft webcast presentation of the upcoming release of Group Policy Preferences, which I blogged about earlier. This is the old DesktopStandard PolicyMaker stuff for extending Group Policy to do much more than it does today.…
* [Updated Group Policy Book Now Available!](/posts/updated-group-policy-book-now-available.md) - I just wanted to let everyone know that Microsoft Press has released a new version of the popular "Goup Policy Guide" book that fellow GP MVP Derek Melber and I contributed to a couple of years ago. This time Derek…
* [Don’t Like How they broke GP-based Deployment of Office 2007?](/posts/dont-like-how-they-broke-gp-based-deployment-of-office-2007.md) - If you are one of the many IT administrators I've talked to that doesn't like how Microsoft essentially broke Group Policy Software Installation-based deployment of Office when they released Office 2007, here's how you can provide feedback to Microsoft. I just…
* [On Demand version of the “Securing Desktops…” Webinar available](/posts/on-demand-version-of-the-securing-desktops-webinar-available.md) - For those of you who missed the webinar I did yesterday on "Securing Desktops with Group Policy", you can register to view the on-demand version here. If you did attend, thanks for listening! We had a good crowd and lots…
* [“I installed RSAT…where is GPMC?”](/posts/i-installed-rsat-where-is-gpmc.md) - I've heard this question often enough since the Remote Server Administration Tools shipped that I thought it was worth blogging about it. After you install RSAT on your Vista, SP1 machine, you won't find GPMC installed right away. You'll need…
* [New PowerShell-based Product for Group Policy Health](/posts/new-powershell-based-product-for-group-policy-health.md) - Well, in keeping with our current tradition of delivering PowerShell-based solutions for Group Policy Management, SDM Software has released its latest product--the Group Policy Health Cmdlet. This cmdlet basically lets you get quick and detailed Group Policy processing status across…
* [Opportunity for providing Microsoft feedback on Server Management](/posts/opportunity-for-providing-microsoft-feedback-on-server-management.md) - Hey Folks. The Group Policy Team at Microsoft is looking for feedback on managing Windows Servers. They've put a survey up online. If you want to get your feedback and experiences heard, and incorporated into future products, this is an…
* [New Version of GPMC PowerShell Cmdlets Released!](/posts/new-version-of-gpmc-powershell-cmdlets-released.md) - Well, we've released a new version of our GPMC PowerShell cmdlets--version 1.2. This new version represents a significant updgrade to the existing cmdlets. The biggest change is that we incorporated new functionality that became available in the version of GPMC…
* [Picking up Computer Group Membership Changes without a Reboot](/posts/picking-up-computer-group-membership-changes-without-a-reboot.md) - One of the irritating side effects of using Group Policy security group filtering on computers is that, if you change a computer's group membership, you either had to reboot the computer or wait the default 7 days for the computer's…
* [Whitepaper on Group Policy Preferences](/posts/whitepaper-on-group-policy-preferences.md) - I've seen a lot of interest in Group Policy Preferences since its release, and a lot of confusion about whether you can use it if you don't have Windows Server 2008 in your environment (you can!) so I thought it…
* [Join Me This Week at WinConnections!](/posts/join-me-this-week-at-winconnections.md) - This week I'll be at the Windows Connections show in Las Vegas presenting 5 sessions on Group Policy (what else!) and PowerShell. If you are planning to attend this show, stop by one of my sessions and say hi, or,…
* [Microsoft to do PowerShell in Group Policy in Windows 7](/posts/microsoft-to-do-powershell-in-group-policy-in-windows-7.md) - Microsoft's Group Policy product team recently posted a blog announcing that they will be adding PowerShell support to Windows 7 for various Group Policy management tasks, such as those things you can do in GPMC scripts today. In addition, they are…
* [SDM Software Ships GPO Compare Product for spotting GPO inconsistencies](/posts/sdm-software-ships-gpo-compare-product-for-spotting-gpo-inconsistencies.md) - Today we shipped our new GPO Compare 1.0 product. This is something I've wanted to do for a while--provide a standalone product to help IT administrators quickly find inconsistencies between GPOs. With GPO Compare, I think we've delivered a cool…
* [Finding and Disabling GPO Links using PowerShell](/posts/finding-and-disabling-gpo-links-using-powershell.md) - I had a question come up today about a use case for our GPMC cmdlets and figured it was worth sharing for other's benefit. Here's the scenario. I have a GPO who's name I know. I want to find all the places…
* [4th Edition of O’Reilly Active Directory Book  is out!](/posts/4th-edition-of-oreilly-active-directory-book-is-out.md) - Just a quick note to let everyone know that the 4th edition of the Active Directory Book from O'Reilly is out, courtesy of AD MVP Brian Desmond. For those of you who aren't familiar with this book, its an invaluable resource for…
* [Group Policy Health Cmdlet now free!](/posts/group-policy-health-cmdlet-now-free.md) - We've updated our PowerShell-based Group Policy Health cmdlet and made it free up on our website at www.sdmsoftware.com/freeware. For those of you who have not seen the Health Cmdlet, this is a command-line tool for retrieving GP processing health against remote systems.…
* [More on the Group Policy Health Cmdlet](/posts/more-on-the-group-policy-health-cmdlet.md) - In a previous post, I mentioned that the Group Policy Health Cmdlet was now a free download at www.sdmsoftware.com/freeware. The Health Cmdlet is a PowerShell utility for collecting Group Policy processing health against one or more remote systems. The cmdlet…
* [AGPM Planning Guide released](/posts/agpm-planning-guide-released.md) - Just a quick note for those of you using or thinking about using Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) product for Group Policy Change Control. MS has just released a planning guide for AGPM here:https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5ed2bcd7-214a-4606-8e91-369c3623ee89&DisplayLang=enAGPM is another by-product of Microsoft's…
* [What’s Happening in the GP World???](/posts/whats-happening-in-the-gp-world.md) - Hey Folks. Sorry for the long delay in between postings. Lots going on in Group Policy land and in my own life that has been keeping me busy! But, now that I have some time, I wanted to blog about…
* [Microsoft releases PolicyMaker to GP Preferences Migration Tool](/posts/microsoft-releases-policymaker-to-gp-preferences-migration-tool.md) - For those of you waiting patiently to migrate your PolicyMaker settings to the new GP Preferences format, your wait is over! You can now download the migration tool here! And here's a good blog post on how it all works. DarrenTags:Group…
* [Network World covers ActiveX Killbits and SDM Software!](/posts/network-world-covers-activex-killbits-and-sdm-software.md) - I thought this was cool. John Fontana over at Network World did a nice article on the challenges around the recent Microsoft zero-day vulnerabilities and SDM Software and yours truly got a nice mention on Page 2! Cool!Darren 
* [Nominate Our GP Products for a Community Award!](/posts/nominate-our-gp-products-for-a-community-award.md) - HEY GPOGUY & SDM SOFTWARE FANS!! We need your help! Windows IT Pro Magazine is having their COMMUNITY AWARDS NOMINATIONS until this Friday, August 14th. If you like the freeware products we have on www.gpoguy.com and on www.sdmsoftware.com/freeware, please consider…
* [Vote for SDM Software’s GPExpert Group Policy Automation Engine!!!](/posts/vote-for-sdm-softwares-gpexpert-group-policy-automation-engine.md) - OK folks, our Group Policy Automation Engine (GPAE), the only automation solution available on the market for reading and writing settings within GPOs, is one of the finalists in the Windows IT Pro Magazine Community Choice Awards, in the "Best…
* [Group Policy Slow Link Detection in Vista and beyond](/posts/group-policy-slow-link-detection-in-vista-and-beyond.md) - As many folks probably know, Group Policy slow link detection prior to Windows Vista relied on a series of ICMP pings to determine link speed between the client and domain controller. This process was fairly inprecise and was fraught with…
* [Cool new tool for comparing IE Zone Security Settings](/posts/cool-new-tool-for-comparing-ie-zone-security-settings.md) - On my twitter site: https://twitter.com/grouppolicyguy
* [RSoP & GP Preferences](/posts/rsop-gp-preferences.md) - I was playing around with some scenarios related to "item-level targeting" (ILT) in Group Policy Preferences and was reminded of a significant limitation in this newer as it relates to Resultant Set of Policy reporting. What I was doing was creating…
* [Re-Upped for Another Year of MVP!](/posts/re-upped-for-another-year-of-mvp.md) - Despite once again having to fetch it from my spam folder, I did indeed get the coveted email from Microsoft yesterday indicating that I'd been made a Group Policy MVP for the 5th year in a row. Cool! I am…
* [More on Group Policy Backups and Version Compatibility](/posts/more-on-group-policy-backups-and-version-compatibility.md) - GPO Backups and Windows version sensitivity
* [GPO Compare 2.0 and GPO Exporter 1.0 Ship!](/posts/gpo-compare-2-0-and-gpo-exporter-1-0-ship.md) - This last week, we (SDM Software) released a new version of GPO Compare and a brand new product in GPO Exporter. Why are these significant? Well, first off, GPO Compare now provides full support for all GP settings that were…
* [Backing up and restoring the Local GPO](/posts/backing-up-and-restoring-the-local-gpo.md) - Some of you may have seen a twitter post I did a while back letting folks know about the Security Compliance Manager, which is a tool from Microsoft that lets you manage, edit, report, search and export security templates and…
* [Disabling Print Screen through Group Policy](/posts/disabling-print-screen-through-group-policy.md) - Recently someone asked if it was possible to disable the print screen functionality on their keyboard through Group Policy. My initial response was that I had never seen a policy setting to do this, and indeed I figured that you…
* [Comparing Group Policy (GPO) Settings from PowerShell](/posts/comparing-group-policy-gpo-settings-from-powershell.md) - One of the cool things we added in the new version of GPO Compare 2.0 was support for a PowerShell interface. GPO Compare 2.0 is all about letting you compare GPO settings across two live or backed up GPOs. The PowerShell…
* [Find Group Policy (GPO) Setting Conflicts using PowerShell](/posts/find-group-policy-gpo-setting-conflicts-using-powershell.md) - This is my 2nd blog post around using the PowerShell features in the two products of SDM Software's GPO Reporting Pak. In this post, I'll talk about the GPO Exporter product, which, as the name implies, lets you export Group Policy…
* [Get to “Best Privilege” on Windows Desktops](/posts/get-to-best-privilege-on-windows-desktops.md) - I recently wrote a whitepaper for my friends over at Beyondtrust that talks about the challenges and choices of trying to get to what I call "Best Privilege" on Windows desktops. The idea here is that a secure Windows desktop is…
* [The GPOGUY Group Policy FAQ](/posts/gpoguy-group-policy-faq.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-GPOGUY-Group-Policy-FAQ.pdf" url_new_window="on" button_text="Download Whitepaper" _builder_version="4.0.9" hover_enabled="0"][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
* [Group Policy Preferences Overview Whitepaper](/posts/group-policy-preferences-overview-whitepaper.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9"]This whitepaper provides an overview of the requirements for using the new Group Policy Preferences feature, and a quick overview of each new policy area within the product.[/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url="/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Group-Policy-Preferences-Overview-1.pdf" button_text="Learn More" _builder_version="4.0.9" hover_enabled="0"][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
* [Understanding Group Policy Storage](/posts/understanding-group-policy-storage.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9"] (This article was originally written way back in the early 2000s. I’ve finally gotten around to updating it for the modern era 😊) Group Policy leverages a complex and sometimes inconsistent model when…
* [Understanding Policy “Tattooing”](/posts/understanding-policy-tattooing.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9"]Policies & Preferences You've probably heard of registry tattooing as it relates to NT 4 system policy. Tattooing was the effect that you saw whenever you applied a registry policy to a computer…
* [GPO Troubleshooting FAQ](/posts/gpo-troubleshooting-faq.md) - (reproduced from my original posting on Mark Minasi’s Forum, with some embellishments) This is really more of a checklist of the kinds of things that typically go wrong in GPO processing, and how you can check for them.
* [Group Policy, Privileged Access and Pass-the-Hash](/posts/group-policy-privileged-access-and-pass-the-hash.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]In this whitepaper, SDM Software Founder and CTO Darren Mar-Elia covers the role that Group Policy plays in privileged access management within your environment, and how you can use Group…
* [Windows 10 & Group Policy–Key Steps to Group Policy Success](/posts/windows-10-group-policy-key-steps-to-group-policy-success.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]13-time Microsoft Group Policy MVP & SDM Software founder Darren Mar-Elia, shares highlights on what's new in Group Policy for Windows 10, some best practices for leveraging these new settings,…
* [DSC – Why Do We Care?](/posts/dsc-why-do-we-care.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]What is Desired State Configuration? How is it related to Group Policy? This paper is authored to start a conversation to answer these questions. On the surface they may seem…
* [Modernizing Your Group Policy Environment](/posts/modernizing-your-group-policy-environment.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]This whitepaper provides a high level overview of our experiences and recommendations around modernizing your Group Policy environment, with an eye towards getting the most from your Windows configuration management…
* [An Introduction to Group Policy Preferences](/posts/an-introduction-to-group-policy-preferences.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]This whitepaper provides an introduction to the features and capabilities found in Group Policy Preferences--an extension to Windows Group Policy that Microsoft incorporated into Windows Vista and newer versions of…
* [Automating Group Policy Management](/posts/automating-group-policy-management.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_padding="25px||25px||true|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]This whitepaper describes how you can automate changes to Group Policy settings using the SDM Software Group Policy Automation Engine (GPAE). GPAE provides a PowerShell interface for managing GPO settings.…
* [Understanding Group Policy Privilege Escalation in CVE-2020-1317](/posts/understanding-group-policy-privilege-escalation-in-cve-2020-1317.md) - Earlier this month, Microsoft released an advisory for CVE-2020-1317 which describes a privilege escalation vulnerability in Group Policy. This was further detailed by the discoverer of the vulnerability on the Cyberark website. The nature of this issue is interesting and…
* [The Attack of the Trojan GPOs](/posts/the-attack-of-the-trojan-gpos.md) - The story of the Trojan Horse is well known to everyone who has taken a history class. True or not, the story goes that the Greeks, in an effort to finally sack the city of Troy, construct a giant wooden…
* [ADMX File for Troubleshooting Group Policy](/posts/admx-file-for-troubleshooting-group-policy.md) - [et_pb_section admin_label="section"] [et_pb_row admin_label="row"] [et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"]Well, it's been a while since I last blogged, and this is one I've been wanting to write for a while. A few months ago I was trying to troubleshoot why a GPMC backup…
* [Understanding Group Policy Behavior When a Computer or User is Moved in Active Directory](/posts/understanding-group-policy-behavior-when-a-computer-or-user-is-moved-in-active-directory.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="4.16" da_disable_devices="off|off|off" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on"][et_pb_row admin_label="row" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"]A question came up on Twitter the other day…
* [Active Directory Security: Abusing Display Specifiers](/posts/active-directory-security-abusing-display-specifiers.md) - This post is a bit of a departure as I'm going to talk about Active Directory security rather than specifically about Group Policy. I was reminded recently about a feature in AD that I haven't used in nearly 20 years.…
* [Using Tiered Administration for Group Policy Management](/posts/using-tiered-administration-for-group-policy-management.md) - Well, I have to admit that it's been a while since I have found something interesting to blog about related to Group Policy. Despite the fact that the technology is still widely used, how much new can you say about…
* [SDM Software and CVE-2021-44228](/posts/sdm-software-and-cve-2021-44228.md) - We've had several customers ask us about the very widely reported CVE-2021-44228 "Log4j" vulnerability. We have reviewed our products and confirmed that none of SDM Software's solutions use or rely on Log4j for any functions and therefore are not subject…
* [Removing Orphaned Delegation on GPOs](/posts/removing-orphaned-delegation-on-gpos.md) - One of the annoying things about Group Policy, is that delegations to GPOs are not cleaned up when the underlying security principal (e.g. user, computer or group) is deleted in Active Directory. For example, if you create a security filter…
* [SDM Software Ships Modern Group Policy Change Control!](/posts/sdm-software-ships-modern-group-policy-change-control.md) - We are very happy to announce the release of the newest member of our Group Policy product family--Change Manager for Group Policy 1.0! CMGP, as we call it around here, brings GPO change control into the modern era, by providing…
* [New GP Preferences Vulnerabilities Patched in the latest Patch Tuesday](/posts/new-gp-preferences-vulnerabilities-patched-in-the-latest-patch-tuesday.md) - Group Policy vulnerabilities lead to privilege escalation
* [Whitepaper–Admin Tiering for Group Policy](/posts/new-whitepaper-admin-tiering-for-group-policy.md) - We've published a new whitepaper that describes how you can secure your Group Policy environment using the principles of Administrative Tiering. Admin Tiering lets you segregate sensitive GPOs and containers to administrators with appropriate rights to those, but it's important…
* [SwiftSlicer Malware and Group Policy](/posts/swiftslicer-malware-and-group-policy.md) - You may have caught the recent article about a new malware variant, called SwiftSlicer--attributed to a Russian APT group--that is making its way around Active Directory environments. There's not a ton of details about how this malware is delivered, but…
* [SDM Software Ships Change Manager for Group Policy 1.5–Includes Support for Intune Profile Change Control!](/posts/sdm-software-ships-change-manager-for-group-policy-1-5-includes-support-for-intune-profile-change-control.md) - Here at SDM Software, we are committed to making management of your Windows configuration technologies easier and more secure. This is why we released version 1.0 of our Change Manager for Group Policy product last year--to provide a modern, easy-to-use…
* [How to Disable Group Policy Processing… on Purpose?](/posts/how-can-i-disable-group-policy-processing-umm-on-purpose.md) - Learn how Group Policy processing can be unintentionally or deliberately disrupted, and why broken cross-domain GPO links can cause issues
* [Managing Windows Services Using Group Policy](/posts/managing-windows-services-using-group-policy.md) - A practical guide to managing Windows services via Group Policy, including how to enforce service settings and troubleshoot common issues
* [](/posts/sdm-software-announces-new-chief-revenue-officer.md) - March 15, 2024 SDM Software Announces New Chief Revenue Officer SDM Software is excited to announce that John Saylor III has joined the team as the new Chief Revenue Officer. John Saylor is an accomplished sales, management, and technologist with over…
* [](/posts/15364.md) - June 26, 2024 SDM Software Releases New Version of Change Manager for Group Policy/Intune SDM Software are proud to announce the latest release of our Change Manager for Group Policy/Intune--version 1.8. This new version continues the innovation of this amazing…
* [Microsoft Security Blueprint: Get Secure and Stay Secured](/posts/microsoft-security-blueprint-get-secure-and-stay-secured.md) - Microsoft's expansive ecosystem, with its billions of interconnected devices and services, indeed presents a vast array of potential entry points for RANSOMWARE ranked as the most pernicious threat in today’s cybersecurity landscape. The necessity for specialized tools to manage and…
* [Enhance Your Policy Management Deployment](/posts/enhance-your-policy-management-deployment.md) - [et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text]Whether managing mobile or desktop devices, virtual or physical environments, or remote workers, Microsoft Intune provides a unified solution for securing access to company resources and keeping your workforce productive. While this capability is powerful, it also introduces complexity,…
* [Enhance Your Microsoft Intune Deployment](/posts/enhance-your-microsoft-intune-deployment.md) - Whether managing mobile or desktop devices, virtual or physical environments, or remote workers, Microsoft Intune provides a unified solution for securing access to company resources and keeping your workforce productive. However, this capability introduces complexity, particularly when managing policies across…
* [August Windows Update Breaks Item-level Targeting in GP Preferences](/posts/august-windows-update-breaks-item-level-targeting-in-gp-preferences.md) - Just a quick one here folks, to let people know about a GP issue I heard about last week, that I've since learned was introduced as part of an August Windows update. The issue is as follows. In GP Preferences,…
* [Enhancing SCADA Systems with SDM Software](/posts/enhancing-scada-systems-with-sdm-software.md) - Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical to the operation of many industrial and critical infrastructure sectors. As organizations increasingly focus on securing their operational technology (OT) environments, integrating robust IT governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) frameworks…
* [AGPM Deprecation: What You Need to Know](/posts/agpm-deprecation-what-you-need-to-know.md) - Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM), part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), has long been a critical tool for IT administrators managing large-scale Group Policy deployments. AGPM enhances the capabilities of native Group Policy Object (GPO) management by adding…
* [Unlocking Compliance Confidence: Real-Time Group Policy Auditing and Attestation for IT Governance](/posts/unlocking-compliance-confidence-real-time-group-policy-auditing-and-attestation-for-it-governance.md) - In today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape, organizations must ensure they maintain control over their infrastructure, especially regarding critical configurations like Group Policy Objects (GPOs). IT auditing professionals, data privacy officers, and compliance experts face increasing pressure to track GPO changes…
* [](/posts/15390.md) - SDM Software Announces Sponsorship of US Cyclocross Team SDM Software are proud to announce the sponsorship of the US Cyclocross team for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Cyclocross is an exciting sport, combining fitness, speed and agility. This partnership will…
* [Why Managing Group Policy and Azure Intune Profiles are Critical for Cybersecurity](/posts/why-managing-group-policy-and-azure-intune-profiles-are-critical-for-cybersecurity.md) - In the world of enterprise IT management, securing an organization's endpoints, servers, and sensitive data has never been more critical. As businesses expand and adapt to a growing digital landscape, the need for robust security measures becomes increasingly urgent. One…
* [The Importance of GPO and Intune Cyber Hygiene](/posts/the-importance-of-gpo-and-intune-cyber-hygiene.md) - As organizations move to hybrid environments combining Group Policy Objects (GPO) and Microsoft Intune, the importance of maintaining rigorous cyber hygiene has never been greater. Poorly managed configurations can lead to vulnerabilities, while secure, compliant workflows ensure operational efficiency and…
* [Strengthen Microsoft Security Posture: Layered Protection with Group Policy Compliance Manager](/posts/strengthen-microsoft-security-posture-layered-protection-with-group-policy-compliance-manager.md) - In the modern IT landscape, security isn’t any one single solution—it's a series of layered protections that work together to safeguard an organization's systems, data, and operations. Each layer serves a specific purpose, whether it's prevention, detection, or response. One…
* [Managing Domain-Joined Endpoints with Group Policy Objects (GPOs)](/posts/managing-domain-joined-endpoints-with-group-policy-objects-gpos.md) - Group Policy is a feature of Windows that enables centralized configuration and management of operating systems, computer settings and user settings. Each policy, or Group Policy object (GPO), defines a set of Group Policy settings. Managing domain-joined endpoints are a…
* [What’s Next If You’re An AGPM User?](/posts/whats-next-if-youre-an-agpm-user.md) - Hi everyone. You may have heard by now that Microsoft's venerable Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) tool will reach it's end of life next April 2026. What does this mean? When software reaches the end of life, it generally means…
* [Migrating from Microsoft® Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) to SDM Software Change Manager for Group Policy/Intune (CMGPI)](/posts/migrating-from-microsoft-advanced-group-policy-management-agpm-to-sdm-software-change-manager-for-group-policy-intune-cmgpi.md) - Microsoft® Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) has been used by many organizations over the last nearly 20 years to provide Group Policy Object (GPO) change control—an organized process for managing changes to Group Policy within a product environment. Unfortunately, Microsoft…
* [Group Policy Change Control FAQ](/posts/group-policy-change-control-faq.md) - This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) article covers information about Windows Group Policy Change Control, Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management retirement, and SDM Software's solutions for addressing this challenge. Q: Is there a solution that can completely replace Microsoft Advanced Group…
* [New Add-On to GPO Migrator by SDM Software Empowers Tailored Group Policy Migration to Intune](/posts/15576.md) - Learn how to easily migrate your GPO settings to Intune profiles, whether that’s configuration profiles or script profiles
* [Intune Suite Expansion and Pricing Changes: A Strategic Inflection Point for IT Leaders](/posts/intune-suite-expansion-and-pricing-change.md) - Intune Suite capabilities are now in Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses. What does it mean for the IT leaders, and what should they do?
* [Understanding the Role of ADMX Files in Group Policy](/posts/understanding-the-role-of-admx-and-adm-files-in-group-policy.md) - Learn what ADMX and ADM files are, how they work in Windows Group Policy, where they’re stored, how they affect policy editing & processing
* [Preventing PowerShell Pitfalls with Active Directory Expiration Dates](/posts/dealing-accountexpires-date-active-directory-powershell.md) - Practical guidance for reading and scripting accountExpires dates in Active Directory using PowerShell, incl. handling ‘never expire’ values
* [Using Custom ADMX Files in Microsoft Intune: When, Why, and What to Consider](/posts/using-custom-admx-files-in-microsoft-intune.md) - Learn when and why to import custom ADMX files into Microsoft Intune, limitations of ADMX ingestion, and key migration considerations
* [Understanding Group Policy Storage and Structure](/posts/understanding-group-policy-storage-and-structure.md) - Learn where Group Policy Objects live, how Active Directory and SYSVOL interact, and how GPO structure affects replication, editing, and policy processing
* [SDM Software Accelerates Growth with 262% Revenue Increase in 2025](/posts/sdm-software-accelerates-growth-with-262-revenue-increase-in-2025.md) - SDM Software, the Configuration Experts in Group Policy and Intune, recorded a 262% revenue increase in 2025 compared to 2024.
* [Understanding Group Policy “Tattooing”](/posts/understanding-group-policy-tattooing.md) - Explore Group Policy tattooing, why some registry settings persist after policies no longer apply, and how it affects Windows administration
* [The Stryker Breach: A Wake-Up Call for Change Management, Privilege Management and Zero Trust](/posts/the-stryker-breach-a-wake-up-call-for-change-management-privilege-management-and-zero-trust.md) - Learn what the Stryker breach reveals about change management, admin control, and how uncontrolled infrastructure changes create major risk
* [Windows Management History, Part 1: When Monad Quietly Lit the Fuse](/posts/windows-management-history-part-1.md) - Explore the early history of Windows management, the Monad manifesto, and how PowerShell began reshaping automation for admins
* [Tattooing Windows with Microsoft Intune](/posts/intune-tattooing.md) - What is Microsoft Intune tattooing? Learn why settings persist in Intune and how to identify and remediate tattooed configurations.
* [Windows Management History, Part 2: Automation Grows Up (2005–2011)](/posts/windows-management-history-part-2.md) - Continue the Windows management history series and learn how evolving tools and approaches shaped modern system and device management
* [How to Deploy Group Policy Preferences through Microsoft Intune?](/posts/how-to-deploy-group-policy-preferences-through-microsoft-intune.md) - Bridge the gap between GPO and Intune. Convert GPP settings, including item-level targeting, into scripts for Intune with a free tool
* [SDM Software Releases Free Tool to Bridge Group Policy Preferences and Intune](/posts/sdm-software-releases-free-tool-to-bridge-group-policy-preferences-and-intune.md) - GPP-to-Intune Bridge converts existing Group Policy Preferences into PowerShell scripts that can be executed on Intune-joined devices.
* [SDM Software Empowers Customers to Centralize Intune and Group Policy Configuration Management with CMGPI 2.0](/posts/sdm-software-empowers-customers-to-centralize-intune-and-group-policy-configuration-management-with-cmgpi-2-0.md) - CMGPI 2.0 streamlines configuration change control and enhances AD security by detecting GPO tampering and malicious attacks in real time
* [Practical Tips for Ensuring Group Policy and Intune Design](/posts/practical-tips-on-group-policy-and-intune-design.md) - Discover practical design principles for Group Policy to simplify administration, improve consistency, and support Intune adoption
* [SDM Software and USA Cycling Renew Partnership through 2028](/posts/sdm-software-and-usa-cycling-renew-partnership-through-2028.md) - SDM Software becomes the Official Software Partner of USA Cycling’s cyclocross program through the summer of 2028
* [SDM Software Successfully Completes SOC 2 Type I Audit](/posts/sdm-software-successfully-completes-soc-2-type-i-audit.md) - Independent assessment validates the company's security controls as it continues to support IT teams managing configurations

# Pages

* [SDM Software](/pages/sdm-software.md) - Manage, audit, and automate configuration changes across Group Policy and Intune using SDM Software’s enterprise-grade governance tools
* [About Us](/pages/about-us.md) - SDM Software help organizations worldwide ensure a resilient configuration state across Group Policy and Intune
* [Group Policy & Intune Governance Platform](/pages/group-policy-intune-governance.md) - Stop configuration drift across Group Policy and Intune. Full visibility, governed change control, and compliance proof — without disrupting operations.
* [Contact](/pages/contact-us.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" da_disable_devices="off|off|off" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="4.27.4" global_colors_info="{}"]Get In Touch[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure="2_3,1_3" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" custom_padding="||6px|||" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="2_3" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"…
* [Newsletter Signup](/pages/newsletter.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" background_color="#ffffff" custom_margin="60px||||false|false" custom_padding="0px||||false|false"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_5,3_5,1_5" _builder_version="4.0.9" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="1_5" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="3_5" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9" header_text_align="center" background_color="#efefef" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" text_orientation="center" custom_padding="40px|40px|40px|40px|true|true" border_radii="on|0px|0px|0px|0px" border_width_all="1px" border_color_all="#ccc"][/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_5" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
* [GPO Whitepapers](/pages/whitepapers.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.23.4" hover_enabled="0" global_colors_info="{}" sticky_enabled="0"]WHITEPAPERS[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure="2_3,1_3" admin_label="row" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="2_3" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_blog include_categories="427" show_thumbnail="off" show_author="off" show_date="off" show_categories="off" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_blog][et_pb_text disabled_on="on|on|on" admin_label="Text" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" disabled="on"…
* [Understanding Group Policy Storage](/pages/whitepapers/understanding-group-policy-storage.md) - (This article was originally written way back in the early 2000s. Its been updated for the modern era 😊) Group Policy uses a complex and some would say, inconsistent model to store the settings you specify in a Group Policy…
* [Free Tools](/pages/free-tools-old.md) - Free Group Policy Tools & Resources Resources Group Policy Resources and Products which include Forums, 3rd Party Products,Microsoft Resources and Utilities Free Tools Library Download Free Group Policy Management Tools from the Free GPO Tool Library Video Training Various GPO…
* [GPO Deny Finder 1.0](/pages/free-tools/gpo-deny-finder-1-0.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on" da_disable_devices="off|off|off"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]GPO Deny Finder 1.1[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/GPODeny.png" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id="dl-count-btn" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16"…
* [GPO Logging Custom ADMX (for Windows Vista)](/pages/library/gpo-logging-custom-admx-windows-vista.md) - GPLogging.ADMX : This is a port of gpolog.adm to the new Vista ADMX/ADML file format. Included in the download is the ADMX file for enabling the logs that are still valid in Vista, as well as the language-independent strings file…
* [GPO Version Powershell Cmdlets](/pages/free-tools/gpo-version-powershell-cmdlets.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on" da_disable_devices="off|off|off"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]GPO Version Powershell Cmdlets[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/GPOVersion.png" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id="dl-count-btn" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16"…
* [Local GPO Disable Script](/pages/library/local-gpo-disable-script.md) - This .vbs script will disable the local GPO on a given pre-Vista system (Vista comes with an Admin. Template policy to do this). On Win2K, XP and 2003, there is no centralized way to disable the Local GPO. You can…
* [Registry.Pol Viewer Utility](/pages/free-tools/registry-pol-viewer-utility.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" da_disable_devices="off|off|off" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]Registry.Pol Viewer Utility[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/regpolviewer1.2.png" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id="dl-count-btn" _builder_version="4.27.4" text_orientation="center" global_colors_info="{}"]Download [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2"…
* [Vista Central Store Creator Utility](/pages/library/vista-central-store-creator-utility.md) - This utility simplifies the creation of the "Central Store" for storing ADMX/ADML templates. Its a very simple utility. Updated version 1.1 released! In the domain name dialog, you enter the DN of the domain where you want to create the…
* [WMI Filter Validation Utility](/pages/free-tools/wmi-filter-validation-utility.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" da_disable_devices="off|off|off" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]WMI Filter Validation Utility[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/WMIFTest.jpg" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id="dl-count-btn" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16"…
* [Group Policy Video Training](/pages/free-tools-old/video-training.md) - Welcome to the GPOGUY.COM training video page! The goal of these videos is to provide short, but useful instructional training on various aspects of Group Policy. The videos files are usually 20-30 minutes in duration, and provide audio narration and…
* [Case Studies](/pages/case-studies.md) - Case Study: PacStar Based in Portland, Oregon, PacStar develops advanced voice, data and video solutions for military, government and commercial organizations. PacStar’s principal customer is the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for whom it provides tactical and deployable systems for…
* [Case Study: PacStar](/pages/case-studies/pacstar.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_row column_structure="2_3,1_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="2_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_button button_url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SDM-case-study-pacstar.pdf" url_new_window="on" button_text="Click To View or Download the PDF" admin_label="Button" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_button][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/sdm-pacstar-study-1.jpg" url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SDM-case-study-pacstar.pdf" url_new_window="on" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/sdm-pacstar-study-2.jpg" url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SDM-case-study-pacstar.pdf" url_new_window="on" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_button button_url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SDM-case-study-pacstar.pdf" url_new_window="on" button_text="Click To View or Download the PDF" admin_label="Button" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version="4.0.9"…
* [Case Study: Annese & Associates, Inc.](/pages/case-studies/annese-associates-inc.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_row column_structure="2_3,1_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_column type="2_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_button button_url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Annese-Assoc-Case-Study.pdf" url_new_window="on" button_text="Click To View or Download the PDF" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_button][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/annese-assoc-case-study-2.jpg" url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Annese-Assoc-Case-Study.pdf" url_new_window="on" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/annese-assoc-case-study-1.jpg" url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Annese-Assoc-Case-Study.pdf" url_new_window="on" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_button button_url="/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Annese-Assoc-Case-Study.pdf" url_new_window="on" button_text="Click To View or Download the PDF" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version="4.0.9" hover_enabled="0" area="et_pb_widget_area_1"][/et_pb_sidebar][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
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* [Group Policy Blog](/pages/group-policy-blog.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_margin="||0px||false|false" custom_padding="||0px||false|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.0.9" custom_margin="||0px||false|false" custom_padding="||0px||false|false"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9"]Group Policy Blog by Darren Mar-Elia (The "GPOGUY")[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_row column_structure="2_3,1_3" _builder_version="4.0.9" collapsed="off"][et_pb_column type="2_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_blog include_categories="current,90,394,178,220,424,58,320,290,267,252,416,26,157,183,327,263,150,79,200,352,383,326,346,373,315,270,218,410,246,140,255,56,248,131,378,209,145,229,240,102,314,31,99,235,57,66,59,278,396,309,319,245,365,219,377,1,195,11,93,294,297,368,236,331,271,273,185,223" show_thumbnail="off" use_overlay="on" hover_icon="%%75%%" _builder_version="4.0.9" meta_font="Montserrat|||on|||||" read_more_font="|||on|||||" pagination_font="Montserrat|||on|||||" pagination_font_size="16px" hover_enabled="0"][/et_pb_blog][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_3" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_sidebar][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
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* [Group Policy Reporting Pak](/pages/group-policy-intune-governance/group-policy-reporting-pak.md) - Understand, audit, and optimize Group Policy configurations with detailed reports and actionable insights
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* [Group Policy Preference Password Remediation Utility](/pages/free-tools/group-policy-preference-password-remediation-utility.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on" da_disable_devices="off|off|off"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]Group Policy Preference Password Remediation Utility[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/GPPPasswordRemediate.png" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id="dl-count-btn" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column…
* [Group Policy Health Reporter 1.91](/pages/free-tools/group-policy-health-reporter-1-91.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on" da_disable_devices="off|off|off"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]Group Policy Health Reporter 1.9[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/GPHealth.png" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_id="dl-count-btn" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2"…
* [SDM GPMC 2.1 Module](/pages/free-tools/sdm-gpmc-2-1-module.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on" da_disable_devices="off|off|off"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.16" header_font="|||on|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]SDM GPMC 2.1 Module for Windows 10/11, Server 2012-R2, 2016,2019,2022 (PowerShell v4+)[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://sdmsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SDMGPMC.png"…
* [SDM GPMC 1.5 Cmdlets](/pages/389932-gpo-freeware-downloads/sdm-gpmc-1-5-cmdlets.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.9"][et_pb_row column_structure="1_2,1_2" _builder_version="4.0.9" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9" header_font="|||on|||||" hover_enabled="0"]SDM GPMC 1.5 Cmdlets for x64 Windows 7, Server 2008-R (PowerShell v2)[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://via.placeholder.com/717x500" show_in_lightbox="on" _builder_version="4.0.9"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_button button_url="#" button_text="Register To Download" _builder_version="4.0.9" hover_enabled="0"][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.0.9"…
* [Download A Trial](/pages/download-trial.md) - Download a free trial of SDM Software tools and see tight configuration change control across Group Policy and Intune in action
* [Change Manager for Group Policy and Intune](/pages/group-policy-intune-governance/change-manager-for-group-policy.md) - Control, audit, and automate Group Policy and Intune profile changes with versioning, workflows, and governance for hybrid environments.
* [SDM Software News](/pages/news.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.16" custom_margin="||0px||false|false" custom_padding="||0px||false|false" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.16" custom_margin="||0px||false|false" custom_padding="||0px||false|false" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.23.4" hover_enabled="0" global_colors_info="{}" sticky_enabled="0"]SDM Software News[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.23.4" hover_enabled="0" global_colors_info="{}" sticky_enabled="0"][et_pb_row column_structure="2_3,1_3" _builder_version="4.23.4" hover_enabled="0" collapsed="off" global_colors_info="{}" sticky_enabled="0"][et_pb_column type="2_3" _builder_version="4.16" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blog include_categories="461" show_thumbnail="off" show_content="on" show_author="off" show_date="off" show_categories="off" _builder_version="4.23.4"…
* [AGPM Replacement](/pages/agpm-replacement.md) - Replace the retiring AGPM with a modern solution with full GPO change control, versioning, approvals, Intune support, and automated rollback.
* [Thank you](/pages/thank-you-trial-download.md) - [et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.27.4" _module_preset="default" da_disable_devices="off|off|off" global_colors_info="{}" da_is_popup="off" da_exit_intent="off" da_has_close="on" da_alt_close="off" da_dark_close="off" da_not_modal="on" da_is_singular="off" da_with_loader="off" da_has_shadow="on"][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.27.4" _module_preset="default" max_width="813px" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.27.4" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.27.4" _module_preset="default" text_orientation="center" display_conditions="W3siaWQiOiJjZjUyNGZkZC1mMDc0LTQ4ZWMtODdkOS1jZTJiZDM2OTFmOTAiLCJjb25kaXRpb24iOiJ1cmxQYXJhbWV0ZXIiLCJjb25kaXRpb25TZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJzZWxlY3RVcmxQYXJhbWV0ZXIiOiJzcGVjaWZpY1VybFBhcmFtZXRlciIsInVybFBhcmFtZXRlck5hbWUiOiJwcm9kdWN0IiwiZGlzcGxheVJ1bGUiOiJlcXVhbHMiLCJ1cmxQYXJhbWV0ZXJWYWx1ZSI6IkdQIFJlcG9ydGluZyBQYWsiLCJhZG1pbkxhYmVsIjoiVVJMIFBhcmFtZXRlciIsImVuYWJsZUNvbmRpdGlvbiI6Im9uIn0sIm9wZXJhdG9yIjoiT1IifV0=" global_colors_info="{}"]GP REPORTING PAK[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.27.4" _module_preset="default" text_font="|700|||||||" text_orientation="center" display_conditions="W3siaWQiOiJjZjUyNGZkZC1mMDc0LTQ4ZWMtODdkOS1jZTJiZDM2OTFmOTAiLCJjb25kaXRpb24iOiJ1cmxQYXJhbWV0ZXIiLCJjb25kaXRpb25TZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJzZWxlY3RVcmxQYXJhbWV0ZXIiOiJzcGVjaWZpY1VybFBhcmFtZXRlciIsInVybFBhcmFtZXRlck5hbWUiOiJwcm9kdWN0IiwiZGlzcGxheVJ1bGUiOiJlcXVhbHMiLCJ1cmxQYXJhbWV0ZXJWYWx1ZSI6IkNoYW5nZSBNYW5hZ2VyIGZvciBHcm91cCBQb2xpY3kvSW50dW5lIiwiYWRtaW5MYWJlbCI6IlVSTCBQYXJhbWV0ZXIiLCJlbmFibGVDb25kaXRpb24iOiJvbiJ9LCJvcGVyYXRvciI6Ik9SIn1d" global_colors_info="{}"]CHANGE MANAGER FORGROUP POLICY/INTUNE[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version="4.27.4"…
* [Freeware](/pages/free-tools.md) - Free community tools to help Group Policy and Intune administrators manage configurations across the hybrid IT infrastructure