Re: Important information about XP SP2 .ADM Files

From: Darren Mar-Elia (dmanonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 08/09/04 

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 16:01:59 -0700

Hey Mark-
Will the new SP2 ADMs be available as a separate download on the ADM
download site
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=92759D4B-7112-4B6C-AD4A-BBF3802A5C9B&displaylang=en)
soon? 

-- 
Darren Mar-Elia
MS-MVP-Windows Management
http://www.gpoguy.com
"Mark Williams [MSFT]" <markwill@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message 
news:%233iFY5jfEHA.596@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> As you know, Microsoft has recently announcement the pending availability 
> of Windows XP Service Pack 2. I won't describe the multitude of benefits 
> associated with this service pack, especially from a security perspective 
> (these are well documented here: 
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx), but I do want to 
> bring your attention to an important issue related to Group Policy.
>
> Many of the central features in Windows XP Service Pack 2, such the 
> Windows Firewall and enhanced Internet Explorer functionality, can be 
> managed through Group Policy. In fact, my team has been heavily involved 
> with supporting the teams who have added the 600+ new policy settings 
> available in the XP SP2 versions of the .adm files. XP SPS2 is the most 
> policy-enabled operating system / service pack we have ever shipped. 
> Numerically, much of this increase in policy settings is attributable to 
> repeated "groups" of policy settings in IE (across the various IE zones) 
> but there is still a much richer set of policy settings that, we believe, 
> is a key factor improving the manageability of Windows XP through Group 
> Policy. By way of example, the new Windows Firewall (turned on by default 
> in XP SP2) has a broad range of policy settings to "custom fit" this 
> component to your specific needs - which ports and programs you allow, 
> management of remote administration and file/print services ports and so 
> on. All told, Group Policy represents the primary mechanism through which 
> you can manage the new features of XP SP2 in an Active Directory 
> environment.
>
> As well as highlighting these changes, I wanted to bring your attention to 
> an important issue around the use of the .ADM files we ship with XP SP2. 
> These files use syntax that has been available for some time but which has 
> exposed some issues with earlier versions of the Group Policy Object 
> Editor (GPEdit). In a nutshell, if you load the XP SP2 files from earlier 
> versions of GPEdit (across Windows 2000, XP or Windows Server 2003), 
> GPEdit will generate multiple "string too long" error messages.
>
> By default GPEdit compares the timestamps of the files stored in a GPO (in 
> Sysvol) with those on the administrative machine and, if the latter are 
> more recent, will upload the .ADM files to the GPO, in Sysvol. What this 
> means is that the act of viewing a GPO (no changes to the GPO are 
> necessary) will result in the new .ADM files being uploaded and, 
> eventually, used by other versions of GPEdit around your network that are 
> not yet running XP SP2. NOTE THAT THIS IS PURELY AN ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUE - 
> this has no implications for the actual application of Group Policy to 
> machines or users.
>
> To this end we are making available a number of hotfixes that will resolve 
> this issue. The Windows 2000 fix is available today and we expect to be 
> the others (for Windows Server 2003 and XP SP1) to be available later this 
> week. Initially, the fixes will be available through Microsoft Product 
> Support Services (PSS) but in due course we plan to release these directly 
> to the Microsoft Download Center.
>
> Further details of this can be found in KB 842933 
> (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842933). We will be 
> updating this regularly as the fixes become available through PSS and, 
> subsequently, through the Download Center.
>
> Please let us know if you have any questions.
>
> Mark Williams
> Program Manager, Group Policy
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/grouppolicy
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no 
> rights.
>
>

Relevant Pages

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