Windows 7 not receiving all Group Policy settings in 2003/2008 R2 domain
We have recently began the process of upgrading our systems to Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7. So far we have installed a new 2008 R2 DC and moved all of the FSMO roles to it, and we have deployed Windows 7 clients to a small group of test users. I have noticed that our Windows 7 clients do not seem to be getting all of our Group Policy settings. We have an OU for client workstations, so our Group Policy settings for clients are set at this OU level, and not the domain level. When I say "all" settings, the Windows 7 clients do seem to get some of the settings and I think I have found a pattern. Policies that are defined in Windows 2003 under the Administrative Templates section are the ones that seem to not take effect. This also shows up on 2008 R2 under Policies --> Administrative Templates (though here it specifies they are ADMX files retrieved from the central store). However, if I make a setting such as changing the max size of the Event Viewer Application Log, the Windows 7 client receives that update and makes the change. Although it's just a theory at this point, the problem seems to be tied to the Administrative Templates policies. The policies I've been working with the most so far are the ones in Windows Update, because I'm trying to implement a WSUS server. Another note to mention is it doesn't matter if I make the change on the 2003 or 2008 R2 system, while the policy shows up with the same setting on either server, the Windows 7 client still does not get it. On the Windows 2008 R2 system, I copied the policy from %systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions to the SYSVOL\sysvol\<domainname>\Policies\PolicyDefinitions folder so they would show up. Also, a gpresult command on the Windows 7 client does show the GPO being properly applied.
February 4th, 2010 3:39pm

Sorry don't have my glasses so it makes it hard for me to read too much for details, but from what I can see, I didn't see you copy the Windows 7 policydefinitions folder contents to the server's central store. Rather than post the contents here, I'll let you go there to read the solution ;) http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverGP/thread/91cef658-067f-4590-911e-b78c8b31d5ac Just a minor mis-step you'll have it working in no time.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]
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February 4th, 2010 6:02pm

I did copy the Windows Update PolicyDefinition from the Windows 2008 R2 server from %systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions to the SYSVOL\sysvol\<domainname>\Policies\PolicyDefinitions, which I believe is the Central Store. Shouldn't doing this allow my Windows 7 clients to update their Group Policy settings by modifying the Windows Update PolicyDefinition in the Central Store by using the Windows 2008 R2 GPMC? Do I instead need to remove my Central Store to allow Windows 7 clients to get these updates? I read the idea about using a Terminal Server to store ADMX files so it can behave similar to a Central Store, without having the replication traffic between DCs. I'm a bit confused, because if the Central Store is removed, so the Terminal Server looks to its own local store for PolicyDefinitions, how does changing these local PolicyDefinition GPOs affect changes on DCs that push settings to clients? Even if this works, why not just remove the Central Store on the DCs and have them use their local PolicyDefinitions store and not use the Terminal Server, or have a Central Store? It seems like it accomplishes the same thing without the need for an extra server. Also, I noticed from your link that I posted this in the wrong forum; sorry. I thought this would be a Windows 7 issue, and I didn't even notice a separate Group Policy forum.
February 4th, 2010 7:45pm

I take it you didn't read the link. You have to copy the Windows 7 policydefinition content if you want policies defined for Windows7 to apply. Windows Server 2008 R2 didn't know about Winodws 7 at the time. MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]
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February 5th, 2010 5:09am

Thanks for the feedback and my apologies for the mis-communication. I did read the link you posted, and I also read the other link that were posted from that thread, http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2009/12/09/windows-7-windows-server-2008-r2-and-the-group-policy-central-store.aspx ; this is where I got the idea of the Terminal Server Central Store. My reply in reference to using the Windows 2008 R2 Policy Definition is because I noticed that the Windows 2008 R2 Policy Definition and the Windows 7 Policy Definition have the same name, the same date and time stamp, the same metadata info, the same contents, the same MD5 hash, a quote from a link http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2009/12/09/windows-7-windows-server-2008-r2-and-the-group-policy-central-store.aspx from the link you posted says "So, when we released Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, we also released a new set of ADMX files (within the operating system)." among many other references in that link implying them to be the same, and since 2008 R2 and Windows 7 were released at the same time I assumed the files were the same and either should work. I now have copied the Windows 7 Policy Definition content as you suggested and it still does not work for me.
February 5th, 2010 9:59pm

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