Configuring Power Options Using Domain Policies

Using group policies to manage the power profiles on Windows systems is a feature that has been missing and desired for many years. Starting with Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista and Windows 7 power plans can be defined and applied using domain policies using computer preference settings. To configure a centrally managed power plan for Windows Vista and later operating systems, perform the following steps:

1. Log on to a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 administrative server.
2. Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and select Group Policy Management.
3. Add the necessary domains to the GPMC as required.
4. Expand the Domains node to reveal the Group Policy Objects container.
5. Create a new GPO called PowerProfileGPO and open it for editing.
6. After the PowerProfileGPO is opened for editing in the Group Policy Management Editor, expand the Computer Configuration node and expand the Preferences node.
7. Expand the Control Panel Settings, right-click the Power Options node, and select New - Power Plan (Windows Vista and Later).
8. On the Advanced Settings page, change the default action to Update, change the default power plan from Balanced to High Performance, check the Set as the Active Power Plan check box, and click OK to complete the settings. If desired, change any of the default settings to other values.
9. Close the Group Policy Management Editor and link the policy in the Group Policy Management Console to a test organizational unit.
10. Once the new policy passes validation testing, link it to a production organizational unit as desired.

Managing Scheduled Tasks and Immediate Tasks with Domain Policies

There are many times when Group Policy administrators would have liked to run an application or a command on a remote machine without having to reboot or log on to that particular system. For example, there might be a critical security or application update that needs to be rolled out and executed immediately. Historically, this would require a new group policy with a script or software package assigned and the machine would need to be rebooted to run the script or install the application. Now with Windows Server 2008 R2, this can be accomplished with the new Scheduled Task and Immediate Task preference settings for both Windows XP and Windows Vista and later operating systems. As an example of this that ties to the previous section on AppLocker, the policy administrators can create a policy that sets the Application Identity service to Automatic Startup mode, and they can create another policy that uses the computer Scheduled Task Immediate Task preference to start the service by running the command Net Start AppIDSvc. To create a Scheduled Task or Immediate Task preference setting for a computer, create a new domain policy, open the policy for editing and navigate to the Computer Configuration\Preferences\Control Panel\Scheduled Tasks node. Right-click on the node and select New - Immediate Task (Windows Vista and Later). Configure and save the task settings. Save the policy and test it out to verify it works as desired, and then deploy it in production or recreate it as a starter GPO so that it can be updated and reused as a template.