Local Storage of ADMX Template Files

ADMX template files are stored locally on Windows 7 computers in the following locations:

• ADMX language-neutral (.admx) files Found under the %SystemRoot% \PolicyDefinitions folder.
• ADML language-specific (.adml) files Found under the %SystemRoot% \PolicyDefinitions\MUI_culture folders, where MUI_culture is the name of the installed language and culture. For example, .adml files for U.S. English are found under the %SystemRoot%\PolicyDefinitions\en-US folder.

Domain Storage of ADMX Template Files

You can copy ADMX template files to a central store in AD DS environments running Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2. This makes it easier to maintain a single master set of ADMX template files for all computers in the domain running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2. In addition, the GPMC in RSAT will automatically look for this central store; when the GPMC finds it, it will use the ADMX template files stored in this location instead of the ADMX template files stored on the local computer. Copying an ADMX template file from a computer running Windows 7 to the central store makes this ADMX template file available to Group Policy administrators anywhere in the domain and makes Group Policy settings display properly regardless of the administrator's locally installed language.

In a domain environment where the central store has been created and configured, ADMX template files are stored in the following locations on your domain controllers:

• ADMX language-neutral (.admx) files Found under the %SystemRoot%\sysvol \domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions folder.
• ADML language-specific (.adml) files Found under the %SystemRoot%\sysvol \domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions\MUI_culture folders, where MUI_culture is the name of the installed language. For example, .adml files for U.S. English are found under the %SystemRoot%\sysvol\domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions\en-US folder.

Note You must create and populate the central store with ADMX template files manually if you want to use this feature. For more information, see the section titled "Configuring the Central Store" later in this tutorial.