Windows 7 / Getting Started

Using Advanced Group Policy Management

Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 4.0, which supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, will be part of the R2 release of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2009, a dynamic desktop solution available to Software Assurance (SA) customers that helps application deployment costs, supports delivery of applications as services, and allows for easier management and control of enterprise desktop environments. AGPM was originally based on GPOVault Enterprise Edition, a software solution developed by Desktop- Standard and acquired by Microsoft. AGPM integrates seamlessly with the GPMC and provides the following benefits relating to Group Policy management in enterprise environments:

  • More granular administrative control through role-based administration, a robust delegation model, and change-request approval.
  • Reduced risk of Group Policy failures by supporting offline editing of GPOs, recovery of deleted GPOs, repair of live GPOs, difference reporting, and audit logging.
  • More effective Group Policy change management through the creation of GPO template libraries, version tracking, history capture, quick rollback of deployed changes, and subscription to policy change e-mail notifications.

For more information about AGPM and other MDOP technologies, see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/default.aspx.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing the Desktop Environment
  2. Understanding Group Policy in Windows 7
  3. Group Policy Before Windows Vista
  4. Group Policy in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
  5. New Group Policy Features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  6. Group Policy Policy Settings in Windows 7
  7. Understanding ADMX Template Files
  8. Types of ADMX Template Files
  9. Local Storage of ADMX Template Files
  10. Considerations When Working with ADMX Template Files
  11. Understanding Multiple Local Group Policy
  12. MLGPOs and Group Policy Processing
  13. Managing Group Policy
  14. Adding ADMX Templates to the Store
  15. Creating and Managing GPOs
  16. Using Starter GPOs
  17. Creating and Managing GPOs Using the GPMC
  18. Creating and Managing GPOs Using Windows PowerShell
  19. Editing GPOs
  20. Configuring Policy Settings
  21. Configuring Preference Items
  22. Managing MLGPOs
  23. Migrating ADM Templates to ADMX Format
  24. Converting ADM Template Files to ADMX Format
  25. Creating and Editing Custom ADMX Template Files
  26. Configuring Group Policy Processing
  27. Using Advanced Group Policy Management
  28. Troubleshooting Group Policy
  29. Enabling Debug Logging
  30. Using Group Policy Log View
  31. Using GPResult