Flash Tip: June 8, 2005
Group Policy Tip: Using local Administrative Templates when editing Group Policy Objects
by William R. Stanek, https://www.williamstanek.com
By default when you edit a Group Policy Object (GPO), the Administrative Template files are loaded from the GPO into the Group Policy Object Editor. This can affect the way you see policy in multiple language environments. For example, if you originally created the GPO on an English language system, the GPO contains the English language version of the Administrative Template files. If you later edit the GPO on a Spanish language system, you get the English language version of the templates.
By enabling Always Use Local ADM Files For The Group Policy Object Editor under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy, you can specify that the local version of Administrative Templates should be loaded instead of those used to originally create the GPO. This can be useful if you want to edit policy using your local language. However, if Administrative Template files you need are not available locally, you might not see all the settings that have been configured.
By default when you start the Group Policy Object Editor, your system checks the timestamp on the Administrative Templates in your local %SystemRoot%\Inf folder and compares it to the timestamp on the Administrative Templates stored in the GPO you are working with. If the local files are newer, they are copied into the GPO.
By enabling Turn Off Automatic Update Of ADM Files under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy, you can prevent automatic updates to the Administrative Template files in GPOs. Although this setting is helpful if you want to ensure that local source files are not copied into a GPO, careful thought should be given as to how it will affect Group Policy. This automatic update process is used, for example, to update Group Policy with new versions if you've installed new operating systems or new operating system service packs in your Active Directory environment.
Additionally, if Always Use Local ADM Files For The Group Policy Object Editor is enabled, the setting of Turn Off Automatic Update Of ADM Files is ignored.
William R. Stanek is a coauthor of Microsoft Windows Group Policy Guide and a number of other books from Microsoft Press. The Group Policy Guide is part of the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit. To learn more, visit the Microsoft Press Web site.