Group Policy Resources

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Resources

Important

For more information about Group Policy, see the Microsoft Group Policy home page on the Microsoft Web site.

You can use the following tools with Group Policy:

  • IntelliMirror--IntelliMirror is a set of powerful features for change and configuration management. IntelliMirror ensures that users' data, software, and personal settings are available when they move from one computer to another, and persist when their computers are connected to the network. IntelliMirror features are a subset of Group Policy, which in turn requires the Active Directory directory service. Not all of the tools associated with IntelliMirror technologies are available on all versions of Windows. Of those tools that are available on computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems, not all of them are appropriate for managing Windows computers. For more information, see IntelliMirror and Help for specific tools.

  • Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP)--Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) is an addition to Group Policy that makes it easier to implement and troubleshoot policy. RSoP is a query engine that polls existing policies--and also planned policies--and then reports the results of those queries. It polls existing policies based on site, domain, domain controller, and organizational unit. RSoP gathers this information from the CIMOM database (commonly referred to as "WMI"). For more information, see Resultant Set of Policy.

  • User profiles--On computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems, user profiles automatically create and maintain the desktop settings for each user's work environment on the local computer. A user profile is created for each individual user when logging on to a computer for the first time. You set a profile path from the Profile tab of a User object in Active Directory. For more information, see User Profiles.

  • Windows Installer--Windows Installer is an integral part of IntelliMirror, and a core component of the Windows Group Policy-based change and configuration management technology. By using the IntelliMirror technologies, Group Policy, and change and configuration management, you can approve certain applications, specifying that all configuration operations on those applications (installation, removal, and repair) run as the local system account. For more information, see Windows Installer.