Periodic Refresh Processing

You can specify that Group Policy be processed periodically. By default, this is done every 90 minutes with a randomized offset of up to 30 minutes. You can change these default values by using a Group Policy setting in Administrative Templates. Setting the value to zero minutes causes the refresh rate to be set to seven seconds.

If you want to change this setting, edit the Default Domain Controllers Group Policy object. It is linked to the Domain Controllers organizational unit. The setting is located under Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/System/Group Policy/Group Policy Refresh Interval for Computers.

Caution

Short refresh intervals are intolerable in a production environment. Every policy refresh causes the Windows shell to be refreshed, which in turn causes all open context menus to close, a brief flicker of the screen, and so on. Such intervals are intended to be used only in test or demonstration scenarios.

The default period is every five minutes for domain controllers. There is a setting for this under Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/System/Group Policy/Group Policy Refresh Interval for Domain Controllers.

Software Installation and Folder Redirection processing occurs only during computer startup or when the user logs on, not during the periodic refresh. For these extensions, periodic processing is inappropriate. For example, in the case of Software Installation, if an application is no longer assigned, it can be removed automatically, if you have used Group Policy to set it up that way. If a user is using the application while Group Policy tries to uninstall it, or if an assigned application upgrade takes place while a user is using it, the user will encounter an error.