Group Policy Object Editor loads with "[strings] section is too long and has been truncated" message

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

Some of the new Administrative templates that are included with the SP2 updated for Windows XP will not fully load on earlier versions of gpedit. If you attempt to load one of the SP2 Administrative templates from an older version of gpedit, you will get multiple error messages about "The following entry in the [strings] section is too long and has been truncated".

Cause

This is caused by the earlier versions of gpedit incorrectly handling the "#if ver >=5" construct in the new Administrative templates. Once opened through gpedit, you get several error messages. If you click OK on all of the error messages, the Administrative template will load correctly. However, any policy settings that reference the new LISTBOX syntax will not be displayed. To fix this, update the version of gpedit that is installed on the computer. You can also update your computer's operating system to Windows XP SP2.

Solution

To fix this problem, update your software to Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1. To download hot fixes for all operating systems, see "The following entry in the [strings] section is too long and has been truncated" error message when you try to modify or to view GPOs in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional, or Windows 2000 on the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=43056).