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Conference decwet::windows-nt

Title:Windows NT
Notice:See note 15.0 for HCL location
Moderator:TARKIN::LIN.com::FOLEY
Created:Thu Oct 31 1991
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:6086
Total number of notes:31449

5741.0. "NT 4 policies.." by SIOG::KILROY () Tue Feb 25 1997 07:32

Hello,
    	A customer has the following query, Can anybody help?
    
    Regards,
    
    John Kilroy.
    
    The situation is this :
    He has installed 3 servers running NT 4.0.  
    There is a Primary Domain Caontoller & 2 Backup Domain Controllers.  
    He has 45 NT 4.0 workstations.  Both the Servers and workstations 
    are running service Pack 2.  He put a roaming profile on the PDC so 
    that everyone who logs on to the servers will get the same desktop 
    icons.  This works fine.

    His main problem is that the policies do not seem to work.  
    He wants to stop the user editing the registry on the local workstation 
    among other things.  He set the files system on workstations (NTFS)  to 
    read only.  

    This causes many problems.

    1. The users cannot save a default printer, so they cannot print.

    2. The 32 bit applications need to write to the registry and because 
    the file system is set to read only they can't write any info in the
    registry.  Therefore some applications won't work.

    3. This is all controlled by the policy which is pulled from the PDC.  
    He can't find any way to remove a policy once it has been implemented. 

    Is there a way of removing an active policy ? 

    He feels he may have set the registry to read only in the original 
    policy and cannot deactivate it.  

    He needs to be able to set the registry so that applications can write 
    to it but users cannot edit it, How is this possible ?
    
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5741.1Prepare to ReinstallCSC32::K_MEADOWSTue Feb 25 1997 09:5224
    The v4.0 policy stuff is not as straight forward as the readings might
    have you believe.
    Prepare your customer for reinstalling if they have made too many
    willy-nilly changes - especially editing registry permissions!
    
    The way policies are supposed to work - ntconfig.pol is merged with the
    users profile into hkey_current_user at logon.  ntconfig.pol comes from
    the domain where the account is.  removing the restrictive one should 
    restore back to "default" of none  - but it also may write the changes
    to the profile.
    
    The local administrator and domain admin users should still be able to
    access the registry on the clients if they did indeed edit the registry
    permissions but if there were major changes made I'd reinstall. 
    
     >He needs to be able to set the registry so that applications can write
    > to it but users cannot edit it, How is this possible ?
      
    There is a setting to disable registry edits in the Policy
    - its is usually better to restrict the use of the .exe than change
    permissions on the data.
    
    Have your customer set up a TEST environment and play there - it won't
    be so painful.
5741.2exitSIOG::KILROYThu Feb 27 1997 07:5927
    
    
    
    
    Hello again,
		 Thanks for your help.
    
    I passed on your advise to the customer and he tried 
    the following:
    He removed the NTCONFIG.POL file from the server and 
    workstation and the policy appears to remain active.  
    He installed a Back Domain Controller and promoted it 
    to be the Primary Domain Controller.  This should overwrite 
    an existing policy with a valid untouched policy but this 
    does not appear to have happened.

    Does he need to reinstall the workstations & servers ?
    
    Is there any information on the policy editor, particularly 
    the registry editing section I would appreciate a copy if you 
    have any.

    Regards,
    
    John Kilroy.
    
5741.3CSC32::K_MEADOWSThu Feb 27 1997 08:2718
    Check the resource kit for information on policies.  If your
    customer continues to have problems (and they have a support
    contract or a credit card) have them call the CSC - we have the machines
    to test this and with a call logged, the time AND the people
    that can call Microsoft for a clarification if needed.
    
    Now, if the policy is "still in effect" then it was merged
    with the profile and written when the user logged out.
    So, with your current config (no ntconfig.pol) logon a new user to
    verify that a new user does not have the restrictions.
    If so, you may be "saved" by deleting profiles.
    
    but there is that little matter of registry permissions that 
    were changed so depending on the state of the domain
    (production vs. test) reinstalling might be the best idea so you 
    start at a known place.
    
    karen