In an Active Directory domain environment, you configure the “Prohibit ‘Make Available Offline’ for these files and folders” Group Policy setting to prevent domain users from making files or folders available offline. When this Group Policy setting is applied to a Windows Vista-based client computer, the Always available offline check box is still visible in the Properties dialog box of the network share.

However, when a user tries to make the network share available offline, the action fails. Additionally, the user receives the following error message:

This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the set associations control panel.

Note: The Group Policy setting successfully removes the Always available offline check box on a Windows XP-based client computer.

Consider the following scenario:

• You are running Windows Internet Explorer 7 on a Windows-based computer.
• In a workgroup environment, you use Group Policy to disable the Turn on automatic detection of the intranet setting and to enable the Intranet Sites: Include all local (intranet) sites not listed in other zones setting.
• You use Internet Explorer 7 to access a local intranet site.

In this scenario, the local site is displayed through the Internet zone instead of through the “Local intranet” zone as expected.

In an Active Directory directory service domain environment, you configure the Internet Explorer Maintenance Group Policy settings. A user logs on to the domain from a Windows XP-based, or a Windows Server 2003-based client computer that has Internet Explorer 7 installed. However, the user experiences a 20-second logon delay compared with a client computer that has Internet Explorer 6 installed.

To verify this delay, you can view the contents of the Branding log file (Brndlog.txt) for Internet Explorer Maintenance.

Note: The Brndlog.txt file is in the following folder:

%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

In the Branding log file, you may see the information that resembles the following:

10/25/2007 10:36:37        Refreshing browser settings...
10/25/2007 10:36:37        Broadcasting "Windows settings change" to all top level windows...
10/25/2007 10:36:57        Done.

This sample shows that a 20-second delay occurs in the following phase:

Broadcasting “Windows settings change” to all top level windows

You have a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer or a Windows Vista-based computer in a domain. Some registry-based policy settings are lost on the computer when either of the following conditions is true:

• Group Policy settings are changed.
• Group Policy settings have to be reapplied at set intervals to the computers in the domain.

Additionally, error messages that resemble the following may be logged in the Application log:

Message 1

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Userenv
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1096
Date: 26/04/2006
Time: 06:14:57
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: Computer_Name
Description:
Windows cannot access the registry policy file, \\Domain.NET\SysVol\Domain.NET\Policies\{82787E36-87C9-4C34-AD95-72365A389553}\Machine\registry.pol. (The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.).

Message 2

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Userenv
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1043
Date: 26/04/2006
Time: 06:14:56
User:
Computer: Computer_Name
Description:
Windows cannot access the registry information at \\Domain.NET\SysVol\Domain.NET\Policies\{82787E36-87C9-4C34-AD95-72365A389553}\Machine\registry.pol. (The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.).

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Consider the following scenario. In a domain that uses the Active Directory directory service, you grant the “Change the time zone” user right to some users or to some groups. Then, you use Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) to generate a Group Policy Results report on a client computer that is running Windows Vista.

In this scenario, when you view the Group Policy Results report, the “Change the time zone” policy setting is absent.

Note: The “Change the time zone” policy setting is in the following location:

Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\User Rights Assignment

When you try to use the Use Folders instead of Library policy setting on a Windows Vista-based computer, the setting has no affect.

The Use Folders instead of Library policy setting is in the following location in the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC):

Local Computer Policy/User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Start Menu and Taskbar