Non-Domain Administrators Cannot Modify Software Installation Category Properties (241266)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

This article was previously published under Q241266

SYMPTOMS

When a non-administrator user with permissions to edit a Group Policy Object (GPO) tries to change or modify Software Installation Categories properties, the user experiences problems. Specifically, when the user saves a new category or applies or saves changes to an existing category, the following error message is generated:
Cannot apply category changes.
An error occurred accessing the software installation data in the active directory. See the event log for additional details.
The Application event log contains the following event:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Software Installation
Event Category: None
Event ID: 101
Date: date
Time: time
User: N/A
Computer: server name
Description:
Software Installation encountered the following error:

CAUSE

This problem can occur because categories are created and maintained on a per-domain basis. Even though a user may manage a GPO and manage the software installation, the user may not be able to manage the categories. Only a domain administrator can manage (edit or create) the categories.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

The "Software Installation Categories" section is used to create or edit a category for displaying software in the Add/Remove Programs tool in the Control Panel. Note that ideally a user without access should not be allowed to edit the categories.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/13/2004
Keywords:kbbug kberrmsg kbtool KB241266