Group Policy Editor Does Not Apply Changes Immediately (283312)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows Advanced Server, Limited Edition
This article was previously published under Q283312
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the ""Restoring the Registry"" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the ""Restoring a Registry Key"" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you make changes by using Group Policy Editor (Gpedit.msc), the modifications may not be applied immediately.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur because changes to computer settings are not necessarily applied when you log on and off.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, you can update policies manually, restart the computer, or wait for automatic updating.

To update the modified group policy manually, start an command prompt and then type gpupdate /force. Although this command reapplies all policy settings, by default only policy settings that have changed are applied.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The computer Group Policy is automatically updated (refreshed) in the background every 90 minutes, with a random offset of 0 to 30 minutes. You can modify these settings.

Using Group Policy Editor to Modify the Refresh Intervals for Computers or Domain Controllers

To modify the Group Policy refresh interval for computers or domain controllers:
  1. Start Group Policy Editor (Gpedit.msc).
  2. Expand Local Computer Policy, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand System, and then click Group Policy.
  3. Double-click Group Policy refresh interval for computers or Group Policy refresh interval for domain controllers, depending on which Group Policy you want to modify the refresh interval for.
  4. Click Enabled, and then type the desired refresh rate and offset interval values.
  5. Click Apply or OK.

Using Registry Editor to Modify the Refresh and Offset Intervals in the Registry for Computers, Domain Controllers, or Users

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.


To modify the refresh interval for computers:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the GroupPolicyRefreshTime value under the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ System

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

  3. On the Edit menu, click REG_DWORD, type a number in the range 0 to 64800 to represent the minutes, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.

To modify the offset interval for computers:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffset value under the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ System

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

  3. On the Edit menu, click REG_DWORD, type a number in the range 0 to 1440 to represent the minutes, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.

To modify the refresh interval for domain controllers:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the GroupPolicyRefreshTimeDC value under the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ System

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

  3. On the Edit menu, click REG_DWORD, type a number in the range 0 to 64800 to represent the minutes, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.

To modify the offset interval for domain controllers:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffsetDC value under the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ System

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

  3. On the Edit menu, click REG_DWORD, type a number in the range 0 to 1440 to represent the minutes, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.

To modify the refresh interval for users:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the GroupPolicyRefreshTime value under the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ System

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

  3. On the Edit menu, click REG_DWORD, type a number in the range 0 to 64800 to represent the minutes, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.

To modify the offset interval for users:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffset value under the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ System

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

  3. On the Edit menu, click REG_DWORD, type a number in the range 0 to 1440 to specify the number of minutes, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

298444 Description of Group Policy Refresh Utility (GPUpdate)


NOTE: The following key is only present after adjusting the values through the Gpedit.msc (as described in the "Using Group Policy Editor to Modify the Refresh Intervals for Computers or Domain Controllers:"):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/22/2004
Keywords:kbConfig kbenv kbpolicy kbprb KB283312
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.