Group Policy Hides Both Add/Remove Programs and Folder Options Tools for Roaming Profiles (296962)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1

This article was previously published under Q296962

SYMPTOMS

After the Folder Options tool in Control Panel is hidden by using Group Policy, the Add/Remove Programs tool also disappears from Control Panel for users with roaming profiles, even though it is not restricted by a policy. For example, this symptom could occur when a user with a roaming profile logs on to one computer, opens Control Panel, logs off, logs on to a different computer, and then opens Control Panel on that different computer.

This symptom occurs if the Folder Options value is added to the "Hide specified control panel applets" policy, which can be found in a Group Policy Object (GPO) under:

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel

CAUSE

This problem can occur because the Add/Remove Programs and Folder Options tools in Control Panel are both contained in the same .cpl file, Appwiz.cpl. Control panel folder enumeration does not account for .cpl files that contain multiple tools.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version        Size       File name
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   14-Jun-2001  15:24  5.0.3315.3742  2,338,064  Shell32.dll

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do not apply the policy to hide the Folder Options tool in Control Panel.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249149 Installing Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Hotfixes

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	9/26/2005
Keywords:	kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbenv kbfix kbshell kbui kbWin2000PreSP3Fix kbWin2000sp3fix KB296962