ARCHIVED: Using Windows 2000, how do I change the group policy refresh rate?

Note: The following information is intended for registered local support providers (LSPs) at Indiana University. If you are an LSP and have questions regarding the information in this document, contact LSP Services at  lsps@iu.edu ; otherwise, contact your campus Support Center.

Windows 2000 group policies are applied every time Windows 2000 starts up and each time a user logs into Windows 2000. Once Windows 2000 is running, it determines what policies should be applied. Administrators can specify whether a group policy should be refreshed in the background and how often.

The refresh interval value is a time between 0 (zero) minutes and 64,800 minutes (45 days). By default, Windows 2000 will use 90-minute intervals. If 0 (zero) is specified as the refresh interval, the refresh will actually occur every 7 seconds.

To avoid system and network performance degradation, Windows 2000 computers will add a random offset interval once a request for a group policy refresh has been made. The interval can range from 0 (zero) minutes to 1,440 minutes (24 hours). The default offset interval is 30 minutes.

To use a Group Policy Object (GPO) to change the behavior of multiple computers, follow these steps:

1. Log into Windows 2000 with administrative privileges.
   
   
2. Click Start and select Settings, then Control Panel.
   
   
3. Double-click Administrative Tools.
   
   
4. To make a modification at the domain or organizational unit levels, double-click Directory Management. To make a modification at the site level, double-click Active Directory Sites and then Services Manager.
   
   
5. Edit the GPO on the container where the GPO resides.
   
   
6. Double-click Computer Configuration, and then double-click Administrative Templates.
   
   
7. Double-click System, and then double-click Group Policy to display the group policy behavior policies.
   
   
8. The Group Policy refresh interval for computers and the Group Policy refresh interval for domain controllers policies exist for modifying the intervals for Windows 2000 computers and domain controllers. When a group policy is applied, the appropriate settings are used for the type of computer on which the policy is being applied. Double-click the appropriate policy.
   
   
9. Click to select the Group Policy refresh interval for computers checkbox so that you are able to modify the refresh and offset intervals settings on the Policy tab. Optionally, you can click to select the Disable background refresh of group policy checkbox in the "Disable background refresh of group policy" behavior policy.
   
   
10. Click OK, and then quit the Group Policy Editor snap-in.

This information was adapted from article 203607 at the Microsoft Help and Support web site.

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Also see:

• Using Microsoft Windows NTFS permissions, how do I add and remove users and give them access to shares?
• In Microsoft Active Directory, what are group policies?
• Using Microsoft Windows 2000, how do I force a group policy to be applied?
• In Windows 2000, XP, 2003, or Vista, why doesn't my group policy take effect immediately?
• Using Windows XP or Vista, how do I force a group policy to be applied?