Be sure to disable computer/use settings on GPOs that have no settings in those sections, so the won't be scanned and time will be saved. As for merging I wouldn't recommend it. I'd just spend the time to recreate so you'll have a fresh GPO. Then delete the older GPOs and allow the system to clean up the sysvol. Or you could try the backup/restore method: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Backing-up-Restoring-GPOs-using-GPMC.html. Also, I thought I read someone or someone on this list mentioned that if you use WMI filters for your GPOs that could slow things down, since the filters need to be processed before the GPOs. I use several WMI filters (very handy to prevent policies running on servers or particular workstations). Our logins take a few moments but I always tell our users that same computer at home would be a little slower at work with the various software overhead. Also for 2008 there are some (optional ?) Microsoft updates to process GPO preferences. You may want to see if those are needed. I'm sure others will chime in with better wisdom... Tom Tom Miller Engineer, Information Technology Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board 757-788-0528
>>> "Matthew W. Ross" <mr...@ephrataschools.org> 6/9/2010 1:53 AM >>> AD question here: For our computers on our network, especially our XP machines, the "Applying Computer Settings" portion of the boot process takes a very long time (4 minutes?) which makes the initial login for our users a little painful. I am curious if I have something setup in a way that is not optimal: I have various GPOs set for different settings... and I have the broken up into individual GPOs. One for Automatic Updates, one for Internet Explorer Behavior, one for Time Synchronization... I probably have 20-30 different GPOs. All of this could be done with a lot fewer GPOs, but I originally designed it this way so that it would be easy to adjust settings. (Also because back in Windows Server 2000, it was difficult to tell what a single GPO effected, and where those settings were set.) Is this fracturing of GPO settings the reason my computers take so long to boot? Would consolidating these GPOs be faster? Also, is there a way to combine GPOs together? Otherwise I'll be doing it by hand. Thanks for any help on this. --Matt Ross Ephrata School District ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
