Category: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional

Specifies an alternate location for Windows Service Pack installation files. If you enable this policy setting enter the fully qualified path to the new location in the “Windows Service Pack Setup file path” box. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the Windows Service Pack Setup source path will be the location used during the last time Windows Service Pack Setup was run on the system.

Specifies an alternate location for Windows installation files. If you enable this policy setting enter the fully qualified path to the new location in the “Windows Setup file path” box. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the Windows Setup source path will be the location used during the last time Windows Setup was run on the system.

This policy setting specifies whether Security Center is turned on or off for computers that are joined to an Active Directory domain. When Security Center is turned on it monitors essential security settings and notifies the user when the computer might be at risk. The Security Center Control Panel category view also contains a status section where the user can get recommendations to help increase the computer’s security. When Security Center is not enabled on the domain neither the notifications nor the Security Center status section are displayed. Note that Security Center can only be turned off for computers that are joined to a Windows domain. When a computer is not joined to a Windows domain the policy setting will have no effect. If you do not congifure this policy setting the Security Center is turned off for domain members. If you enable this policy setting Security Center is turned on for all users. If you disable this policy setting Security Center is turned off for domain members. Windows XP SP2———————-In Windows XP SP2 the essential security settings that are monitored by Security Center include firewall antivirus and Automatic Updates. Note that Security Center might not be available following a change to this policy setting until after the computer is restarted for Windows XP SP2 computers. Windows Vista———————In Windows Vista this policy setting monitors essential security settings to include firewall antivirus antispyware Internet security settings User Account Control and Automatic Updates. Windows Vista computers do not require a reboot for this policy setting to take effect.

This policy setting determines whether the RPC Runtime maintains RPC state information for the system and how much information it maintains. Basic state information which consists only of the most commonly needed state data is required for troubleshooting RPC problems. If you disable this policy setting the RPC runtime defaults to “Auto2” level. If you do not configure this policy setting the RPC defaults to “Auto2” level. If you enable this policy setting you can use the drop-down box to determine which systems maintain RPC state information. — “None” indicates that the system does not maintain any RPC state information. Note: Because the basic state information required for troubleshooting has a negligible effect on performance and uses only about 4K of memory this setting is not recommended for most installations. — “Auto1” directs RPC to maintain basic state information only if the computer has at least 64 MB of memory. — “Auto2” directs RPC to maintain basic state information only if the computer has at least 128 MB of memory and is running Windows 2000 Server Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. — “Server” directs RPC to maintain basic state information on the computer regardless of its capacity. — “Full” directs RPC to maintain complete RPC state information on the system regardless of its capacity. Because this level can degrade performance it is recommended for use only while you are investigating an RPC problem. Note: To retrieve the RPC state information from a system that maintains it you must use a debugging tool. Note: This policy setting will not be applied until the system is rebooted.

This policy setting controls whether the RPC runtime generates extended error information when an error occurs. Extended error information includes the local time that the error occurred the RPC version and the name of the computer on which the error occurred or from which it was propagated. Programs can retrieve the extended error information by using standard Windows application programming interfaces (APIs). If you disable this policy setting the RPC Runtime only generates a status code to indicate an error condition. If you do not configure this policy setting it remains disabled. It will only generate a status code to indicate an error condition. If you enable this policy setting the RPC runtime will generate extended error information. You must select an error response type in the drop-down box. — “Off” disables all extended error information for all processes. RPC only generates an error code. — “On with Exceptions” enables extended error information but lets you disable it for selected processes. To disable extended error information for a process while this policy setting is in effect the command that starts the process must begin with one of the strings in the Extended Error Information Exception field. — “Off with Exceptions” disables extended error information but lets you enable it for selected processes. To enable extended error information for a process while this policy setting is in effect the command that starts the process must begin with one of the strings in the Extended Error Information Exception field. — “On” enables extended error information for all processes. Note: For information about the Extended Error Information Exception field see the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). Note: Extended error information is formatted to be compatible with other operating systems and older Microsoft operating systems but only newer Microsoft operating systems can read and respond to the information. Note: The default policy setting “Off” is designed for systems where extended error information is considered to be sensitive and it should not be made available remotely. Note: This policy setting will not be applied until the system is rebooted.

This policy setting allows you to turn on or turn off Offer (Unsolicited) Remote Assistance on this computer. If you enable this policy setting users on this computer can get help from their corporate technical support staff using Offer (Unsolicited) Remote Assistance. If you disable this policy setting users on this computer cannot get help from their corporate technical support staff using Offer (Unsolicited) Remote Assistance. If you do not configure this policy setting users on this computer cannot get help from their corporate technical support staff using Offer (Unsolicited) Remote Assistance. If you enable this policy setting you have two ways to allow helpers to provide Remote Assistance: “Allow helpers to only view the computer” or “Allow helpers to remotely control the computer. ” When you configure this policy setting you also specify the list of users or user groups that are allowed to offer remote assistance. To configure the list of helpers click “Show. ” In the window that opens you can enter the names of the helpers. Add each user or group one by one. When you enter the name of the helper user or user groups use the following format: -> or -> If you enable this policy setting you should also enable firewall exceptions to allow Remote Assistance communications. The firewall exceptions required for Offer (Unsolicited) Remote Assistance depend on the version of Windows you are running. Windows Vista and laterEnable the Remote Assistance exception for the domain profile. The exception must contain:Port 135:TCP%WINDIR% -> System32 -> msra. exe%WINDIR% -> System32 -> raserver. exeWindows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)Port 135:TCP%WINDIR% -> PCHealth -> HelpCtr -> Binaries -> Helpsvc. exe%WINDIR% -> PCHealth -> HelpCtr -> Binaries -> Helpctr. exe%WINDIR% -> System32 -> Sessmgr. exeFor computers running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)Port 135:TCP%WINDIR% -> PCHealth -> HelpCtr -> Binaries -> Helpsvc. exe%WINDIR% -> PCHealth -> HelpCtr -> Binaries -> Helpctr. exeAllow Remote Desktop Exception

This policy setting allows you to turn on or turn off Solicited (Ask for) Remote Assistance on this computer. If you enable this policy setting users on this computer can use email or file transfer to ask someone for help. Also users can use instant messaging programs to allow connections to this computer and you can configure additional Remote Assistance settings. If you disable this policy setting users on this computer cannot use email or file transfer to ask someone for help. Also users cannot use instant messaging programs to allow connections to this computer. If you do not configure this policy setting users can turn on or turn off Solicited (Ask for) Remote Assistance themselves in System Properties in Control Panel. Users can also configure Remote Assistance settings. If you enable this policy setting you have two ways to allow helpers to provide Remote Assistance: “Allow helpers to only view the computer” or “Allow helpers to remotely control the computer. “The “Maximum ticket time” policy setting sets a limit on the amount of time that a Remote Assistance invitation created by using email or file transfer can remain open. The “Select the method for sending email invitations” setting specifies which email standard to use to send Remote Assistance invitations. Depending on your email program you can use either the Mailto standard (the invitation recipient connects through an Internet link) or the SMAPI (Simple MAPI) standard (the invitation is attached to your email message). This policy setting is not available in Windows Vista since SMAPI is the only method supported. If you enable this policy setting you should also enable appropriate firewall exceptions to allow Remote Assistance communications.

Specifies an alternate link layer (Layer-2) priority value for packets with the Controlled Load service type (ServiceTypeControlledLoad). The Packet Scheduler inserts the corresponding priority value in the Layer-2 header of the packets. If you enable this setting you can change the default priority value associated with the Controlled Load service type. If you disable this setting the system uses the default priority value of 0. Important: If the Layer-2 priority value for this service type is specified in the registry for a particular network adapter this setting is ignored when configuring that network adapter.

The Shutdown Event Tracker can be displayed when you shut down a workstation or server. This is an extra set of questions that is displayed when you invoke a shutdown to collect information related to why you are shutting down the computer. If you enable this setting and choose “Always” from the drop-down menu list the Shutdown Event Tracker is displayed when the computer shuts down. If you enable this policy setting and choose “Server Only” from the drop-down menu list the Shutdown Event Tracker is displayed when you shut down a computer running Windows Server. (See “Supported on” for supported versions. )If you enable this policy setting and choose “Workstation Only” from the drop-down menu list the Shutdown Event Tracker is displayed when you shut down a computer running a client version of Windows. (See “Supported on” for supported versions. )If you disable this policy setting the Shutdown Event Tracker is not displayed when you shut down the computer. If you do not configure this policy setting the default behavior for the Shutdown Event Tracker occurs. Note: By default the Shutdown Event Tracker is only displayed on computers running Windows Server.