Category: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

This policy setting allows you to prevent data loss when you change the target location for Folder Redirection and the new and old targets point to the same network share but have different network paths. If you enable this policy setting Folder Redirection creates a temporary file in the old location in order to verify that new and old locations point to the same network share. If both new and old locations point to the same share the target path is updated and files are not copied or deleted. The temporary file is deleted. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting Folder Redirection does not create a temporary file and functions as if both new and old locations point to different shares when their network paths are different. Note: If the paths point to different network shares this policy setting is not required. If the paths point to the same network share any data contained in the redirected folders is deleted if this policy setting is not enabled.

By default Add features to Windows 8. 1 is available for all administrators. If you enable this policy setting the wizard will not run. If you disable this policy setting or set it to Not Configured the wizard will run.

This policy setting allows you to control how BitLocker-protected removable data drives are recovered in the absence of the required credentials. This policy setting is applied when you turn on BitLocker. The “Allow data recovery agent” check box is used to specify whether a data recovery agent can be used with BitLocker-protected removable data drives. Before a data recovery agent can be used it must be added from the Public Key Policies item in either the Group Policy Management Console or the Local Group Policy Editor. Consult the BitLocker Drive Encryption Deployment Guide on Microsoft TechNet for more information about adding data recovery agents. In “Configure user storage of BitLocker recovery information” select whether users are allowed required or not allowed to generate a 48-digit recovery password or a 256-bit recovery key. Select “Omit recovery options from the BitLocker setup wizard” to prevent users from specifying recovery options when they turn on BitLocker on a drive. This means that you will not be able to specify which recovery option to use when you turn on BitLocker instead BitLocker recovery options for the drive are determined by the policy setting. In “Save BitLocker recovery information to Active Directory Domain Services” choose which BitLocker recovery information to store in AD DS for removable data drives. If you select “Backup recovery password and key package” both the BitLocker recovery password and key package are stored in AD DS. If you select “Backup recovery password only” only the recovery password is stored in AD DS. Select the “Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored in AD DS for removable data drives” check box if you want to prevent users from enabling BitLocker unless the computer is connected to the domain and the backup of BitLocker recovery information to AD DS succeeds. Note: If the “Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored in AD DS for fixed data drives” check box is selected a recovery password is automatically generated. If you enable this policy setting you can control the methods available to users to recover data from BitLocker-protected removable data drives. If this policy setting is not configured or disabled the default recovery options are supported for BitLocker recovery. By default a DRA is allowed the recovery options can be specified by the user including the recovery password and recovery key and recovery information is not backed up to AD DS

This policy setting controls the use of BitLocker on removable data drives. This policy setting is applied when you turn on BitLocker. When this policy setting is enabled you can select property settings that control how users can configure BitLocker. Choose “Allow users to apply BitLocker protection on removable data drives” to permit the user to run the BitLocker setup wizard on a removable data drive. Choose “Allow users to suspend and decrypt BitLocker on removable data drives” to permit the user to remove BitLocker Drive encryption from the drive or suspend the encryption while maintenance is performed. Consult the BitLocker Drive Encryption Deployment Guide on Microsoft TechNet for more information on suspending BitLocker protection. If you do not configure this policy setting users can use BitLocker on removable disk drives. If you disable this policy setting users cannot use BitLocker on removable disk drives.

This policy setting specifies whether a password is required to unlock BitLocker-protected removable data drives. If you choose to allow use of a password you can require a password to be used enforce complexity requirements and configure a minimum length. For the complexity requirement setting to be effective the Group Policy setting “Password must meet complexity requirements” located in Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Account Policies -> Password Policy -> must be also enabled. Note: These settings are enforced when turning on BitLocker not when unlocking a volume. BitLocker will allow unlocking a drive with any of the protectors available on the drive. If you enable this policy setting users can configure a password that meets the requirements that you define. To require the use of a password select “Require password for removable data drive”. To enforce complexity requirements on the password select “Require complexity”. When set to “Require complexity” a connection to a domain controller is necessary when BitLocker is enabled to validate the complexity the password. When set to “Allow complexity” a connection to a domain controller will be attempted to validate the complexity adheres to the rules set by the policy but if no domain controllers are found the password will still be accepted regardless of actual password complexity and the drive will be encrypted using that password as a protector. When set to “Do not allow complexity” no password complexity validation will be done. Passwords must be at least 8 characters. To configure a greater minimum length for the password enter the desired number of characters in the “Minimum password length” box. If you disable this policy setting the user is not allowed to use a password. If you do not configure this policy setting passwords will be supported with the default settings which do not include password complexity requirements and require only 8 characters. Note: Passwords cannot be used if FIPS-compliance is enabled. The “System cryptography: Use FIPS-compliant algorithms for encryption hashing and signing” policy setting in Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options specifies whether FIPS-compliance is enabled.

This policy setting configures whether BitLocker protection is required for a computer to be able to write data to a removable data drive. If you enable this policy setting all removable data drives that are not BitLocker-protected will be mounted as read-only. If the drive is protected by BitLocker it will be mounted with read and write access. If the “Deny write access to devices configured in another organization” option is selected only drives with identification fields matching the computer’s identification fields will be given write access. When a removable data drive is accessed it will be checked for valid identification field and allowed identification fields. These fields are defined by the “Provide the unique identifiers for your organization” policy setting. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting all removable data drives on the computer will be mounted with read and write access. Note: This policy setting can be overridden by the policy settings under User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Removable Storage Access. If the “Removable Disks: Deny write access” policy setting is enabled this policy setting will be ignored.

This policy setting configures whether or not removable data drives formatted with the FAT file system can be unlocked and viewed on computers running Windows Server 2008 Windows Vista Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) operating systems. If this policy setting is enabled or not configured removable data drives formatted with the FAT file system can be unlocked on computers running Windows Server 2008 Windows Vista Windows XP with SP3 or Windows XP with SP2 and their content can be viewed. These operating systems have read-only access to BitLocker-protected drives. When this policy setting is enabled select the “Do not install BitLocker To Go Reader on FAT formatted removable drives” check box to help prevent users from running BitLocker To Go Reader from their removable drives. If BitLocker To Go Reader (bitlockertogo. exe) is present on a drive that does not have an identification field specified or if the drive has the same identification field as specified in the “Provide unique identifiers for your organization” policy setting the user will be prompted to update BitLocker and BitLocker To Go Reader will be deleted from the drive. In this situation for the removable drive to be unlocked on computers running Windows Server 2008 Windows Vista Windows XP with SP3 or Windows XP with SP2 BitLocker To Go Reader must be installed on the computer. If this check box is not selected BitLocker To Go Reader will be installed on the removable drive to enable users to unlock the drive on computers running Windows Server 2008 Windows Vista Windows XP with SP3 or Windows XP with SP2 that do not have BitLocker To Go Reader installed. If this policy setting is disabled removable data drives formatted with the FAT file system that are BitLocker-protected cannot be unlocked on computers running Windows Server 2008 Windows Vista Windows XP with SP3 or Windows XP with SP2. Bitlockertogo. exe will not be installed. Note: This policy setting does not apply to drives that are formatted with the NTFS file system.

This policy setting allows you to specify whether smart cards can be used to authenticate user access to BitLocker-protected removable data drives on a computer. If you enable this policy setting smart cards can be used to authenticate user access to the drive. You can require a smart card authentication by selecting the “Require use of smart cards on removable data drives” check box. Note: These settings are enforced when turning on BitLocker not when unlocking a drive. BitLocker will allow unlocking a drive with any of the protectors available on the drive. If you disable this policy setting users are not allowed to use smart cards to authenticate their access to BitLocker-protected removable data drives. If you do not configure this policy setting smart cards are available to authenticate user access to a BitLocker-protected removable data drive.

This policy setting specifies whether a password is required to unlock BitLocker-protected fixed data drives. If you choose to permit the use of a password you can require that a password be used enforce complexity requirements on the password and configure a minimum length for the password. For the complexity requirement setting to be effective the Group Policy setting “Password must meet complexity requirements” located in Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Account Policies -> Password Policy -> must be also enabled. Note: These settings are enforced when turning on BitLocker not when unlocking a volume. BitLocker will allow unlocking a drive with any of the protectors available on the drive. If you enable this policy setting users can configure a password that meets the requirements you define. To require the use of a password select “Require password for fixed data drive”. To enforce complexity requirements on the password select “Require complexity”. When set to “Require complexity” a connection to a domain controller is necessary when BitLocker is enabled to validate the complexity the password. When set to “Allow complexity” a connection to a domain controller will be attempted to validate the complexity adheres to the rules set by the policy but if no domain controllers are found the password will still be accepted regardless of actual password complexity and the drive will be encrypted using that password as a protector. When set to “Do not allow complexity” no password complexity validation will be done. Passwords must be at least 8 characters. To configure a greater minimum length for the password enter the desired number of characters in the “Minimum password length” box. If you disable this policy setting the user is not allowed to use a password. If you do not configure this policy setting passwords will be supported with the default settings which do not include password complexity requirements and require only 8 characters. Note: Passwords cannot be used if FIPS-compliance is enabled. The “System cryptography: Use FIPS-compliant algorithms for encryption hashing and signing” policy setting in Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options specifies whether FIPS-compliance is enabled.