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Q253672: Expected System and Group Policy Behavior in Windows 2000 Client

Article: Q253672
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): WINDOWS:2000
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbenv kbtool
Last Modified: 24-OCT-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article explains the expected behavior of System Policies in Microsoft
Windows NT 4.0 and Group Policies in Windows 2000 in a domain. The focus of this
article is on the default behavior of a Windows 2000 client in different domain
configurations.

MORE INFORMATION
================

In general, a Group Policy is dependent on the source location for the machine
or user account. For example, if you apply a computer Group Policy and the
machine account resides in an Windows NT 4.0 domain, Windows 2000 uses the
Ntconfig.pol file for the policy. If the computer is a member of a Windows 2000
domain, the Group Policy is applied and the Ntconfig.pol file is not processed.
This scenario is also true when you process user Group Policies.

Below is a matrix of the possible policy scenarios a Windows 2000 client may
encounter. We use the following acronyms for the objects:

- UAO: User Account Object
- MAO: Machine Account Object
- GPO: Group Policy Object (unique to Windows 2000
- SP: System Policy (Windows NT 4.0 .pol files)

NOTE: Each scenario assumes that the workstation or server client is running
Windows 2000.

The UAO and MAO Both Reside in a Windows 2000 Domain
----------------------------------------------------

- UAO applies the GPO.
- MAO applies the GPO.

The UAO Resides in a Windows 2000 Domain and the MAO Resides in a Windows NT 4.0 Domain
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- UAO applies the GPO.
- MAO applies the SP.

The UAO Resides in a Windows NT 4.0 Domain and the MAO Resides in a Windows 2000 Domain
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- UAO applies the SP.
- MAO applies the GPO. (Windows 2000 loopback is not available in this
  scenario.)

The UAO and MAO Both Reside in a Windows NT 4.0 Domain
------------------------------------------------------

- UAO applies the SP.
- MAO applies the SP.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information about loopback processing, click the article number
below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q231287 Loopback Processing of Group Policy

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbenv kbtool 
Technology        : kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000DataServ kbwin2000DataServSearch kbwin2000Serv kbwin2000ServSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Pro kbWinAdvServSearch kbWinDataServSearch
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Issue type        : kbinfo

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