Anyone who has ever used Group Policy knows that it’s a powerful ally in the battle to standardize configuration settings and lock down user desktops. However, with literally hundreds of different configurable options, finding the settings you’re looking for can often be a frustrating experience.
Thankfully, help is out there, even if it is a little tough to find. With the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft makes an Excel spreadsheet available that not only lists all of the individual Group Policy settings (including all SP2 updates), but also lists their related Registry locations. This is a great tool for any administrator looking to dig deeper into the details of deploying policy settings to Windows XP Professional systems. All settings are organized on different tabs according to their corresponding ADM files, helping to keep things a little more orderly than they would otherwise be.
As a side benefit, the information provided in this file may also be useful to any administrator looking for a way to lock down Windows XP Home systems in small office environments. While XP Home doesn’t include the Group Policy tool, you could use the information found in this file to take advantage of certain policy settings using the Registry Editor.
So where can you find this great little reference? Just follow this link to the Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.
