Registry preference items allow you to create, update, replace, and delete keys and values (including name, type, and data) in the Windows registry. Before you create a Registry preference item, you should review the behavior of each type of action possible with this extension.
Creating a Registry item
To create a new Registry preference item |
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Open the Group Policy Management Console. Right-click the Group Policy object (GPO) that should contain the new preference item, and then click Edit.
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In the console tree under Computer Configuration or User Configuration, expand the Preferences folder, and then expand the Windows Settings folder.
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Right-click the Registry node, point to New, and select Registry Item.
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In the New Registry Item dialog box, select an Action for Group Policy to perform. (For more information, see "Actions" in this topic.)
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Enter registry settings for Group Policy to configure or remove. (For more information, see "Registry settings" in this topic.)
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Click the Common tab, configure any options, and then type your comments in the Description box. (For more information, see Configure Common Options.)
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Click OK. The new preference item appears in the details pane.
Actions
This type of preference item provides a choice of four actions: Create, Replace, Update, and Delete. The behavior of the preference item varies with the action selected and whether the registry key or value already exists.
Create |
Create a new registry value or key for computers or users. |
Delete |
Remove a registry value or a registry key and all of its values and subkeys for computers or users. |
Replace |
Delete and recreate a registry value or key for computers or users. If the target is a registry value, the net result of the Replace action is to overwrite all existing settings associated with the registry value. If the target is a registry key, the net result is to delete all values and subkeys in the key, leaving only a default value name with no data. If the registry value or key does not exist, then the Replace action creates a new registry value or key. |
Update |
Modify settings of an existing registry value or key for computers or users. This action differs from Replace in that it only updates settings defined within the preference item. All other settings remain as configured in the registry value or key. If the registry value or key does not exist, then the Update action creates a new registry value or key. |
Registry settings
You can click the Browse button next to the Key Path field to navigate to the registry value or key to be configured.
… |
If the registry value or key that you want to configure exists on this computer, click … to browse to the value or key. The remaining fields in the Properties dialog box are populated based on your selection. You can edit the values in those fields. To select a key without specifying a value (or if the value does not yet exist), click the key in the tree at the top of the window, and then click Select. |
Hive |
If you did not browse to a value or key, select the hive for the registry key.
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Key Path |
If you did not browse to a value or key, type the key path. Do not include the hive or a leading or trailing slash. This field accepts preference processing variables. Press F3 to display a list of variables from which you can select. |
Value name |
To configure a value, either select the Default checkbox to configure the default value for the key or type the name of the value to configure. To configure only a key, leave this field blank. This field accepts preference processing variables. Press F3 to display a list of variables from which you can select. |
Value type |
To configure a value, select the value type. To configure only a key, leave this field blank. This option is available only if the action selected is Create, Replace, or Update and if you have entered a Value name. |
Value data |
To configure value data, type the data for the registry value. To configure only a key, leave this field blank. This field accepts preference processing variables. Press F3 to display a list of variables from which you can select. This option is available only if the action selected is Create, Replace, or Update and if you have selected a Value type. |
Additional considerations
- Using the Registry Wizard, you can create
multiple Registry preference items based upon registry settings
that you select. For more information, see Create Multiple Registry
Items Using the Registry Wizard.
- You can organize Registry preference items by
dragging them into collections that you create. The structure of
collections of Registry preference items has no impact on the
position of keys and values in the Windows registry. For more
information, see Organize Registry
Items.
- You can use item-level targeting to change
the scope of preference items.
- Preference items are available only in
domain-based GPOs.
Additional references
- Registry
Extension
- For additional information on configuring
settings in Windows, see the Windows Server 2008 TechCenter
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91710).