The same Microsoft who says there should be no User Settings in the Default Domain Policy. Well crap! I didn’t put those User Settings in my brand new Default Domain Policy, Microsoft did. With no additional configuration, other than to install the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), I edited the never touched by Webster’s hands Default Domain Policy. How did those User Settings get in the Default Domain Policy? To find out, I created a new Windows Server 2003 R2 server and made it a domain controller for a new forest consisting of one domain. In SP2, RIS was replaced by Windows Deployment Services. RIS used PXE to allow the automated installation of Windows Server 2003. Remote Installation Services (RIS) came with pre-SP2 versions of Windows Server 2003. How can it be removed if it doesn’t exist? How did those User Settings get in the Default Domain Policy? What is Remote Installation Services? Oh wait, there is no Remote Installation Services node available. No problem, right? Just edit the Default Domain Policy, go to User Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Remote Installation Services, as shown in Figure 2. The User Settings I see in almost every Default Domain Policy are shown in Figure 1. Why? Because Microsoft says only four groups of settings should be configured in the Default Domain Policy. One of the things I look for are User Settings in the Default Domain Policy. I do a LOT of Active Directory (AD) Health Checks.
