U kunt een aanpassing in de policy setting snel doorvoeren door op de server het commando gpudate /force uit te voeren. Voor sommige policies blijft echter een reboot of opnieuw inloggen noodzakelijk, zoals bijvoorbeeld voor software policies.
Gpupdate
I am so pleased that Windows 2000's Secedit has been superseded by Gpupdate on XP, the old Secedit syntax was horrendous. Mostly, I just run plain Gpupdate in a 'Dos Box', occasionally, I append the following switches:
/force reapplies all settings.
/target:computer or /target:user applies only the user or computer section of your policy. Normally I would use plain Gpupdate without the optional target switch.
/logoff Useful for settings that do not apply until the user logs on again.
/boot Handy for configurations which need the computer to restart.
N.B. /boot does not mean apply the settings every time the computer reboots.
Gpresult
While, I prefer the GPMC console above, Gpresult is a handy command line utility to display the results of Group Policy. What I particularly like is the /user switch. Take the example where you are logged on as the administrator, but wish to test a user called Psycho's settings. Rather than logoff then logon as that user, just type: gpresult /USER psycho. Do remember the /USER. This command would be a mistake: gpresult /psycho.
Dcgpofix
This handy command line utility restores the two default Group Policy objects to their original state (Domain and Domain Controllers). You find this 'get out of jail card' = Dcpgofix in the \windows\repair folder. However because the \windows folder is in the 'Path' you can just run Dcpgofix in a 'Dos Box.
Syntax and Switches
dcgpofix [/ignoreschema][/target: {domain | dc | both}]
Example: dcgpofix /target: GuyDom
Caution
This tool will restore the default domain policy and also the default domain controllers policy to their state just after installation. Naturally, when you run dcgpofix, you lose all changes made to these Group Policies.
By specifying the /ignoreschema parameter, you can enable Dcgpofix.exe to work with different versions of Active Directory. However, default policy objects might not be restored to their original state. To ensure compatibility, use the version of Dcgpofix.exe that is installed with the operating system.