fleex255 / policyplus

Local Group Policy Editor plus more, for all Windows editions

Policy Plus

Local Group Policy Editor plus more, for all Windows editions.

Goals

Policy Plus is intended to make the power of Group Policy settings available to everyone.

• Run and work on all Windows editions, not just Pro and Enterprise
• Comply fully with licensing (i.e. transplant no components across Windows installations)
• View and edit Registry-based policies in local GPOs, per-user GPOs, individual POL files, offline Registry user hives, and the live Registry
• Navigate to policies by ID, text, or affected Registry entries
• Show additional technical information about objects (policies, categories, products)
• Provide convenient ways to share and import policy settings

Non-Registry-based policies (i.e. items outside the Administrative Templates branch of the Group Policy Editor) currently have no priority, but they may be reconsidered at a later date.

Quick intro

At startup, Policy Plus opens the last saved policy source, or the local Group Policy Object (Local GPO) by default. To open a different policy source (like a Registry branch or a per-user GPO), use File | Open Policy Resources.

Much like the official Group Policy editor, categories are shown in the left tree. Information on the selected object is shown in the middle. Policies and subcategories in the selected category are shown in the right list. By default, both user and computer policies are displayed, but you can focus on just one policy source using the drop-down in the upper left.

To edit a policy, double-click it. If the selected setting applies to both users and computers, you can switch sections with the "Editing for" drop-down. Click OK to keep the changes to the setting. Notice: If a policy source is backed by a POL file (like Local GPO), changes to it will not be committed to disk until you use File | Save Policies (Ctrl+S).

System requirements

Policy Plus requires .NET Framework 4.5 or newer. That can be installed on Windows Vista or newer, and comes preinstalled on Windows 8 or newer. Policy Plus should also work on the corresponding server OSes: Windows Server 2008 or newer. The standard .NET Framework hardware requirements are sufficient for Policy Plus.

Special considerations for use on Home editions

Some administrative templates are present by default on these editions, but many are missing. The newest full package can be downloaded from Microsoft and installed with Help | Acquire ADMX Files.

The RefreshPolicyEx native function has reduced functionality on editions without full Group Policy infrastructure, so while Policy Plus can edit the local GPO and apply the changes to the Registry, a reboot or logon/logoff cycle is required for some policy changes to take effect.

While the UI allows the creation and editing of per-user GPOs, their settings cannot be applied on these limited editions of Windows. If you need to change a policy setting for only one user, open the "user hive" source instead. Per-user local GPOs, a fairly arcane Windows feature, are not to be confused with policies that apply to the User section. Policy Plus supports user policies on Home editions just as well as computer policies.

Status

Policy Plus is usable on all editions. It can load and save all policy sources successfully. More features may be still to come, though.

Download

Download a release build from the Releases page. Updates are published as GitHub releases after it is verified that they are fit for public use. Note that Policy Plus is still pre-release software, so there may be bugs; please submit any problems to the issue tracker.

Download the latest build. This link is updated automatically by GitHub Actions after every commit. It may include more features, but those features will be less tested and could have unintended effects. Please be careful.

N.B. A few antivirus programs incorrectly flag Policy Plus as malware. Policy Plus is a powerful tool and so may cause problems if used recklessly, but it is not malicious. If you would prefer to not trust binaries, feel free to read the code and compile Policy Plus from source. You can also verify that a build was created from the published code by examining the output of a GitHub Actions run: the input commit hash can be found under "checkout master" and the output executable hash can be found under "compute hash."

policyplus's Issues

Command Line options

I've noticed that, a couple years back, someone forked the project to create command line options for the program, but surprisingly, he never opened an issue or push request on this repo. Maybe it was never truly finished and he lost interest: https://github.com/daveMueller/PolicyPlus/commits/UseCommandLineUtils

Though, one big flaw was that he had to separate the GUI and console versions, making it difficult to reapply his work.

It would be good to have command line features implemented, as LGPO.exe is a bit of a pain in the ass at times.

UI: Resizable "edit policy setting" dialog

Again, not sure if this is possible at all or if it's up to windows to show this dialog (but maybe it can be modified nonetheless?) - but it would be nice if that dialog could be resized, especially to avoid having horizontal scrollbars like in the example below.

Edit: Actually, I noticed that this dialog is resizable in the original GPE, at least on Win10

Error Message: Missing PReg signature; JIT debugging required

Hi all!

First, I'd like to say that PolicyPlus is a great tool, thank you for making it happen.

Two, I'm a novice when it comes to scripts, powershell, or anything that approaches coding; I am comfortable with modding the Registry for some reason though.

History: PolicyPlus was working fine until I turned something on or off in Windows 10; thus I think the issue lies with me and not your program. I tried to resolve things on my own before bothering anyone here, but after 6 hours I thought I'd better drop you all a line.

So here is how everything works now (it ran perfectly before)

As soon as I launch the program I get:

Once I click on okay I get the following message:

Which at the bottom of the details box, says I need to enable/configure JIT debugging - for which I am at total loss on how to do.

Can anyone help a simp like me?

Portable APP ?

Hi,
ist it possible to get a portalbe APP / one exe with all dependencies included ?
Thanks

Change language?

Hi!

I just tried your excellent app! It seems to work great, but I'm having trouble translating instructions from the internet in English, to my native language, Swedish. Is there a way to set Policy Plus to english, even though my Windows is set to a different language? Would help with following tutorials greatly!

Policy Plus not downloading latest ADMX files? (and a bug?)

So I was making sure I had all the latest policies. I downloaded this from Microsoft's website to make sure I did.

It would appear policies from 21H1 and 21H2 (if you go to the "Administrative Templates" sheet on that that spreadsheet) aren't getting downloaded (or at least aren't appearing?) from Policy Plus, even when I go to "Help" > "Acquire ADMX Files"?

So I tried getting the files manually from Microsoft and (incorrectly?) importing them, but then I got this error that pops up whenever I open Policy Plus:

It can't be closed and I can't get to the regular Policy Plus window. I force closed the program and deleted the directory I was trying to load the files from which fixed it.

Can some help be given as to how I get the latest policies? I assumed pressing "Acquire ADMX Files" would but it seems it isn't up to date? Thanks.

It is possible to refresh the policies at least on Windows 8.1 6.3.9600 Build 9600 Standard

Hi,
what a great project!
I'm using this wonderful group policy editor instead of the one by microsoft, because I don't have it preinstalled. I could install it with some commands, but I prefer this one.
After downloading the admx files, I read in your README that invoking RefreshPolicyEx wouldn't do anything on Home editions.

I am not on a Pro edition, but I am able to refresh them with a simple self-written C++ program, that invokes RefreshPolicy (it refreshes the systemwide & user policies) and it works.

I've tried to disallow to change the wallpaper (user level) and I forced the control panel to always show the default profile picture for every user. After saving with the editor, nothing happened (of course) and after a policy refresh, it worked.
I was even able to change it back to the original state without rebooting.

I suggest you to check if maybe the method without Ex works on most/all Home versions.

Conflict/Fails on Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\NetworkProvider\HardenedPaths

Here is an image, on the left is PolicyPlus exported .pol, on the right is lgpo.exe export .pol of the same policy settings on the same machine.

System requirements

The system requirements are missing on the documentation of the project.
Which version of .NET Framework is required and which version of Windows is supported ?

FR: Hotkey to fast change state of selected policy from main UI

Hello! Amazing work. My congratulations!

It would be very useful to be able to change the selected policy state from the main UI (listview) with a key stroke:

• (N)ot configured
• (E)nable
• (D)isable

Maybe using those 3 keys (N,E,D), or (1,2,3) or spaces to change between states...

It could even be applied to a multiselection.

Just an idea.

UI: Resizable divider between description and setting list

Not sure if this is your application's UI rendering this area or some windows API, but if possible, is there any chance that you could have a draggable divider there (where I drew this beautiful red line) to make the description part wider?

Not all options and settings available in PolicyPlus.

"Failed to take control of destination" error

After going to Help > Acquire ADMX Files I get a "System.Windows.Forms" error: "Failed to take control of destination".

This happens during the "Unpacking MSI..." stage.

Any help? Thanks.

Local Group Policy Editor and Policy Plus

Filtering not working as expected?

I'm trying to filter polcies to show only the ones that are suitable for W10.

I'm using last ADMX from W10 21H1.

Just looking for this policy for example: taskbar lockdown:

It has a min OS requirement of Server 2003 or XP (represented as an integer value equal to 2):

If configure the filter like this:

I expect to view the before mentioned policy listed in the listview, but it is not.

So it seems that filter is not working as expected. At least, as I expected :)
May be I'm missing something...

Unhandle Exception when zero search results

Hey BenN! Here's an error I just found.

Steps to reproduce:

• Run Policy Plus
• Search by text for something that'll give you no results
• Close "Search Results" dialog
• Go to Find > Search Results

You'll get an error dialog. Here's the exception text:

************** Exception Text **************
System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: InvalidArgument=Value of '0' is not valid for 'index'.
Parameter name: index
   at System.Windows.Forms.ListView.ListViewItemCollection.get_Item(Int32 index)
   at PolicyPlus.FindResults.FindResults_Shown(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnShown(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbackHelper(Object obj)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallback(ThreadMethodEntry tme)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbacks()

Policy Plus github url is flagged Google safe browsing (also used by Firefox)

The top level page https://github.com/Fleex255/PolicyPlus is flagged by Google safe browsing and as such, prevents browsers like Firefox from visiting the url.
https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=https:%2F%2Fgithub.com%2FFleex255%2FPolicyPlus

Interestingly: This info was last updated on Jul 5, 2021.

The site ahead may contain harmful programs

Firefox blocked this page because it might try to trick you into installing programs that harm your browsing experience (for example, by changing your homepage or showing extra ads on sites you visit).

Advisory provided by Google Safe Browsing.

github.com has been reported as containing harmful software. You can ignore the risk and go to this unsafe site.

Learn more about harmful and unwanted software at Unwanted Software Policy. Learn more about Firefox’s Phishing and Malware Protection at support.mozilla.org.

From, https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work?as=u&utm_source=inproduct#w_ive-confirmed-that-my-site-is-safe-how-do-i-get-it-removed-from-the-lists

To request removal from the list of reported phishing sites, use this form provided by Google. 

https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_error/?tpl=mozilla&hl=en

Github Actions compiler

It's been a little over a year since a new snapshot was posted in the Releases section. A lot of people have been moving over to having new snapshots compile automatically with every commit, and I think it would be rather trivial to get it set up with this project. I could probably help if need be.

does not reflect changes made in gpedit.msc

steps

• win10 home 64bit
• enable gpedit.msc via this script (gpedit-enabler.bat):
  https://www.itechtics.com/?ddownload=26357

pushd "%~dp0" 

dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt 
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt 

for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i" 
pause

• go to comp - adm templates - win components - windows update - configure windows update - enable - 2 - apply

• go to policy plus

result:
not configured + 3

expected results:
enabled + 2

observations:

• it reflects changes only if i close it and reopen
• neither gpedit.msc detects changes made by policy plus

Feasibility of adding the registry path & value name?

Hi. It would be absolutely excellent to add this registry information to the top or bottom of the description field for the policy setting. I see the keys are located in .admx files so it seems quite feasible to add this. I’m not sure how much work this could take, but I may consider looking into doing it myself in a local copy of the code, but would be great if you too thought this may be a good idea!

Isnot in vb source

1. The IsNot operator cannot be used to compare expressions returned from the TypeOf operator. Instead, you must use the Not and Is operators. See
   https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/language-reference/operators/isnot-operator#remarks
2. localization issue of .adml files (came across with de-AT where there is only de-DE subdir)
   additional code in Function AddSingleAdmx as follows:
   Dim admlPath = Path.ChangeExtension(AdmxPath.Replace(fileTitle, LanguageCode & "" & fileTitle), "adml")
   --------- insert starts
   If Not File.Exists(admlPath) Then
   'try find another localization language flavor
   For Each _locDirectory As String In Directory.GetDirectories(Path.GetDirectoryName(AdmxPath), LanguageCode.Split("-")(0) & "-*")
   admlPath = Path.Combine(_locDirectory, Path.ChangeExtension(fileTitle, "adml"))
   If File.Exists(admlPath) Then Exit For
   Next
   End If
   ----------- insert ends
   If Not File.Exists(admlPath) Then admlPath = Path.ChangeExtension(AdmxPath.Replace(fileTitle, "en-US" & fileTitle), "adml")

[Additional Info] Malwarebytes detects PolicyPlus as a suspicious download

Hi Fleex255,

Recently I start use malwarebytes and it seems that they are classify the download link of policy plus as a suspicious download

Here's a screenshot

Users are allowed to continue and download the file, if the users are using Microsoft Edge Chromium they need to click on the three dots (...) and them click keep and after that they will redirect to downloads page and them click Keep it anyway.

Nothing happens when i click apply

The following worked on my desktop that has gpedit and windows 10 pro, but when i tried on my laptop it failed: So i have windows 10 home 64-bit, and need to do this for a custom extension i've made. When i go to edit the key in gpedit.msc (which i installed using the .bat here, it didn't work. It applies, and says it's activated, but when it didn't work once i open google chrome, and when i refresh gpedit it doesn't say it's applied.

So i tried installing policy plus, and when i edit the key and click apply nothing happens at all. It doesn't even update in the policy plus explorer like it did in gpedit, it just says it's disabled. No error message either. I googled a bit and found someone recommending i deleted all files in the system32/grouppolicy folder, and renamed secpol (renamed it to secpol.msc.old after granting ownership) in system32 folder. Now my system is in danish, and i found 6 instances of secpol.msc, i renamed the once in system 32 folder to old, but still to no luck, i still can't apply my changes in policy plus.

Also there's a "warning" ish yellow triangle on the google policy folders i'm trying to edit, don't know if that means anything, it doesn't give any indication as to what the warning is.

Cannot Export to REG (After Applying Exploit Protection Settings)

After enable a few settings in Exploit Protection in Microsoft Defender (Windows Defender), cannot export to REG file.

Project abandoned?

Hi,

Great little program. Haven't seen any update to it so is it abandoned?

Exporting SPOL

This format looks interesting, but I'm a bit confused about how to use it properly since there is no export option for it that I can see, only import. Looked through the issues quickly, doesn't seem like it come up before. So is it just collecting various fragments in a file manually?

So, does it work on Home? If so, identify which policies successfully applied, after applying

Reading through re: Home, and wholly unclear re:

downloaded from Microsoft and installed with Help | Acquire ADMX Files.
The RefreshPolicyEx native function has reduced functionality on editions without full Group Policy infrastructure, so while Policy Plus can edit the local GPO and apply the changes to the Registry, a reboot or logon/logoff cycle is required for some policy changes to take effect.
While the UI allows the creation and editing of per-user GPOs, their settings are ignored by these limited editions of Windows. Edit per-user Registry hives instead.

The end reads like: Policy Plus, after applying the ADMX update doesn't work on Home, yet:

. . . edit the local GPO and apply the changes to the Registry, a reboot or logon/logoff cycle is required for some policy changes to take effect.

Sounds like, after updating and applying ADMX, the changes that are available ARE affected on Home. As an aside, this seems most useful (made for?) home, where Group Policies are not available.

Can you clarify?

If it's uncertain whether it's been applied, would be good to have a function to check what settings have been applied, even if only after logout/restart.

Crash after applying policy change having opened directly from search results

This affects the debug build only (SHA1: ec919291c3fd092e8290a745686d8a18836e9be6). These are the steps that I went through:

1. Load PolicyPlus
2. Press Ctrl+F
3. Enter "teredo" as a search term then click Search
4. Select "Set Teredo State" then click Go
5. Change the policy from "Not Configured" to "Disabled"
6. Click OK

PolicyPlus throws the following exception:

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at PolicyPlus.Main.ShouldShowCategory(PolicyPlusCategory Category)
   at PolicyPlus.Main.ShowSettingEditor(PolicyPlusPolicy Policy, AdmxPolicySection Section)
   at PolicyPlus.Main.ShowSearchDialog(Func`2 Searcher)
   at PolicyPlus.Main.ByTextToolStripMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.RaiseEvent(Object key, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.ProcessCmdKey(Message& m, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripManager.ProcessShortcut(Message& m, Keys shortcut)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PreProcessMessage(Message& msg)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PreProcessControlMessageInternal(Control target, Message& msg)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.PreTranslateMessage(MSG& msg)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
Policy Plus
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Users/kerframil/Downloads/PolicyPlusDev.exe
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
    Assembly Version: 10.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 14.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/v4.0_10.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Core
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Core/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Core.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Remoting
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Remoting/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Remoting.dll
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.2556.0 built by: NET471REL1
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

However, PolicyPlus does not crash if one instead clicks Cancel at step #6, then opens the policy from the right pane before applying the change.

Tree contents shown in local language

On Windows 7 on which i have tried it, the contents of the tree are displayed in my native language (which i find confusing), even though the version of Windows i have is English. It would be nice if there was an easy way to change that (a menu option perhaps).

Export/Import POL improvements and issues

App version	OS
Last release version	Win 10 x64 pro (french) 14393

It would help if you version your app.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Local GPO
2. Filter view : commented only
3. Export POL
4. Open policy resources > Computer POL File
5. You can verify that comments are not there

Results

At this point it seems all the configured policies were exported in the POL file but without the comments.
I need PP to export only the filtered policies instead with the comments. The only way to export only some policies is to open exported POL file and use Edit RAW POL to forget unnecessary keys. Then export again to the same POL file to keep only the wanted set of policies.

Expectations

• Check box to select policies that would be exported.
• Export them with their comment if any.
• Have another way than Edit RAW POL to display the content of a POL file using the tree. The best proximate way is to open the POL file and filter configured state. Not perfect because the POL file may contain unconfigured policies that would override local GPO configured policies when applied.

Questions

• What is the point of ADMX workspace? When used, the workspace will remain empty even after opening Local GPO or POL file.
• What is the best procedure to restore and apply policies saved in a POL file?
  • Open Local GPO and use import POL ?
  • Open POL file and use save policies ?

TreeView control not refreshed after opening new policy source where filter is active

At present, I have a particular set of polices that have been established by directly altering the registry. These changes were enacted by the O&O Shutup10 utility. In addition to this, there are a small number of polices in the local GPO, which I originally established by using gpedit.msc.

Upon a filter being activated, the TreeView control in the left pane is refreshed in accordance with the filtered results. However, if one then uses File > Open Policy Resources to alter the source(s), this control is not refreshed. To force it to refresh, I have to toggle off View > Only Filtered Polices, then toggle it on again.

For example, this is my GPO - filtered to show configured items:-

I switch to a different policy source:-

I toggle the filter view off and on. Only now does the left pane contain the correct nodes:-

In short, where the filtered view is enabled, I think that the application should refresh the left pane automatically after altering the policy source(s).

"Failed to export REG!" error

I'm getting the error "Failed to export REG!" when trying to export the REG file for the computer (user works fine). Despite the error, a file is produced.

When I try to import that file on a new machine (virtual machine) I get another error; "An error occurred while trying to guess the prefix".

I'm just trying to backup all the changes I've made so I'm exporting everything. Not sure what the difference between .pol and .reg files is.

Import/Export reg to raw pol

Can you add this?
Say if I have a reg file containing GPO and I want to import it in the RAW pol or the other way around.

Thanks.

Cannot edit list parameter.

From here:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/38011386/5197544

"

1. Download Chrome group policy templates from:
   http://dl.google.com/dl/edgedl/chrome/policy/policy_templates.zip
2. open Policy Plus instead gpedit.msc
3. Open [zip]\windows\admx\chrome.admx
4. Expand User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Google Chrome > Extensions
   (Just "Google Chrome > Extensions")
   Double-click to open Configure "extension installation whitelist policy"
   Select Enabled, then click
   In the list, enter the ID(s) of the extensions : for example, add : "nmgnihglilniboicepgjclfiageofdfj".

5. Press OK
6. Nothing changes.

.pol can not see windows settings/security settings

.pol opens fine, but can not see what is configured in GPO under Policies/Windows settings/Security settings

Download failed

When visiting https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/policy-plus/Policy%20Plus.exe, it returned an error with message in XML (on pastebin)

feature request: search ui improvement

I would expect an ideal search to look like this:

• a search bar integrated at the top - not a separate search window - placed between the menu bar and the rest of the interface. results would be shown in a three row scrollable space that would expand immediately below the search results bar (exacly like how "everything search" free software does)

• results would filter out items in the left panel tree, so a search for "notify for download" will filter out everything in the left panel tree except the following structure: Windows components -> Windows update. I would expect to see nothing else but the results in their places in the tree

that's how i imagine the heaven of gpedit that Microsoft never cared to improve :)

"Saving failed" error

The error I receive is:

Saving failed!

The type of the value object did not match the specified RegistryValueKing or the object could not be properly converted.

I receive this error after going to File > Save Policies.

Have been using this program over the past couple of months and everything has been working fine but after doing some tweaking today I received this. Could this be related to a specific policy I changed?

Possible to use with PDQ Deploy?

Have someone experience to use this with PDQ Deploy / Inventory to edit GPOs for local machines on network or domain ?

Policy definitions could not be loaded: An item with the same key has already been added

I have a problem on Windows 10 Insider Preview. Somehow system policy became duplicated.

The standard gpedit shows errors, but works:

---------------------------
Administrative Templates
---------------------------
Namespace 'Microsoft.Policies.Sensors.WindowsLocationProvider' is already defined as the target namespace for another file in the store.



File C:\WINDOWS\PolicyDefinitions\Microsoft-Windows-Geolocation-WLPAdm.admx, line 5, column 110
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

---------------------------
Administrative Templates
---------------------------
Invalid value '$(string.UploadUserActivities _Help)' for attribute explainText.



File C:\WINDOWS\PolicyDefinitions\OSPolicy.admx, line 35, column 234
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Policy Plus shows error and does not load data:

---------------------------
Policy Plus
---------------------------
Policy definitions could not be loaded: An item with the same key has already been added.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Download links are broken

For example:-

$ curl -I https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/policy-plus/Policy%20Plus.exe

HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden
x-amz-request-id: 71110578F6688F35
x-amz-id-2: YWOGb99ik/a9Nhxjv2agTAhKkdKkTuUhMkdvgJfdf2YnYffNjPCeSBcTDhxUjkOjK1yfq2v//Wc=
Content-Type: application/xml
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 08:57:19 GMT
Server: AmazonS3

Request to support "Configured" as a filter state

In addition to "Not Configured", I think that it would be useful to have "Configured" as a filtering option, effectively matching any policies that have been explicitly configured as either enabled or disabled.

Release creation proposal

Compile and add ready for use executible PolicyPlus into repository releases.

Settings not applied at Windows 10 Home 1709

I tried gpedit on Windows 10 Home 1709 and Policy Plus, but none of the settings are actually applied. Some people say that an security update ('MS16-072: Security update for Group Policy') blocked the Policies in Windows 10 Home and some say that you need a Pro or Enterprice licence...

Any disadvantages compared to gpedit.msc?

I'm using Win7 / Win10 pro, so I could just use gpedit.msc. However, it's UI is absolutely awful and wasn't updated in more than a decade - I'm missing the simple things, like searching by name or the UI resizing when resizing the window (the default window size is tiny..)

So I'm curious, do I have any drawbacks when using PP instead of the original gpedit.msc?

Blocking/delaying Windows feature updates?

Can this program be used to block or delay Windows feature updates? If not, could this functionality be added?

Prompt to save or discard when closing the software (Enhancement)

After having made changes, when closing the software, it will just close, and will not save the changes unless I used the Save Policies option in the File menu, or used the CTRL+S shortcut.

An option when closing the Policy Plus software (after changes were made) asking if the changes should be saved/discarded/similar would be helpful for the odd occasion where someone accidentally exits out without saving. :)

Ignore dictionary duplicate collisions

After downloading the admx files, I had some problems with duplicates when loading the entire PolicyDefinitions folder, since it would always crash with a .NET Error: An item with the same key has already been added.

The default group policy editor ignores such duplicates, and that's what I quickly did with dnspy (because I'm too lazy to recompile the entire project).
To improve this, I recommend to fix this in the AdmxBundle file, method AddSingleAdmx.

This is what I did (too lazy for a pull request):

Original:

' Stage the raw ADMX info for BuildStructures
RawCategories.AddRange(admx.Categories)
RawProducts.AddRange(admx.Products)
RawPolicies.AddRange(admx.Policies)
RawSupport.AddRange(admx.SupportedOnDefinitions)
SourceFiles.Add(admx, adml)

Improved with duplicate checking:

foreach(var category in admx.Categories) {
	if(!this.RawCategories.Exists(item => item.ID == category.ID))
		this.RawCategories.Add(category);
}

foreach(var product in admx.Products) {
	if(!this.RawProducts.Exists(item => item.ID == product.ID))
		this.RawProducts.Add(product);
}

foreach(var policy in admx.Policies) {
	if(!this.RawPolicies.Exists(item => item.ID == policy.ID))
		this.RawPolicies.Add(policy);
}

foreach(var support in admx.SupportedOnDefinitions) {
	if(!this.RawSupport.Exists(item => item.ID == support.ID))
		this.RawSupport.Add(support);
}

if (!this.SourceFiles.ContainsKey(admx)) {
	this.SourceFiles.Add(admx, value);
}

Keep in mind that your source code could have changed. This is what I entered in dnspy, in the latest release.

These changes allowed me to completely use the policy editor.

Failed to move ADMX

Hi,

I'm on Windows 10 Home but I'm having some trouble using this application on my machine.
First of all, it's probably worth mentioning that I'm on the Insiders Preview program and my current build is 16257

As soon as I start it I get the following popup with some error:

Clicking OK will open the app (with blank screen) and then when I try to get the ADMX file it produces an error stating that it "Failed to move the ADMX".

What might be going on here?
Best Regards

"Policy definitions could not be loaded"

App version	OS
1.0.0.0	Win 10 x64 pro (french) 14393

Steps to reproduce

1. Run Policy Plus.exe

Results

Get this error (maybe related to my french OS)

The french part means: input string format is invalid

Once I click OK, the GUI displays but no policies are loaded and I can't seem to manually load anything.

Hence I couldn't test your app on my PC.