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Hey Team..
This is a long-ish tip of the week. It's got three parts, so, you'll have to stick with me.
If Part 1 doesn't apply to you, Part 2 and Part 3 might. Sooo.. check it all out and perhaps answer the survey items if you can.
Part 1: DesktopStandard PolicyPaker to GP Preferences tool (finally) released
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Okay.. here's the timeline, the scenario, and what it means for you:
-You were a DesktopStandard customer using PolicyMaker Professional (I'll just call this PMP for short here.)
-Microsoft bought out DesktopStandard
-Microsoft re-packaged the PolicyMaker Professional into the GP Preferences (I'll call these GPPrefs for short here.)
...and there was no way to get from PM Professional to GP Prefs.
So, you had two options:
Option 1: Stick with PolicyMaker Professional.
Problem: The downside with sticking with PM Professional is that, well, you're on technology that isn't exactly totally supported anymore. It's also not available for Vista or Win7 and your management station needed to be XP or 2003.
Option 2: Upgrade your client's CSEs from PMP to GPPrefs
Problem: The GPPrefs CSE doesn't know how to read PMP data inside the GPOs. So if you wanted to upgrade from PMP to GPPrefs, you had to manually re-create all items. For instance, if you had a shortcut to http://www.GPanswers.com on every desktop (always a good idea) then you would need to re-create that original PMP item as a GPPrefs item.
Enter Option 3: GPPMIG
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Here's the idea: Use a tool to MIGRATE the existing PMP data to GPPrefs data, and bingo.. you're golden!
I often got emails from y'all asking what the status of a tool like this was, but I simply didn't know. Well, without further adeau, here it is. Check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/GPPMIG
The official Blog entry on this is found here: http://tinyurl.com/GPPMIGbloginfo
My question, however to you guys is ... if you owned PMP, will you use GPPMIG to migrate from PMP to GPPrefs now that it's available?
Now, before you answer, let me be the bearer of the bad news and help you determine your path.
GPPMIG doesn't (and cannot) convert ALL the items from PMP to GP Prefs. Two item types are currently "dormant" as GP Prefs items: Mail Profiles (which configures Outlook PSTs and such) and Applications which would configure items like Office 2000. That is, Microsoft has yet to provide GP Pref items for these original PMP features.
Said another way, you might have used these items in PMP land, but have no way to start using them in GP-Prefs land. It's not a matter of using GPPMIG vs. hand-converting the data: those item types are simply unavailable in GPPrefs land.
Now, you've got a conundrum:
- If you "walk away" from PMP and move over to GPPrefs (even after converting the data) you might be walking away from two features you ALREADY USE on your network.
- If you "stick with" PMP, you're using old technology, which, well, over the long haul isn't likely a great idea.
So, what are you going to do / what have you done? Is the lack of functionality a "deal killer" for you? Will you migrate onward, or stick with PMP?
I'm just curious.
If you were a PMP customer, let me know what you did (or plan to do) by using this survey here:
http://tinyurl.com/GPACSEsurvey
PS: Not-exactly-a-shameless-plug, but if you need consulting services in this area and need to talk with me, well, I'm available to help your company with this tricky transition.
Tip of the week, Part 2: End the mystery of how to install GP Prefs on Vista + SP2
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There have been lots of issues getting the GP Prefs CSEs installed on Vista + SP2. The problem is with the installer itself, being too "heavy handed" in where it can install. So, if this is your current hot-button issue, here's your cold-water solution: Group Policy Preference Client Side Extensions for Windows Vista (KB943729)
The new package will work with Windows Vista Service Pack 2. The packages have changed, but binaries have not changed.
Note: This update does not have to be reinstalled on existing clients.
There's no new functionality.. just a better "package" to get this deployed on your Vista + SP2 machines.
This SHOULD be updated by the time you read this.. if not, check back in a few hours.
More info at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943729/
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