I have a Windows Server 2012 R2 Domain.
Yesterday, a computer’s (running Windows 10 Pro) network drive stopped working.
After further investigation (gpresult /h
) it appears ALL group policy objects are failing with the reason Inaccessible, Empty, or Disabled
.
I have confirmed that all the GPOs still exist and are enabled on both (redundant and local) domain controllers. Furthermore, there are 20 other machines on the same domain and LAN with absolutely no problems.
However, there is one other computer that I tested which presented with the same problem! Does that mean the problem is with the servers?
gpresult /r
reports that one client is getting GPOs from local DC1, and the other from DC2. So it is not a problem related to a specific DC.
gpupdate /force
fixed nothing (though it claimed that policies were applied).
I tried deleting the registry entries for local policies (following this guide https://superuser.com/questions/379908/how-to-clear-or-remove-domain-applied-group-policy-settings-after-leaving-the-do) and rebooting - same problem.
I found this support page from Microsoft (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2976965), but it claims it only applies to Windows 7 or earlier clients.
All my machines (both server and client) are running 64-bit versions and are fully updated. I have rebooted all of them just to be sure.
Check the patch joeqwerty link too.
There is the important detail:
Known issues
MS16-072 changes the security context with which user group policies are retrieved. This by-design behavior change protects customers’ computers from a security vulnerability. Before MS16-072 is installed, user group policies were retrieved by using the user’s security context. After MS16-072 is installed, user group policies are retrieved by using the machines security context. This issue is applicable for the following KB articles:
Symptoms
All user Group Policy, including those that have been security filtered on user accounts or security groups, or both, may fail to apply on domain joined computers.
Cause
This issue may occur if the Group Policy Object is missing the Read permissions for the Authenticated Users group or if you are using security filtering and are missing Read permissions for the domain computers group.
Resolution
To resolve this issue, use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC.MSC) and follow one of the following steps:
- Add the Authenticated Users group with Read Permissions on the Group Policy Object (GPO).
- If you are using security filtering, add the Domain Computers group with read permission.
See this link Deploy MS16-072 which explains everything and offers script to repair the affected GPOs. The script adds Authenticated users read permissions to all GPOs which have no permission for Authenticated users.
If you preffer to set the read permission for Domain Computers (as I do) rather than Authenticated Users just change this
0 {$appliedgroup = "Authenticated Users"}
to that0 {$appliedgroup = "Domain Computers"}