OFF97: Policy Editor Displays Incorrect Settings

• Microsoft Office 97 for Windows

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, you should first make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and User.dat). Both are hidden files in the Windows folder.

SYMPTOMS

When you view a policy file (either Config.pol or Ntconfig.pol) using the Policy Editor that is included with the "Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit," the settings that appear may not be the same settings that appear when you first create the file.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because the Policy Editor incorrectly displays the settings in the .pol file.

NOTE: Although the Policy Editor displays the incorrect settings, the .pol file does have the correct settings.

WORKAROUND

If you want to make additional changes to an existing policy file, do not open the file in the Policy Editor because you cannot determine precisely which settings you changed and which settings the Policy Editor incorrectly changed. Instead, create a new policy file with all of the necessary settings (your original ones and the new ones).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Using the System Policy Editor, you can set user policies for all users, for a particular network group, or for a single user. User Policies are system policies that represent program options relevant to the user who is currently logged on to Windows. User Policies are stored in the HKEY_USERS key in the Windows registry.

You can also set computer policies for all client computers or for a single computer. Computer policies are system policies that represent options relevant to the user's computer. They are stored in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key in the Windows registry.