Setting Up for Manual Downloading of System Policies

If you use the Remote Update policy, you can configure Windows 95 to manually download policy files (even when they are stored locally) by indicating a separate network or local computer location. Manual downloading overrides automatic downloading and allows you to choose where a user's policies should be stored.

It's possible to set up each computer for manual downloading individually, but this can be time-consuming. If possible (that is, when the client computers use 32-bit, protected-mode network clients), you should set up each computer for automatic downloading, and then use the Remote Update policy to point specific computers to other servers as appropriate for your environment and users.

However, for real-mode network clients such as Novell NETX or VLM, you must enable manual downloading on each computer. After you configure the client computer, the system policy file will be downloaded the next time the user logs on.

To configure a computer for manual downloading of system policies

1. In System Policy Editor, click the File menu, and then click Open Registry. Click Local Computer.

   – Or –

   In the File menu, click Connect. Type the name of the computer you want to configure remotely, and then click OK. Double-click the icon for that computer.

   Note The remote computer must be running the Microsoft Remote Registry service, Remote Administration must be enabled, and user-level security must be enabled.

2. Double-click Network, double-click Update, and click Remote Update so that this policy is checked.

   Note If the client computer uses NETX or VLM, the policy file must be placed on a mapped drive.

   Be sure to type the UNC path and the filename in the Path For Manual Update box.

On Windows NT or NetWare networks where you are using automatic downloading of policies, you can set a system policy to allow manual downloading. This option works only after system policies have been downloaded automatically the first time after Windows 95 is installed. The first automatic downloading includes information in the system policies that defines the location to be used subsequently for manual downloading.

To define the location of policies for manual downloading

1. In System Policy Editor, open CONFIG.POL, and then double-click the Default Computer icon.
2. Double-click Network, then double-click Update, and then click Remote Update so that this policy is checked.
3. In the Update Mode box, click Manual. In the Path For Manual Update box, type the UNC path and filename for the system policy file you want to download. Make sure this file exists in the location you specify. (Otherwise, an error will result.)

On large networks, when thousands of users log on at the same time, all accessing the same policy file, you might experience slow network performance. To avoid a bottleneck, Windows 95 offers load balancing on Windows NT networks. With load balancing enabled, policies are taken from the logon server (which can be a domain controller or a backup domain controller) rather than the primary domain controller. This spreads the load over a number of servers, but it does require that you replicate the policy file on each server.

To enable load balancing

1. Perform the previous procedure, "To define the location of policies for manual downloading."
2. In the Settings For Remote Update box, make sure Load-Balance is checked.

If you want to use load balancing, make sure it is enabled on each client computer. Also, make sure you have a current policy file on each server that will participate in load balancing, including all Windows NT domain controllers and servers. One convenient way to implement load balancing is to set this policy in the CONFIG.POL file that is on the primary domain controller. As each client computer downloads this policy, it will then subsequently look for CONFIG.POL on the logon server.