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Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 10 Pro clients.

Sooooo... I was experimenting with OUs early in my AD and I accidentally applied a GPO to my entire domain which shouldn't have been.

I now need to create a GPO to undo what I did.

  1. Some of the changes were to Computer Config -> Preferences -> Windows Settings -> Registry and it was easy enough to simply create a different GPO that put back the default values, or delete the key entirely.

  2. However, I also have a scheduled task under Computer Config -> Preferences -> Control Panel Settings -> Scheduled Tasks that went out to all my computers, which I now need to remove. I want to create a new GPO for the purpose of removing that task. Well, there is a Delete option for Scheduled Tasks, so that seems like the obvious method for accomplishing what I need to do. However, I'm not sure if it is it enough to simply precisely match the Name of the task, or if all the settings of the task must precisely match in order to successfully delete the task.

  3. I'm least sure about the changes that went out under Computer Config -> Policies -> Administrative Templates. So, I had several settings which I enabled or disabled. If I remember correctly, Administrative Template settings are stored in a special place in each local registry. If I simply unlink the original GPO (it already is), will the local computers stop using those Administrative Template settings? If not, if I link a new GPO with those same settings set to Not configured, will it actually revert the settings to their original state or do I have to create a new Administrative Template that specifically sets each changed setting back to its original state? Basically, what is the best way to revert changes by these ADMX files to their default state?

2 Answers 2

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For #1: That should work. Don't forget that you have these set so you can remove them after all of the computers have it applied.

For #2: According to https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725745(v=ws.11).aspx you only need to match the name of the task to delete it using the Delete action.

For #3: You don't need to worry about these. Those settings will all revert to another policy or the default when you unlink your policy (unless they made some lasting change in a side-effect). These are stored in the policy registry values which get cleared and recreated on successful policy updates.

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  • Thanks. As far as Administrative Template settings... as I understand those get translated into registry changes as well, but they are stored in a different part of the registry (which as you say gets wiped out if I unlink the policy)?
    – Daniel
    Sep 15, 2016 at 13:26
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I had to delete a scheduled task using GP Preferences and this is what I discovered:

  • For any tasks below the root of the Task Library, you will need to enter the whole path and the task's name. For example, if you want to delete the Proactive Chkdsk Scan, it would be \Microsoft\Windows\Chkdsk\ProactiveScan. (You can open the properties page for the task to copy and paste.)
  • Besides the obvious of getting the name exactly right, you need to enter a user to run the task and the action. (These may not even need to match the task you want to delete, they just can't be left blank.)

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