Product Reviews

A Few of My Favorite Things: GPResult

Compaq knows a thing or two about troubleshooting large networks. Here are some of the utilities and programs it uses most and likes best for Windows 2000.

• By Rodney Ivers
• 08/01/2001

This may be one of those Resource Kit tools that'll bail you out of an overnight troubleshooting session. Gpresult's primary purpose is to document the effect of Group Policy Objects (GPOs) on a logged-in user. GPResult is a very simple command line utility that documents not only the cumulative effect of GPOs, but OS details, security group membership, and more.

There are only four switches for GPResult:

• /v: verbose mode
• /s: superverbose mode
• /c: computer information only
• /u: user information only

The data is organized into three main sections: OS information, user information and computer information.

The OS section includes information on the platform type (professional or server) and the version. This information is included in all modes.

The user and computer sections include general information about the logged-in user and the computer that was logged into. More importantly, these sections provide details about which GPOs were applied and security group membership information. The user and computer sections also provide information on the last time GPOs were processed and from which DC. Running GPResult in normal mode (no switches) lists the GPOs applied, with no detail on what the GPO actually does. Using verbose or super-verbose mode provides information right down to the specific registry values modified, as shown in the figure.

Running GPResult in super-verbose mode provides minute detail, right down to registry settings. (Click image to view larger version.)

The GPO "Remove My Documents Pointers" modifies the registry in two locations to remove pointers to the My Documents folder. I find that verbose mode is probably the more useful of the two, given that super-verbose mode provides too much detail in most cases.

Gpresult can also be used to identify software that's been set up for installation via GPOs. Verbose mode will identify installed software. Super-verbose mode includes software available for installation.

Gpresult is part of the Win2K Resource Kit and can also be downloaded from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/existing/gpresult-o.asp. A white paper, "Troubleshooting Group Policy in Windows 2000," is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/howitworks/management/gptshoot.asp.

There are more advanced GPO troubleshooting tools, but I think you'll find GPResult a very useful tool for working most GPO problems.