GroupPolicyRefreshTime

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Description

Determines how often Group Policy is applied to computers.

This entry specifies how often Group Policy for computers is updated (in the background) while the computer is in use. In addition to background updates, Group Policy for the computer is always updated when the system starts. This entry specifies a background update rate only for Group Policies in the Computer Configuration folder.

This entry stores the setting you enter in the update time Minutes box of the Group Policy refresh interval for computers Group Policy. Group Policy adds this entry to the registry when you enable the Group Policy refresh interval for computers policy. If you disable the policy or set it to Not configured, Group Policy deletes the entry from the registry and the system behaves as though the value is 90 minutes.

If the value of this entry is 0, the system updates Group Policy approximately every 7 seconds. Because updates might interfere with users' work and increase network traffic, very short update intervals are not appropriate for most installations.

Change method

To change the value of this entry, use Group Policy. This entry corresponds to the Group Policy refresh interval for computers policy (Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy).

Note

The Group Policy refresh interval for computers policy also includes an time offset to prevent clients with the same update interval from requesting updates simultaneously. The offset is stored in the value of GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffset.

If background updates are disabled (that is, the value of DisableBkGndGroupPolicy entry is 1, this entry is ignored.

This entry can appear in both HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER. If this entry appears in both subtrees, the value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE takes precedence over the value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

Tip

Consider notifying users that their policy is updated periodically so that they recognize the signs of a policy update. When Group Policy is updated, the Windows desktop is refreshed; it flickers briefly and closes open menus. Also, restrictions imposed by Group Policies, such as those that limit the programs users can run, might interfere with tasks in progress.

To specify that Group Policy should never be updated while the computer is in use, enable the Disable background refresh of Group Policy policy (see DisableBkGndGroupPolicy).

For detailed information about particular Group Policy settings, see the Group Policy Reference (Gp.chm) on the Windows 2000 Resource Kit companion CD.

For general information about Group Policy, see Group Policy in Windows 2000 Help.

To see a table associating policies with their corresponding registry entries, see the Group Policy Reference Table.

Related Entries

GroupPolicyRefreshTime (HKCU)

GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffset (HKLM)

GroupPolicyRefreshTimeDC (HKLM)

DisableBkGndGroupPolicy