Group Policy settings are set back to factory settings in GPMC in Windows Server 2012 R2

View products that this article applies to.

This article describes an issue in which Group Policy settings are set back to factory settings in Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) on a Domain Controller in Windows Server 2012 R2. A hotfix is available to fix this issue. Before you install this hotfix, see the Prerequisites section.

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Symptoms

Issue 1

This issue occurs after you press Esc under the General tab in GPMC. For example, the home page of Internet Explorer is set back to a blank page.

Note If you press Esc under other tabs, this issue doesn't occur.

Issue 2

When you use GPMC to update a policy setting for Windows Internet Explorer 9 or an earlier version of Internet Explorer, the name of the policy setting is reset. Therefore, you can't locate the correct policy.

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Hotfix information

Important If you install a language pack after you install this hotfix, you must reinstall this hotfix. Therefore, we recommend that you install any language packs that you need before you install this hotfix. For more information, see Add language packs to Windows.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that's described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there's a "Hotfix Download Available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section doesn't appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to get the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that don't qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note The "Hotfix Download Available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you don't see your language, it's because a hotfix isn't available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, install update 2919355 in Windows Server 2012 R2.

Registry information

To use the hotfix in this package, you don't have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You may have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix doesn't replace a previously released hotfix.

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File Information

The English (United States) version of this software update installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Be aware that dates and times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time and with your current daylight saving time bias. The dates and times may also change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows Server 2012 R2

Notes

The files that apply to a specific product, milestone (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table:
Version Product Milestone Service branch
6.3.960 0.18 xxx Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM GDR
GDR service branches contain only those fixes that are widely released to address widespread, critical issues. LDR service branches contain hotfixes in addition to widely released fixes.
The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed in the "Additional file information" section. MUM, MANIFEST, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are very important to maintain the state of the updated components. The security catalog files, for which the attributes are not listed, are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

Version	Product	Milestone	Service branch
6.3.960 0.18 xxx	Windows Server 2012 R2	RTM	GDR

x64 Windows Server 2012 R2

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform
Gpme.dll	6.3.9600.18048	774,144	04-Sep-2015	18:37	x64
Gppref.dll	6.3.9600.18048	5,506,560	04-Sep-2015	18:18	x64
Gpprefbr.dll	6.3.9600.18048	799,744	04-Sep-2015	18:31	x64
Gpprefcn.dll	6.3.9600.18048	182,272	04-Sep-2015	18:32	x64
Gpregistrybrowser.dll	6.3.9600.18048	288,768	04-Sep-2015	18:54	x64
Propshts.dll	6.3.9600.18048	3,384,320	04-Sep-2015	18:20	x64
Gpme.dll	6.3.9600.18048	730,112	04-Sep-2015	17:31	x86
Gppref.dll	6.3.9600.18048	5,097,472	04-Sep-2015	17:19	x86
Gpprefbr.dll	6.3.9600.18048	612,864	04-Sep-2015	17:27	x86
Gpprefcn.dll	6.3.9600.18048	146,432	04-Sep-2015	17:28	x86
Gpregistrybrowser.dll	6.3.9600.18048	233,472	04-Sep-2015	17:43	x86
Propshts.dll	6.3.9600.18048	2,586,112	04-Sep-2015	17:20	x86

Additional file information

x64 Windows Server 2012 R2

File property	Value
File name	Amd64_e757e7497a65e57e6b9546f9c03dc10d_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.18048_none_3f5083c9be9b4f5d.manifest
File version	Not applicable
File size	1,090
Date (UTC)	05-Sep-2015
Time (UTC)	09:11
Platform	Not applicable

File name	Amd64_microsoft-windows-g..rveradmintools-gpme_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.18048_none_a72259218490943a.manifest
File version	Not applicable
File size	647,936
Date (UTC)	04-Sep-2015
Time (UTC)	20:53
Platform	Not applicable

File name	Update.mum
File version	Not applicable
File size	1,824
Date (UTC)	05-Sep-2015
Time (UTC)	09:11
Platform	Not applicable

File name	X86_microsoft-windows-g..rveradmintools-gpme_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.18048_none_4b03bd9dcc332304.manifest
File version	Not applicable
File size	647,930
Date (UTC)	04-Sep-2015
Time (UTC)	19:27
Platform	Not applicable