You cannot view a user's universal group membership in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Users and Computers when universal groups do not reside in the local domain

By default, in Windows Server 2003, Active Directory Users and Computers only shows group memberships for the local domain. After you apply this hotfix, Active Directory Users and Computers connects to a global catalog server. If the local domain controller is not also a global catalog server, Active Directory Users and Computers connects to a different global catalog server in the forest. In this case, the forest-wide universal group membership for the user appears in Active Directory Users and Computers.

Installation instructions

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Important You must configure the corresponding registry key before you apply this hotfix.

To apply this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, make sure that the following registry subkey exists:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Directory UI
   If this subkey does not exist, follow these steps to create it manually:
   
   1. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
      
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft
   2. Click
      New, and then click Key.
   3. Type Windows to name the new subkey.
   4. Right-click Windows, click
      New, and then click Key.
   5. Type Directory UI to name the new subkey.
   6. Right-click Directory UI, click
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   7. Type AlwaysShowExternalGroups to name the new entry.
   8. Double-click AlwaysShowExternalGroups.
   9. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, type 1, and then click OK.
3. After you have configured the registry subkeys and the registry entry, double-click the WindowsServer2003-KB833883-xxx-ENU.exe hotfix file, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
4. Restart the computer.

This setting must roam with the user regardless of the computer that the user uses. Therefore, this registry key is in the following user hive:When different administrative users work on the same physical computer, be aware that this setting is not computer-wide.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

842632 "An invalid directory pathname was passed" error message when you use Active Directory Users and Computers to view user properties in Windows Server 2003

To install the hotfix in Windows XP and in Windows Vista, copy the Adprop.dll file in the Windows XP hotfix package to the SYSTEM32 directory by using the following command:For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates