Error message when a domain administrator or a local administrator uses the GPResult.exe tool or runs an RSoP query in Windows Server 2003: “Access denied”

Consider the following scenario:

• You are logged on to a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition-based computer as a domain administrator or as a local administrator.
• You run the Group Policy Results (GPResult.exe) command line tool.
• You have several Windows Server 2003 member servers that share the same organizational unit (OU).

In this scenario, you may receive an “Access denied” error message on most of the computers on which GPResult is run.

When you perform a Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) query, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:

To resolve this issue, verify that the default permissions for the RSoP namespace are correct by using the WMI Control Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap in. For more information about WMI namespaces security, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you still experience the issue, follow these steps:

1. Type the following commands at a command prompt, and then press ENTER after each command:
   1. To change the folder to the WMI folder:
      CD %windir%\system32\wbem
   2. To reregister all the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) DLLs:
      For /f %s in ('dir /b /s *.dll') do regsvr32 /s %s
   3. To make sure that the provider host is registered correctly:
      wmiprvse /regserver
2. If problems persist, troubleshoot the WMI service. For more information about how to do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
   http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/help/wmidiag.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/help/wmidiag.mspx)