Group Policy settings are removed in Windows XP on startup or during runtime

In Microsoft Windows XP, after you assign a Group Policy setting to a computer by using a Group Policy object (GPO), the setting may be removed intermittently. You may also experience the problem on startup.

The settings are removed even though you have not changed the policy and even though you have not removed the computer from scope of the GPO. When this problem occurs, the following event may be logged in the System log on the client computer:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Kerberos
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7
Date: date
Time: time
User: N/A
Computer: computer_name
Description: The kerberos subsystem encountered a PAC verification failure. This indicates that the PAC from the client computer_name in realm realm_name had a PAC which failed to verify or was modified. Contact your system administrator.

When you create a Netlogon.log on the computers that are having this problem, you can find the following lines in the Netlogon.log file:

[LOGON] SamLogon: Generic logon of <domain>\(null) from (null) Package:Kerberos Entered
[LOGON] SamLogon: Generic logon of <domain>\(null) from (null) Package:Kerberos Returns 0xC000005E

There may be other errors, but error 0xC000005E (STATUS_NO_LOGON_SERVERS) is the most likely one.
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If you turn on user environment debug logging, an entry that resembles the following is logged in the Userenv.log file:

For every policy affected:
ProcessGPO: Searching <cn=<policy guid>,cn=policies,cn=system,DC=<domain>>
ProcessGPO: Machine does not have access to the GPO and so will not be applied.
...
CheckForGPOsToRemove: GPO <name of GPO>needs to be removed
GetDeletedGPOList: Finished.

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Depending on the type of setting, various other messages may be logged in the registry or in the event log. The following extensions are affected:

• Application deployment
  
  The following event may be logged in the Application log on the client computer:

  
  Event Type: Information
  Event Source: Application Management
  Event Category: None
  Event ID: 303
  Date: date
  Time: time
  User: SYSTEM
  Computer: computer_name
  Description: The removal of the assignment of application application_name from policy GPO_name succeeded.

• Security Group Policy
  
  The Winlogon.log file has many entries that resemble the following:

  
  Undo value for undefined Group Policy setting security setting was reset successfully and removed.

  There will be one line per setting in the Group Policy .inf file for the various groups of security policy settings.
  
  For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  245422  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/245422/ ) How to Enable Logging for Security Configuration Client Processing in Windows 2000
• Registry policy settings/Administrative templates.
  
  The Userenv.log will have many lines removing policy settings. For example:

  
  ParseRegistryFile: Entering with <C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\ntuser.pol>.
  DeleteRegistryValue: Deleted
  Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoMSAppLogo5ChannelNotify
  DeleteRegistryValue: Deleted Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Download\RunInvalidSignatures
  DeleteRegistryValue: Deleted Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet
  Explorer\Infodelivery\Restrictions\NoJITSetup
  DeleteRegistryValue: Deleted Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet
  Explorer\Infodelivery\Restrictions\NoUpdateCheck

These are the most common examples in which you experience missing settings. You may experience similar problems with startup scripts.

This problem occurs when a Kerberos Privilege Attribute Certificate (PAC) validation error during logon causes the computer to fall out of scope for all Group Policy objects. Therefore, all assigned applications become unmanaged and are uninstalled. The Kerberos PAC validation error may occur because of transient network errors.

This hotfix causes the logon to fail completely and not work with an empty token. This triggers the Group Policy engine to stop policy processing and not run with an empty token. This may cause policy updates to arrive at member computers more slowly than expected. However, the policy settings are no longer removed.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain 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 do not 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 Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must have Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed. For more information about how to obtain Windows XP SP2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about the terms that are used to describe software updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: