registry.pol

Sometimes Group Policy will not update correctly and the cause is a corrupt registry.pol file. This can cause numerous different problems such as Windows not auto-locking the screen after the correct timeout and some DNS issues.

Open up file explorer and go to:

  • C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine
  • Rename the registry.pol file to something else such as _registry.pol
  • Windows Key + R and run gpedit.msc
  • You need to change any setting to trigger a new registry.pol being created
  • Example: "Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Control Panel / Personalization/ Prevent changing lock screen image" Change it and then revert it back to what it was before
  • Open up command prompt and run gpupdate /force