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Extending Registry-based Policy

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It is recommended that, when possible, you use registry-based policy to add policy to your applications. For developers, registry-based policy is designed to be the least complex method to use to implement policy, and for administrators, registry-based policy is designed to be easy to configure and deploy. In addition, registry-based policy managed through administrative template (.adm) files automatically supports Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) capabilities.

Registry-based policy is typically appropriate in the following situations:

  • Your policy is binary. For example, you must control whether a certain item is displayed.
  • Your policy defines a set of static modes. For example, you must set the language used by a computer and you provide a list of selections from which the administrator can choose.
  • Your policy requires input that you can store in the registry as plain text. For example, the administrator may provide the filename of a bitmap to use as desktop wallpaper.
  • You can configure your policy using a simple user interface (UI), and the configuration information can be stored in the registry as plain text. Be aware that you must be able to specify your policy settings using the UI controls provided by the Administrative Templates extension to Group Policy. For more information about the options you can specify, see Part.

Registry-based policy may not be appropriate in the following situations:

  • The policy settings that you require cannot be supported by the UI
  • The policy settings that you require use additional client processing
  • The registry data type you require is not supported
  • The registry-type data cannot store your policy settings

For more information, see the following topics: