Internet Explorer Maintenance Missing in Group Policy

[Harry1980]

Hi All,

 

After deploying proxy setting using GP a few years ago, today I tried to access internet explorer maintenance to remove the proxy settings but couldn't find Internet Explorer Maintenance under User Configuration\Windows settings. I have tried to search the internet but can't get my head around find a solution. As we are changing internet providers I need to remove all the proxy settings from the laptops and computers. I am using Windows Server 2012 R2 and we have IE11. All I need is to be able to remove the current proxy settings.

 

Thanks in advance.

[DGardiner]

Hi All,

 

After deploying proxy setting using GP a few years ago, today I tried to access internet explorer maintenance to remove the proxy settings but couldn't find Internet Explorer Maintenance under User Configuration\Windows settings. I have tried to search the internet but can't get my head around find a solution. As we are changing internet providers I need to remove all the proxy settings from the laptops and computers. I am using Windows Server 2012 R2 and we have IE11. All I need is to be able to remove the current proxy settings.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

if you use rsat on an old computer without IE10 i think its still viewable, preferably you would recreate the gpos using the policy preferences and remove the legacy one

[fredbayker]

If you aren’t able to try the suggestion above, an alternative solution may be:

https://sdmsoftware.com/group-policy-blog/tips-tricks/removing-extra-registry-settings-from-gpos/

[jthompson]

I came up against this recently and discovered that those Internet Explorer Maintenance settings are held in a text file within the GPO's files. You can edit that text file directly (take a backup of it first, obvs). You'll need to look up the GUID of the GPO to find it in the filesystem.

 

On your DC, %WINDIR%\SYSVOL\Domain\Policies\{GUID}\User\MICROSOFT\IEAK\install.ins

Edit that file with a text editor, and you should see the changes reflected when you refresh your view of the GPO settings in Group Policy Management. I emptied the file to 'clear' the settings from the GPO, since we're now using other methods to configure browser settings (a mix of other GP settings and some registry items).

[Harry1980]

Hi All,

 

I have gone through my group policies and found that I have the proxy settings deployed using 3 different policies (not sure why). One of them being the Default Domain Policy another Curriculum Internet Policy and the last one is TEAGPO.

 

Default Domain Policy setting is below:

 

User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Internet Explorer Maintenance

Editing the policy using the above path is not available because the Internet Explorer Maintenance is no longer available.

 

Curriculum Internet Policy

 

User Configuration\Preferences\Windows Settings\Registry

 

This policy shows the following:

ProxyEnable(Order:1)

ProxyOverride(Order:2)

ProxyServer(Order:3)

 

As I can see and Edit this policy, what is the best way of undoing this policy? Should I just delete the entries in the policy? Or Change the Action from Update to Delete and save the changes made. Would that take effect on all the users\laptops?

 

TEAGPO

 

This GP was applied to an OU that have old usernames no longer in use in this domain so I just deleted the policy.

Sorry about the essay. I am a newbie to Group Policy. I just want to be able to remove all proxy settings on our system.

 

Thanks

[jthompson]

Hi All,

 

I have gone through my group policies and found that I have the proxy settings deployed using 3 different policies (not sure why). One of them being the Default Domain Policy another Curriculum Internet Policy and the last one is TEAGPO.

 

Default Domain Policy setting is below:

 

User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Internet Explorer Maintenance

Editing the policy using the above path is not available because the Internet Explorer Maintenance is no longer available.

 

 

Have a look at my previous post about looking for the install.ins file that will hold these settings.

 

For your registry entries in the Curriculum Internet Policy GPO, just change the ProxyEnable entry from 1 to 0. The other reg items are then sidelined, regardless of their value.

[Harry1980]

Have a look at my previous post about looking for the install.ins file that will hold these settings.

 

For your registry entries in the Curriculum Internet Policy GPO, just change the ProxyEnable entry from 1 to 0. The other reg items are then sidelined, regardless of their value.

 

Thanks for the above I will give that a go.

 

Regards to the Default Domain Policy, I have followed your instructions and identified which GUID it is, following the path C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain\Policies\{6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04fB984F9}\USER it is empty. There are no files in the User Folder.

 

I have used the same method you mentioned for the TEAGPO and managed to locate the IEAK file. The C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain\Policies\{4BFBC0A2-8EA4-401A-9600-2CE4532510AC}\User\MICROSOFT\IEAK. This policy is not linked to any OU's.

 

Any reason why I can't find the IEAK for Default Domain Policy?

[jthompson]

Umm. I don't know off the top of my head, sorry. Beyond knowing that that's where I found those settings in some of my GPOs, I don't know much more about the inner workings of Group Policy. Given that it's your default domain policy, perhaps err on the side of caution and not experiment too wildly with it!

 

Even if your default domain policy contains a proxy setting, your other GPO that specifically sets ProxyEnable to 0 in registry should take precedence and achieve what you're after. You might not be in situation where you have 'no proxy settings' anywhere, but at least you have a setting that specifically disables it for end users.

[Harry1980]

Am I making the change in the Value Data field from 00000001 to 00000000? and then just applying the changes.

[jthompson]

Yep. In your clients, you should see the 'Use a proxy server' option in the control panel become unticked, with the proxy server and port fields then greyed out.

[Harry1980]

Yep. In your clients, you should see the 'Use a proxy server' option in the control panel become unticked, with the proxy server and port fields then greyed out.

 

Thanks I will give that a go tomorrow. If that option takes the tick out I don't really need to worry about the Default Domain Policy. I will make the change and do a gpupdate /force.

[Simcfc73]

I've got a similar thread relating to this from a couple of days and it does look like its the IEAK from a bygone era that's messing up my network.

 

I did a search for the proxy name using agent ransack and found it was in 3 places in the install.ins files so I edited each one and removed the proxy name.

 

I thought I had fixed it but came in this morning and my work pc had the proxy back on so I scanned the registry and deleted the key again.

[Harry1980]

I have changed the 1 to 0 and tested it on 2 laptops with pupil and staff login. It has taken the tick out so is not using the proxy address. I will do further testing in the next few days.

 

Guys thanks for all you help.

 

Much appreciated!!!