Determine the specific registry path, value, and data. This step might not be as easy at it seems, considering the complexity of the registry and some of the registry value names. A good way to track down this information is to reference the standard .adm files to find the correct registry path for similar settings.

Tip

You can also use tools to help you track down registry values as they are changed from within the operating system or application. An excellent tool for this task is REGMON, which can be found at http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/regmon.shtml.

Develop the .adm file, including the information gathered in step 1. Custom .adm files are created as Unicode text files that describe policy settings. A framework language is provided for .adm files, as described in the "Language Reference for .adm Files" section in this chapter.

Import the .adm file into a GPO. Each GPO can have a unique set of .adm files, so you must do this for each GPO that will distribute the custom registry settings configured within the .adm file.

Use Group Policy Object Editor to view and configure the custom entries under the Administrative Templates nodes, which were created by the .adm file. This is where you establish the settings that will configure the user accounts or computers in the domain.