Migrating Group Policy from Windows NT 4.0

With the migration to group policies in Windows 2000, several scenarios can arise. This section addresses the impact of the various scenarios on your Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 workstations.

With Windows NT 4.0 clients logging into Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 Domain Controller (DC), the Windows NT 4.0 clients receive Windows NT 4.0 policies. For Windows 2000 clients, there is a variety of scenarios. First, if the Windows 2000 client logs into a Windows NT 4.0 domain, the Windows 2000 client receives the Windows NT 4.0 System Policy and the local group policy. If the Windows 2000 client logs into a Windows 2000 domain, the client receives the local group policy for the local site, domain, and organizational unit (LSDOU). If the Windows 2000 client logs into a domain in which all the Windows 2000 DCs are down and the Windows NT 4.0 DCs are up, the Windows 2000 client receives the LSDOU with the cached credentials.

Now if the computer account and the user account are straddle the Windows NT 4.0 domain and the Windows 2000 domain, there are two different results based on the Windows 2000 client logging in. If the computer account is in the Windows 2000 domain and the user account is in the Windows NT 4.0 domain, the computer receives the group policy and the user receives no policy. If the computer account is in the Windows NT 4.0 domain and the user is in the Windows 2000 domain, neither the computer nor the user policy is applied to the Windows 2000 client.