Upgrading the ADMX Central Store files from Windows 7/2008R2 to Windows 8/2012

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###   UPDATE (22 March 2013)   ###

The ADMX and ADML files for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are now available as a separate download. This includes 185 ADMX files, and is the complete set of all ADMX files for these OSes. Please use this download instead of the instructions in this post to create your super-set of updated ADMX/ADML files.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36991

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Hi,

 

A while back I posted something similar regarding upgrading the PolicyDefinitions folder in SYSVOL from Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 set of ADMX/ADML files to their newer versions in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. That post is here.

 

Well, it’s now time to move that on as Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are now out.

First off, all ADMX/ADML files have had their dates updated. While I didn’t look to see if all the contents of the files have changed, it’s probably best to assume every file has changed and update all of them.

One of them "(“InputPersonalization.admx”) has been removed since Windows 7. It controlled 1 setting, and this setting has been moved into the larger ControlPanel.admx. Meaning this admx/adml can be deleted once the newer ControlPanel.admx file is copied to the PolicyDefinitions folder.

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 offer a range of new features (he says putting it mildly), and there are new admx/adml files for these. So make sure you include these in your update

ADMX/ADML files new in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

 

AppxPackageManager.admx AppXRuntime.admx DeviceCompat.admx DeviceSetup.admx EAIME.admx EdgeUI.admx EncryptFilesonMove.admx FileServerVSSAgent.admx FileServerVSSProvider.admx hotspotauth.admx LocationProviderAdm.admx msched.admx NCSI.admx NetworkIsolation.admx Printing2.admx Servicing.admx SettingSync.admx srm-fci.admx StartMenu.admx WCM.admx WinStoreUI.admx wlansvc.admx WPN.admx wwansvc.admx

As with the previous operating systems, there are some admx/adml files which exist on the server SKU which do not also exist on the client SKU, and vice versa:

ADMX/ADML files which exist on Windows Server 2012 but do NOT exist on Windows 8

adfs.admx FileServerVSSAgent.admx GroupPolicy-Server.admx MMCSnapIns2.admx NAPXPQec.admx PswdSync.admx Snis.admx TerminalServer-Server.admx WindowsServer.admx

 

ADMX/ADML files which exist on Windows 8 but do NOT exist on Windows Server 2012

DeviceRedirection.admx sdiagschd.admx

And the easy way to get all the possible ADMX/ADML files for a particular OS without having to install all the roles/features is to simply copy them out of the winsxs directory (replace en-US in the commands below if your OS is installed in a language other than English). Here is a sample set of commands which can do this for you. You’d need to run this on both a Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 computers to capture all possible admx/adml files.

cd /d %windir%winsxs
dir *.admx /s /b > %USERPROFILE%Desktopadmx.txt
dir *.adml /s /b | find /i "en-us" > %USERPROFILE%Desktopadml_en-us.txt

mkdir %USERPROFILE%DesktopPolicyDefinitions
mkdir %USERPROFILE%DesktopPolicyDefinitionsen-US
FOR /F %i IN (%USERPROFILE%Desktopadmx.txt) DO copy %i %USERPROFILE%DesktopPolicyDefinitions
FOR /F %i IN (%USERPROFILE%Desktopadml_en-us.txt) DO copy %i %USERPROFILE%DesktopPolicyDefinitionsen-US

I hope that helps you with your admx/adml upgrade.

 

Craig