Policy Plus ADMX Files.

Hello, We have a couple of PC's running Windows 10 and 11 Home and we would like to install the Policy Plus application to give us a similar control as Group Policy in Windows Pro. After downloading the program from GitHub, we are asked to download ADMX Files (from within Policy Plus) to bring the program up to date. I believe the ADMX files are downloaded to C:/WindowsPolicyDefinitions. We are wary of downloading these files through the program and want to download them from Microsoft directly. I think the site is microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=105390. (Ver 3) July 2023.
Can we download the Policy Plus program from GitHub, and download the ADMX files separately from Microsoft and save them to C:/WindowsPolicyDefinitions. Would Policy Plus still work or would the ADMX files need to be downloaded from within Policy Plus?
Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks Jim.

In this video guide, you’ll learn the steps to get started with Policy Plus to change advanced settings on Windows Home Edition.


In this guide, i will guide you to install the Group Policy Editor for Windows 11 and Windows 10 Home edition.

Thanks for the videos. My concern is allowing Policy Plus to download ADMX Files after the program is running. Does Policy Plus download these files directly from Microsoft and is it safe to allow the program to download and install them? Is there another option to download the files myself from Microsoft and have Policy Plus recognise them?
Thanks for your help.

I have no clue but something telling me it's from Microsoft server.

There isn't a single set of ADMX templates. Templates exist for a variety of different product, including:
- base Windows
- Office products
- Edge
- OneDrive

Each of the template sets must be installed, or extracted/copied into place so your editor of choice (Policy Plus, or GP Editor) can find them. For the record, Policy Plus is currently using the 21H2 download:

PolicyPlus/PolicyPlus/DownloadAdmx.vb at master · Fleex255/PolicyPlus

22H2 version is more up-to-date:
Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2) - v3.0

Thanks for replying. The ADMX files which I downloaded from within Policy Plus don't seem to be downloaded to C/Windows/PolicyDefinitions as the files in this folder are have been there for a long time. Does Policy Plus download them to another location? Policy Plus isn't installed as such - the .exe file is downloaded to downloads, and double clicked every time it's used. Seems like a good alternative to Group Policy but just want to be sure it's safe to use and that the ADMX files are being downloaded directly from Microsoft.
Thanks.

I tried this just now. If you ask Policy Plus to download templates from Help / Acquire ADMX Files, it will overwrite C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions with extracted 21H2 files. This may not be the right version, depending on your W11 release (21H2, 22H2, 23H2).

Look at the file dates under that folder.

I don't understand this line of questioning. You don't bother to review Policy Plus's source code as provided on GitHub (where the URL is exposed), and you're willing to trust a 3rd-party tool to edit GPO's, but won't trust it because you think it's not downloading from MS??

Again, you're free to search for and download the correct Windows ADMX templates from MS and copy them to \Windows\PolicyDefinitions yourself without using Policy Plus.

Hello,
I have the same doubts...
Today I downloaded Policy Plus and when asked to download ADMX files (to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions) I said Yes, and it overwrote my previous files there, which were bigger BTW (!?). I have Win 11 23H2 (22631.4112) Home.

E.g.:
BEFORE:
...
15/05/2024 19:29 36.992 AppPrivacy.admx
...

AFTER:
...
07/12/2019 02:09 32.147 AppPrivacy.admx
...

Will this corrupt the system having older/wrong files? (Didn't change anything yet). Better if I restore the old ones from a ShadowCopy and forget Policy Plus?

Another thing: this seems the latest package for my system: Download Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2023 Update (23H2) from Official Microsoft Download Center but I noticed its default install destination is different:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Group Policy\Windows 11 October 2023 Update (23H2)\PolicyDefinitions\



So, what should I do? Installing latest official package (link above) is enough and safe? Should I select as destination dir C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions at this point instead?

1. Group Policy Templates are simply what their name implies, a template file. They're read by Group Policy Editor or another app to guide them into what to present in the Editor and how to write new policy files. By themselves, they can't break Windows.

2. What happens when you use the wrong version of the template? GPE may present an out-of-date view, where it's missing new additions to the policy, list outdated choices because it's been changed, or keeping obsolete choices that no longer exist in this Windows release. Using the wrong version won't cause any harm, but you might be confused on why the expected results don't match reality.

3. MS is terribly inconsistent in packaging the different versions of Templates, it changes from Product to Product. Sometimes it's released in the form of a CAB file. Sometimes it's a CAB file hidden inside a ZIP. Sometimes it's a self-extracting MSI file.

4. The actual location where GPE looks is C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions. Some of the extracted CAB's, ZIP's extract to the current folder. What MS is trying to avoid having you accidently overwrite C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions by user error. Anything outside of the real folder isn't what is being read.

5. You can revert from Shadow Copy, or transfer the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Group Policy..." folder contents. Make a backup copy of "C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions" if that makes you more comfortable.

6. The real problem is PolicyPlus hasn't been updated since June 2021, and its ADMX downloads are hard-coded. So don't use the download feature!

Ok thanks for clarifications (better be safe than sorry ).
I've installed the package from MS for Win 11 23H2, in C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions to overwrite old files downloaded by PolicyPlus. I think it's enough, but I'll keep a backup of that dir from a yesterdays shadowcopy.