Hi,
For W2K computers in a Windows 2000 domain, computer and group policies
are applied when one starts the computer and when one logs onto a
Windows 2000 domain. Using the registry, an administrator can specify
whether a group policy should be refreshed in the background, and if
so, at what intervals. If you have a large number of workstations
and/or member servers, group policy refresh requests can put a
significant load on domain controllers. By default, if the
administrator has not modified the default registry setting, Windows
2000 workstations and member servers have a 90-minute interval. Domain
controllers have a 5 minute interval to insure that they have current
policies as replication occurs.
To avoid the performance degradation that can occur if many Windows
2000-based computers request a group policy refresh from domain
controllers at one time, a random offset interval is added to the
refresh interval to determine the total amount of time between group
policy application cycles. The valid range for the offset interval can
be 0 (zero) to 1,440 minutes (24 hours). The default for Windows
2000-based computers is 30 minutes, while the default for domain
controllers is 0 (zero) minutes.
This interval can be configured through the registry. You will find
more information at the following link
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;203607&sd=tech
Harj Singh
"Power Your Active Directory Investment"
www.specopssoft.com