How to remove Internet Explorer Maintenance with Windows 8

Question

In order to edit group policy preferences for Internet Explorer 10 and newer, we are editing group policy exclusively with GPMC installed on a Windows 8 computer. I have the understanding that once you edit group policy with a newer OS, it shouldn't be edited
with an OS prior.  Now we are ready to remove policy settings using Internet Explorer Maintenance by clicking "Reset Browser Settings" for that policy node.  However, IEM is not visible with Windows 8.  Is it safe to go against best
practice and edit group policy with for example GPMC installed on a Windows 2003 server just to remove IEM policy?  Is there a better way to accomplish this task?
Thank you

Answer 1

In order to edit group policy preferences for Internet Explorer 10 and newer, we are editing group policy exclusively with GPMC installed on a Windows 8 computer. I have the understanding that once you edit group policy with a newer OS, it shouldn't be edited
with an OS prior.  Now we are ready to remove policy settings using Internet Explorer Maintenance by clicking "Reset Browser Settings" for that policy node.  However, IEM is not visible with Windows 8.  Is it safe to go against best
practice and edit group policy with for example GPMC installed on a Windows 2003 server just to remove IEM policy?  Is there a better way to accomplish this task?
The DLLs for IEM are removed when a computer is upgraded to IE10/IE11 (or if it ships with IE10/IE11).
This means that you can't remove the IEM settings from a GPO, unless you have a machine that has an older (IE9 or less) browser.
You can either;
a) delete the GPOs which you already know do contain IEM settings (here's a tip on how to find those:
http://deployhappiness.com/tracking-down-rouge-cses-ie-maintenance-addition/ )
b) use a computer which has an older browser, with GPMC/RSAT on it, to do the "IEM Reset".
I would not use WS2003 for this, since WS2003 doesn't understand ADMX, and you might have already used a newer OS to author settings into that same GPO. I would use WS2008R2 or Win7 to do this (ensuring that the browser on that computer is IE8 or IE9 and is
not IE10 nor IE11)
Don
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