Override Text with Group Policy Registry Values

The Specops Client supports registry-based text overrides deployed through Group Policy. These overrides let you add organization-specific instructions, support information, or terminology to existing client messages and UI text without updating the local translation files or using ADMX/ADML templates.

Local translation files

Registry overrides are supported for the following sections of a translation .ini file:

[Messages] — contains policy-rule messages that use plural wording, as well as general messages.
[MessagesSingular] — contains policy-rule messages that use singular wording when the rule value is 1.
[UiTexts] — contains labels and other text displayed in the user interface.

The .ini files are stored in %SystemRoot%\System32\SpecopsClient\Texts.

Registry-based text overrides

The client reads the override values from:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides

The overrides are stored in the following structure:

TextOverrides\<language>\<section>

Where:

<language> is the language code for the language to override. See Available language codes for the full list of supported languages.
<section> is the text section in the .ini file containing the text entry to override.
<key> is the name of the actual text entry to override. The key corresponds to an existing entry in the selected section of the translation .ini file and is used as the REG_SZ value name under <section>.

For example, to deploy an English override text for the Messages section, create the value under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\en\
Messages

Each override is stored as a string value (REG_SZ) beneath the selected language and section. The name of the string value must match the corresponding key in the .ini file.

Configuring the registry-based text overrides

Use Group Policy Preferences to create the required registry values.

Create the GPO

Open Group Policy Management (GPMC).
Expand the forest and domain.
Right-click Group Policy Objects.
Click New.
Enter a name, such as Specops Client Text Overrides, and click OK.
Link the new GPO to the organizational unit (OU) containing the target computer accounts. See Linking the GPO to the OU.

Create the registry items

Right-click the new GPO.
Click Edit.
Go to Computer Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings.
Right-click Registry.
Click New > Registry Item.
Configure the registry item using the recommended settings.
Click OK.
Repeat for each text value you want to override.

Recommended settings

Action: Update
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key Path: the full override path, for example: SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\en\Messages
Value name: the name of the text entry to override, for example: EnrollmentReminderBaloonTitle
Value type: REG_SZ
Value data: the override text to display

Note

The Value name must match the name of an existing entry in the corresponding translation .ini file, located in folder %SystemRoot%\System32\SpecopsClient\Texts.

For example, if the translation file contains:

[Messages]
EnrollmentReminderBaloonTitle=Password Reset Enrollment

then the registry value name must be EnrollmentReminderBaloonTitle.

The registry value data contains the replacement text that should be displayed instead.

Examples

English Messages override

To override a message text key in English, create the value under:

SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\en\Messages

Example:

Value name: EnrollmentReminderBaloonTitle
Value data: Enroll in Password Reset

German Messages override

To override a message text key in German, create the value under:

SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\de\Messages

Example:

Value name: EnrollmentReminderBaloonTitle
Value data: Registrierung zum Zurücksetzen des Kennworts

English Singular Messages override

To override the singular policy-rule text used when a rule value is 1, create the value under:

SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\en\MessagesSingular

Example:

Value name: MinimumLength
Value data: Must contain at least one character

English UI text override

To override a UI text key in English, create the value under:

SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\en\UiTexts

Example:

Value name: GenericError
Value data: Could not show password rules

German UI text override

To override a UI text key in German, create the value under:

SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\de\UiTexts

Example:

Value name: GenericError
Value data: Kennwortregeln konnten nicht angezeigt werden

Linking the GPO to the OU

Because this configuration is under Computer Configuration, the GPO must be linked to the organizational unit (OU) containing the target computer accounts.

Instructions:

In Group Policy Management (GPMC), browse to the Organizational Unit (OU) containing the computers.
Right-click the OU.
Click Link an Existing GPO....
Select the new text override GPO and click OK.

Make sure the computer account is allowed to apply the GPO. For a simple setup, keep Authenticated Users in Security Filtering.

Verifying the GPO application (optional)

After the GPO has been configured and linked, the policy will be applied automatically to targeted computers during normal Group Policy processing.

Open an elevated PowerShell session to manually verify that the policy has been applied on a client. Run these commands:

Update Group Policy:
```
gpupdate
```
Confirm that the GPO is applied:
```
gpresult /scope computer /r
```
Use PowerShell to verify that the expected registry values exist. The following example displays all overrides in en\Messages; change the language code and section as needed:
```
Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Specopssoft\uReset\Client\TextOverrides\en\Messages'
```

Deleting a GPO

To remove a Group Policy Object (GPO):

Open Group Policy Management (GPMC).
Expand the forest and domain.
Click Group Policy Objects.
Right-click the GPO you want to remove.
Click Delete.
Click Yes to confirm.

Note

Deleting a GPO permanently removes the GPO and all its settings, but it does not remove the registry values previously deployed to client computers through Group Policy Preferences by default. If the GPO is linked to one or more organizational units (OUs), the links are removed automatically. Before deleting the GPO, verify that it is no longer required and remove the deployed registry values if necessary.

Troubleshooting

The registry value does not appear on the client

Check the following:

The GPO is linked to the correct computer OU
The client computer account is allowed to apply the GPO
gpresult /scope computer /r shows the GPO under Applied Group Policy Objects
The registry item is created under Computer Configuration, not User Configuration
The registry item uses the full key path, including language and section

The override does not seem to apply

Check the following:

The registry value name exactly matches the translation key in the .ini file
The registry value is stored as REG_SZ
The language branch matches the client language
The language code is valid and listed in the supported language codes in Available language codes
The override is placed under the correct section: Messages, MessagesSingular, or UiTexts
The registry value data is not empty or whitespace only

Available language codes

Supported override language codes:

Language code	Language
`az`	Azerbaijani
`cs`	Czech
`cy`	Welsh
`da`	Danish
`de`	German
`en`	English
`es`	Spanish
`fi`	Finnish
`fr`	French
`hi`	Hindi
`hu`	Hungarian
`id`	Indonesian
`it`	Italian
`ja`	Japanese
`ko`	Korean
`ms`	Malay
`nl`	Dutch
`no`	Norwegian
`pl`	Polish
`pt`	Portuguese
`ro`	Romanian
`sk`	Slovak
`sl`	Slovenian
`sr`	Serbian
`sv`	Swedish
`th`	Thai
`tr`	Turkish
`uk`	Ukrainian
`vi`	Vietnamese
`zh-Hans`	Chinese (Simplified)
`zh-Hant`	Chinese (Traditional)