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Windows 10 Group Policy settings

3,381 settings · 22H2 · 1.0 · 15 Jul 2024

1 folder · 2 settingsCSV
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Windows Components › Internet Explorer › Internet Control Panel › Advanced Page

Turn on Enhanced Protected Mode

Computer and userNative Intune settingAdvanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode

Supported on At least Internet Explorer 10.0

22H2 · 1.0

What it does

Enhanced Protected Mode provides additional protection against malicious websites by using 64-bit processes on 64-bit versions of Windows. For computers running at least Windows 8, Enhanced Protected Mode also limits the locations Internet Explorer can read from in the registry and the file system. If you enable this policy setting, Enhanced Protected Mode will be turned on. Any zone that has Protected Mode enabled will use Enhanced Protected Mode. Users will not be able to disable Enhanced Protected Mode. If you disable this policy setting, Enhanced Protected Mode will be turned off. Any zone that has Protected Mode enabled will use the version of Protected Mode introduced in Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista. If you do not configure this policy, users will be able to turn on or turn off Enhanced Protected Mode on the Advanced tab of the Internet Options dialog.

What it writes

Hive
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
Value name
Isolation
When enabled
"PMEM"
When disabled
"PMIL"

In Intune

Native Intune setting: Yes — Policy CSP

  • ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/InternetExplorer/AllowEnhancedProtectedModeInternetExplorer on Microsoft LearnADMX-backed: Windows ships this template, so it is set with the template's own values, without an import.Windows builds listed: 10.0.15063.
  • ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/InternetExplorer/AllowEnhancedProtectedModeInternetExplorer on Microsoft LearnADMX-backed: Windows ships this template, so it is set with the template's own values, without an import.Windows builds listed: 10.0.15063.

From Microsoft's Policy CSP DDF files (DDF v2 Files, February 2026), read 18 Oct 2026.

Security baselines

Microsoft's Windows 10 version 22H2 Security Baseline sets this to Enabled, in its GPO “MSFT Internet Explorer 11 - Computer”.

Policy value Isolation
Sets Isolation to “PMEM” (REG_SZ).

Read from the registry.pol files in the baselines' GPO backups, downloaded from Microsoft's Security Compliance Toolkit. All baselines

Configure and deploy

Choose a state; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

State
Apply to

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Isolation"=dword:00000001

PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Turn on Enhanced Protected Mode
# Name: Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: inetres.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main' -Name 'Isolation' -PropertyType 'String' -Value 'PMEM'

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main' -Name 'Isolation' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

These deployment candidates come from the ADMX template; they are separate from the native CSP mapping above.

  • The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
  • Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_inetres/Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_inetres/Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>
Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: Turn on Enhanced Protected Mode
# Name: Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: inetres.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main' -Name 'Isolation' -Kind 'String' -Expected 'PMEM'
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Isolation') | Out-Null
}

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main' -Name 'Isolation' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Isolation') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Turn on Enhanced Protected Mode
# Name: Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: inetres.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main' -Name 'Isolation' -PropertyType 'String' -Value 'PMEM'

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main' -Name 'Isolation' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 2 retained releases

  1. 22H2 · 1.015 Jul 2024
    • Translations changed; choose a language above to compare its wording.
  2. 1607 · 2.015 Jul 2024
    • Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

Template

Internal name
Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode
Namespace
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer
Template file
inetres.admx
Release
Windows 10 22H2 · 1.0 · file set bc15f6a5271783ee…
Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode)" explainText="$(string.Advanced_ExplainEnableEnhancedProtectedMode)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main" name="Advanced_EnableEnhancedProtectedMode" valueName="Isolation" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:AdvancedPage" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:SUPPORTED_IE10" />
      <enabledValue>
        <string>PMEM</string>
      </enabledValue>
      <disabledValue>
        <string>PMIL</string>
      </disabledValue>
    </policy>

Editor controls

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:category:AdvancedPage
<category displayName="$(string.AdvancedPage)" name="AdvancedPage" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:InternetCPL" />
    </category>
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:category:InternetCPL
<category displayName="$(string.InternetCPL)" explainText="$(string.IE_ExplainInternetCPLCategory)" name="InternetCPL" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:InternetExplorer" />
    </category>
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:category:InternetExplorer
<category displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer)" explainText="$(string.IE_ExplainCat)" name="InternetExplorer" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents" />
    </category>
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:definition:SUPPORTED_IE10
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_IE10)" name="SUPPORTED_IE10" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <or>
          <range minVersionIndex="10" ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer" />
        </or>
      </definition>
Microsoft.Policies.Products:product:InternetExplorer
sha256:f287ee590cbba46b7a95511866303967b9370c7c7d81185659d675ca19b05d72
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:WindowsComponents
<category displayName="$(string.WindowsComponents)" explainText="$(string.WindowsComponents_Help)" name="WindowsComponents" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:category:AdvancedPage
<category displayName="$(string.AdvancedPage)" name="AdvancedPage" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:InternetCPL" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:AdvancedPage">Advanced Page</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:category:InternetCPL
<category displayName="$(string.InternetCPL)" explainText="$(string.IE_ExplainInternetCPLCategory)" name="InternetCPL" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:InternetExplorer" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:IE_ExplainInternetCPLCategory">Contains settings that control features found in the Internet Options dialog.</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:InternetCPL">Internet Control Panel</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:category:InternetExplorer
<category displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer)" explainText="$(string.IE_ExplainCat)" name="InternetExplorer" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:IE_ExplainCat">Contains settings to configure Internet Explorer</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:InternetExplorer">Internet Explorer</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:definition:SUPPORTED_IE10
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_IE10)" name="SUPPORTED_IE10" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <or>
          <range minVersionIndex="10" ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer" />
        </or>
      </definition>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.InternetExplorer:SUPPORTED_IE10">At least Internet Explorer 10.0</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Products:product:InternetExplorer
<product displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer)" name="InternetExplorer" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer30)" name="InternetExplorer30" versionIndex="3" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer40)" name="InternetExplorer40" versionIndex="4" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer50)" name="InternetExplorer50" versionIndex="5" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer60)" name="InternetExplorer60" versionIndex="6" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer70)" name="InternetExplorer70" versionIndex="7" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer80)" name="InternetExplorer80" versionIndex="8" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer90)" name="InternetExplorer90" versionIndex="9" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer100)" name="InternetExplorer100" versionIndex="10" />
        <majorVersion displayName="$(string.InternetExplorer110)" name="InternetExplorer110" versionIndex="11" />
      </product>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer">Internet Explorer</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer100">Internet Explorer 10</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer110">Internet Explorer 11</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer30">Internet Explorer 3</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer40">Internet Explorer 4</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer50">Internet Explorer 5</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer60">Internet Explorer 6</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer70">Internet Explorer 7</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer80">Internet Explorer 8</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Products:InternetExplorer90">Internet Explorer 9</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:WindowsComponents
<category displayName="$(string.WindowsComponents)" explainText="$(string.WindowsComponents_Help)" name="WindowsComponents" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents">Windows Components</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents_Help">Contains settings for operating system components.</string></strings>
ChangeIntel

An IT change radar: releases, security, known issues, retirements, documentation changes, and service status from public sources. Every item links to supporting evidence; dates and statuses can change after they are read.

Sources read 19 Oct 18:24 UTC · 258 of 260 readable · 256 fully read · documentation 417/444 current

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