Windows 11 Group Policy Object did not apply '0x800703ee after September, 2022—KB5017328 update

Question

After Windows 11 clients updated to September 13, 2022—KB5017328 (OS Build 22000.978), GPO for copying files no longer works. Events logs show the following entries.

Event 4098: Group Policy Object did not apply because it failed with error code '0x800703ee The volume for a file has been externally altered so that the opened file is no longer valid.'

From other sources online, it seems Windows 10 clients updating to KB5017308 also are having this issue?

Answer 1

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-21h2#2910msgdesc

After installing KB5017328, file copies using Group Policy Preferences might fail or might create empty shortcuts or files using 0 (zero) bytes. Known affected Group Policy Objects are related to files and shortcuts in User Configuration -> Preferences -> Windows Settings in Group Policy Editor.

Workaround: To mitigate this issue, you can do ONE of the following:

Uncheck the "Run in logged-on user's security context (user policy option)". Note: This might not mitigate the issue for items using a wildcard ().
Within the affected Group Policy, change "Action" from "Replace" to "Update".
If a wildcard () is used in the location or destination, deleting the trailing "\" (backslash, without quotes) from the destination might allow the copy to be successful.
Next steps: We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

Answer 2

There is no such issue officially acknowledged by Microsoft.
You can raise the issue through the Feedback App installed within the OS.

Answer 3

It seems update "October 11, 2022—KB5018427 (OS Build 22621.674)" fixed this issue for us.