Login VSI - Workload file type association problems

Symptoms

This only applies to Windows 8 and later.

Despite configuring a local or domain GPO entry for .pdf file type association, a pop up from Adobe Reader appears saying it's not the default PDF viewer. This results in timed out sessions during the VSI test.
Sometimes when you log on as a local administrator, Adobe Reader appears to be the default program for the .pdf file extension.

Cause
This is probably occurring when the domain controller is running an older version as the OS on the target machines.

For example, DC is running Windows Server 2008 and target is running Windows 8.1. Or you're running Windows Server 2012 and trying to set a default handler for .PDF by registry.

In pre Windows 8/2012 operating systems it was possible to set a default handler for a file type or protocol by manipulating the registry.

However, in Windows 8/2012, the registry changes are verified by a hash (unique per user and app) that detects tampering by Apps. In the absence of a valid hash, it will ignore the default in the registry.

Solution
In case you're domain controller is running an older version of Windows Server as your target environment. You'll need to create a central store with the latest Administrative Templates (ADMX).

If that's not the case and you're DC is running the latest version of Windows Server you can skip to step 3.

1. To create a Central Store for your domain, create a PolicyDefinitions folder in the following location on your domain controller:
   
   C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\%UserDNSDomain%\Policies\PolicyDefinitions


2. Go to a the machine running the latest version of Windows.
   
   Copy C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\* to \\%LogonServer%\sysvol\%UserDNSDomain%\Policies\PolicyDefinitions\


3. Now you can configure the follow GPO from the Group Policy Management Console and the file type association can be fixed.
   
   Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File Explorer\Set a default associations configuration file

Properties
Applies to
Login VSI - any version.
 
Resources
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb530196.aspx
https://4sysops.com/archives/group-policy-central-store/
File Type by GPO (Microsoft)

http://appsensebigot.blogspot.nl/2015/10/deploying-per-user-file-type.html