IE GPO - Automatically detect settings always selected

The first time a user logs on to a machine the Automatically detect settings will be ticked even if you have not ticked it in the GPO.

According to a Microsoft KB this behavior is by design.

This of course is not good because depending on how you set your proxy settings the user won't be able to browse the internet unless he logs off and log back on and this can generate Service Desk calls.

After some attempts I have found a way around that.

After you configure your proxy GPO in Internet Explorer Maintanance you have to enable one extra setting.

To configure your Internet Explorer/Proxy settings go to User Configuration - Windows Settings - Internet Explorer Maintanance - Connection.

After this is done, go to Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Internet Explorer and change Make proxt settings per-machine (rather than per-user) to enable.

Now even if it's the first time the user is logging on the proxy settings should be exactly what you configured in your GPO.