Import Saved Queries in Windows Server 2003 AD Users & Computers

How can I import saved queries to Windows Server 2003 AD Users & Computers?

Windows Server 2003 AD Users and Computers has a new built-in feature called “Saved Queries”. With the Saved Queries feature we can now create our LDAP-based search strings and have them saved for future use, either in the DSA.MSC snap-in itself, or as XML files that can be used in other computer (no, the saved queries you‘ve just created are not replicated to any other computer or DC, they‘re local to the computer you‘ve created them on). Read more about it in my Saved Queries in Windows Server 2003 AD Users & Computers article.
As seen in my LDAP Search Samples for Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2000/2003 article, most regular LDAP searches can be easily done via the provided GUI (such as in a new Address List filter), however there are instances where the provided GUI does not give us the needed flexibility. For example, you cannot use the GUI to create a search that uses the Boolean word “OR”, you can only create searches that use “AND” as their filter. In those cases, if you wanted to create a filter that finds users that are either in the Sales department OR in the Development department – you‘d need to use a manual search string.

In Windows Server 2003 AD Users and Computers we can now save our LDAP queries in XML format, to be used later or on other computers.
To import a custom query perform the following steps:

1. In the Windows Server 2003 AD Users and Computers right-click Saved Queries and choose Import Query Definition.

1. In the Open window, browse to the saved XML file and click Ok.

See my LDAP Search Samples for Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2000/2003 article for many LDAP search samples you can use.
You can also download my sample LDAP search strings in XML format – saved_queries_samples.zip

1. In the Edit Query window make sure the definition, scope and name are ok, then click Ok if you‘re done.

1. After you click Ok the results of the query will be displayed in the right pane. The results can be easily managed from the results pane.