You can use the Backup-GPO and Restore-GPO cmdlets to back up GPOs and restore them. For example, the following command backs up the GPO named "HQ-Desktops" to the local folder named C:\GPOBackups:
PS C:\> Get-GPO -Name "BO-1-Desktops" | Backup-GPO -Path "C:\GPOBackups" `
-Comment "Today's backup"
You can then use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to verify the result as follows:
PS C:\> Get-ChildItem "C:\GPOBackups" -Recurse
The above tip was excerpted from Mitch Tulloch's book Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 from Microsoft Press.
Mitch is a nine-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award and a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, deployment and virtualization. For more information see http://www.mtit.com.