Need Help Locking Computers at work!

[D22]

Hello...I am in charge of a large area of Demo computers at work and was wondering about the best way to keep them locked. I know there are probably some registry hacks and maybe some other tricks.

Basically, when under limited account only I need... the wallpaper, screensaver, and power management options locked, and also all startup items to remain disabled and not reactivated. Also would like any tips to keep virii from being loaded onto the computers. It is very frustrated to deal with and this could save me LOADS of time at work. Please help!

 

[Slikkster]

I would use the "Group Policy Editor" built in to XP Pro (not built into XP Home).

Here's a page about it:

http://www.technobabble.com.au/technoba...Group%20Policy%20Registry%20Editor.htm

Just google "Group Policy Editor" or "gpedit.msc" if you need to learn more about how to use it.

 

[D22]

One problem with that, they are ALL running either XP home or XP media center! This guy who came in town for a few days had the hacks on a flash drive but I never got the chance to get them from him. It greyed out the option to change the screen saver and wallpaper. That is what I am looking for

 

[Slikkster]

Well, there's still solutions. First of all, if you have a copy of XP Pro around, do this:

Windows XP Home does not include GPEDIT; XP Home users can apparently run this program if they have access to files from an XP Pro (or possibly Win 2000?) installation, by doing the following:

* Copy the files gpedit.dll and fde.dll from \WINDOWS\System32 on the XP Pro machine to \WINDOWS\System32 on the XP Home machine.
* From a command prompt issue the following commands on the XP Home machine: regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\System32\gpedit.dll

* regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\System32\fde.dll Open the Microsoft Management Console (mmc.exe) and select File->Add/Remove Snap-in... Then click Add. Select the Group Policy snap-in from the list of installed snap ins.

You can now edit the Group Policy on the local machine. But XP Home doesn't support the same feature set as XP Pro, so the policies you are looking for might be missing.


If you don't have XP Pro available to copy the files and register them as outlined above, here's the registry settings that the Group Policy Editor WOULD apply, if you had it. They also apply to XP Home:

http://www.j79zlr.com/gphome.php

Just click on the headng you're interested in, and it will scroll to the associated registry entries to enable/disable or modify.

Note: Sometimes, some registry editing needs to be done in Administrative mode. In XP Home, the only way to log on as administrator is to boot into Safe Mode. Then, you'll see the Admin logon availability.

 

[notoriginal]

Is it possible to install a policy for one specific user in XP Pro? I would like to limit a user without limiting the Administrator.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

There are also 3rd party apps sold expressly for this purpose.