Some control of Windows XP Pro with GPEDIT.MSC

(Traditional format)

Tue Dec 7 11:41:19 2004 Some control of XP with GPEDIT.MSC
Posted by Tony Lawrence
Search Keys: security group policy
Referencing: https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1633791,00.asp

Tom Heneghan sent me this link about using "gpedit.msc" in Windows XP to create group policies on a specific, stand-alone machine. Administrators in small shops who don't want to go to full-fledged lockdown might find some of this useful. This is the same tool that you'd use for a domain-wide group policy; this is just running it locally. This is on XP Pro only (but only fools run XP Home anyway).

As the article suggests, this would also be useful for tightening down a specific machine, such as one left unattended in a semi-public area.

A similar article with a bit more detail is at https://www.theeldergeek.com/group_policy_for_windows_xp_prof.htm.

I played around with this on my wife's XP machine (sorry, honey, but I have to use yours because I don't have Windows). I ran "gpupdate" to activate policies, but it just hung - nervously I logged out and back in, which is the other way to get XP to quickly notice a change. I was nervous because it's really not a good idea to break your wife's computer.

Hint: if you do something bad to your spouse's machine, it's probably best to drop it on the floor, jump on it hard and say nothing about your experiments. Clumsiness is easier to forgive than breakage by tinkering.

Fortunately all was well. The change I had made was to adjust her IE and Outlook title bars so that they now read "Microsoft Outlook provided by your husband for you". She probably won't even notice. Someone else might want "provided for business use only" or other text.

There are more useful abilities here - eliminating potential security problems like Windows Messenger, and more.

Got something to add? Send me email.

2 comments

---January 6, 2005

...only fools run XP Home anyway (quoted from above)

Put me down as a 'fool' for having XP Home. So far as I know my computer runs just fine on it. At least I ain't fool enough to even think of busting my wife's puter!!

---January 6, 2005

"So far as I know..."

So said the patient to the doctor shortly before the onset of cardiac arrest.

What you don't know is what can and will hurt you with Windows. A fool and his computer are soon parted if XP Home is involved.

--BigDumbDinosaur

---January 7, 2005

Having XP Home at "home" is fine - well, as "fine" as any Windows OS is. It's when it is brought into a corporate network that its problems show up.

--TonyLawrence





Thu Nov 9 05:39:54 2006: 2594   anonymous


Is there a way to enable limited users to install programs?



Thu Nov 9 13:28:07 2006: 2596   TonyLawrence


A "limited user" who can install programs is no longer "limited" in any sense.



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