Understanding the Processing Order for GPSI
I have always wondered how Group Policy Software Installation knows what MSIs to install when. Looking over Experts-Exchange and several forums/blogs, most made it out to be like magic.
Today, I stumbled across this article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/cc817587.aspx
Categories: Management, Performance, Troubleshooting Tags: Group Policy, GUID, MSI, registry
Always open All Control Panel Items when opening Control Panel
The default behaviour of the Control Panel view is to load the view selected in your last Control Panel session. If you need to change this default behaviour and force Control Panel to display all items upon loading then you can either tweak the registry or use Group Policy to set a default view irrespective of your last session modifications.
Categories: GUI, Tweaks Tags: control panel, ForceClassicControlPanel, gpedit, Group Policy, regedit, registry, view
Automating Hardware in Windows 7
For all of us desktop administrators out there, automation is the key to our success. Using Group Policy, we can automate the deployment of software, settings, printers, drive mappings and pretty much anything else for our users and computers. Hardware, especially roaming hardware, has always been a thorn in our sides.
Categories: Management Tags: Central Driver Store, Desktop, driver, driver store, Group Policy, hardware, registry
Computer Configuration Best Practices
Although, you may find many posts related to registry tweaks on this blog, it is always recommended to perform the same adjustments using the GUI (Graphical User Interface), Group Policy or other tools if these are available! Registry hacks on Windows7library.com are generally intended for computer geeks who would normally dig deeper into systems for personal pride. An interesting article series by Mitch Tulloch on Windowsnetworking.com explains the best practices for configuring Windows systems. Mitch reminds us that the registry is not an authoritative source for policy adjustments, but it is simply where the results of applying policies to a computer or user are stored. Editing the registry may make your computer unreliable or even unusable!
Read more here – http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/How-wreck-your-Windows-network-Part1.html
Categories: Management Tags: Group Policy, MItch Tulloch, registry, tweak
Registry setting for User Account Control (UAC)
User Account Control (UAC) is a Windows 7 in-built tool that protects your system and alerts you when you are executing some task that requires administrator privileges, however, if you would like to know how to disable UAC from the registry, here is the info:
Categories: Admin, Tweaks Tags: regedit, registry, REG_DWORD, security, UAC, user account control, XP
Encrypting the Pagefile
In high-secure environments the Windows system pagefile may pose a risk to confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data. Sensitive data may still reside in the system pagefile which can be exfiltrated by attackers with the help of specialized tools. In such high-security scenarios, one would need to take the proper measures to safeguard systems pagefiles.
Categories: Security, Tweaks Tags: data, encryption, fsutil, NtfsEncryptPagingFile, Pagefile, regedit, registry
Disabling Windows Control Panel
Say, you don’t want other users to fiddle around with your system settings and would like to completely disable access to Control Panel for all users then you can achieve this by simply adding a new registry entry.
Categories: Admin, Tweaks Tags: control panel, NoControlPanel, regedit, registry, registry editor, settings
