Print
To enable a policy setting, just double-click on it, and then select the radial button labeled “Enabled” and click Ok. With some settings, before you actually see any change, you’ll need to close the group policy editor, then log out and log back in to Windows.
In any version of Windows, one of the most frequently used parts of the GUI is the start menu, where you can launch programs and access all the vital locations in your PC’s file structure. You can customize the start menu, to an extent, by editing the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties in the control panel, but if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty you’ll need to use the Group Policy Editor.
You can find all of the policies associated with the start Menu in User Configuration > Administration Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. There are tons of options to look at here, and the info panel will help you figure out what they all do, but here’s a few interesting ones, to get started:
Add Search Internet link to Start Menu
Enabling this setting will add a link to the start menu search bar which opens your default browser and performs a search for your term. Requires Windows 7 or Server 2008.
Turn off user tracking
Don’t like that your PC keeps track of which programs you run and which documents you open? Enable this policy setting to tell Windows not to keep track of this information. Turning off tracking will disable features that use the information, like the frequently used program lists.
Turn off automatic promotion of notification icons to the taskbar
Are you the type that likes to keep your taskbar host to only the icons that you specify? If so, turn this setting on to keep Windows from letting any icons into the taskbar without your permission. This is only available in Windows 7.
Using the Group Policy Editor, you can change the image used as the background of the login screen.To do so, simply go the Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Logon folder, and enable the Always use custom logon background setting.
Now, if you place and image called backgroundDefault.jpg in C:\Windows\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds Windows will use that image as the background of the logon screen.
Comments are closed on this article
sleeperdoodledoo
October 14, 2009 at 1:56am
When I got to open gpedit.msc it opens with the wrong path and gives me this big ole error box! In the path it uses the old command (starts with an S) and I realized after 2 years I had been ignoring it and therefore eventually crashing! Can you tell me how to change the path?
(%windir%\security\database\secedit.sdb) I don't know how to change this and if I do does gpedit.msc have a database?
This is very tricky.
Thank you!-Sleeper
Blessed Are The Merciful For They Shall Obtain Mercy
JCBarry
October 07, 2009 at 11:55am
One of the most useful things I use gpedit for is logon and logoff scripts.
Quick and easy way to do it:
- Start.
- Run.
- gpedit.msc
- User Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts (logon/logoff)
It's pretty self explanatory after that. I run some scripted backups using this method.
Jay Barry
MaxPC Profile | Jason Barry
COMMANDER_COOK
October 07, 2009 at 6:40am
Un-doing group policy settings is easy, here's how:
Just delete all files in C:\windows\system32\GroupPolicy
savage4naves
October 07, 2009 at 6:25am
There are multiple free programs online that allow you to customize your Windows 7 logon screen wallpaper
Sovereign
October 07, 2009 at 11:04am
http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon/
That is the fastest free way to do it. It even makes the image compliant with the 245kB size requirement without requiring anything more from the user than a simple button click.
