Restrict access to Windows Update
The "Restrict access to Windows Update" check box lets you prevent users from connecting to the Windows Update Web site.
This setting blocks user access to the Windows Update Web site at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Also, the setting removes the Windows Update hyperlink from the Start menu and from the Tools menu in Internet Explorer.
Remove common program groups
The "Remove common program groups" check box lets you remove items in the "All Users" profile from the "All Programs" menu on the Start menu.
By
default, the "All Programs" menu contains items from the "All
Users" profile and items from the user's profile. If you enable this setting, only items in
the user's profile appear in the "All Programs" menu.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove My Documents
The "Remove My Documents" check box lets you remove the "My Documents" icon from the Start menu and its submenus.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Documents" folder.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Hide My Documents
The "Hide My Documents" check box lets you hide the "My Documents" icon from the Start menu. But users will still be able to go to the "Customize" section of the Start menu properties, and add the "My Documents" back to the Start menu.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Documents" folder.
Remove My Pictures
The "Remove My Pictures" check box lets you remove the "My Pictures" icon from the Start menu and its submenus.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Pictures" folder.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Hide My Pictures
The "Hide My Pictures" check box lets you remove the "My Pictures" icon from the Start menu. But users will still be able to go to the "Customize" section of the Start menu properties, and add the "My Pictures" back to the Start menu.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Pictures" folder.
Remove My Music
The "Remove My Music" check box lets you remove the "My Music" icon from the Start menu and its submenus.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Music" folder.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Hide My Music
The "Hide My Music" check box lets you remove the "My Music" icon from the Start menu. But users will still be able to go to the "Customize" section of the Start menu properties, and add the "My Music" back to the Start menu.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Pictures" folder.
Remove My Network Places (Professional only)
The "Remove My Network Places" check box lets you remove the "My Network Places" icon from the Start menu.
Note
I: Only applies to Windows XP Professional.
Note
II: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Hide My Network Places (Professional only)
The "Hide My Network Places" check box lets you remove the "My Network Places" icon from the Start menu. But users will still be able to go to the "Customize" section of the Start menu properties, and add the "My Network Places" back to the Start menu.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Network Places" folder.
Remove My Computer
The "Remove My Computer" check box lets you remove the "My Computer" icon from the Start menu.
This setting only removes the icon. It does not prevent the user from using other methods to gain access to the contents of the "My Computer" folder.
Remove Printers and Faxes
The "Remove Printers and Faxes" check box lets you remove the "Printers and Faxes" icon from the Start menu.
Remove Favorites
The "Remove Favorites" check box lets you prevent users from adding the Favorites menu to the Start menu or "classic" Start menu.
If you enable this setting, the "Favorites menu" check box does not appear in the Advanced tab from the "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" (Customize) Start menu properties box.
Note: The Favorites menu does not appear on the Start menu by default. To display the Favorites menu, right-click Start, click Properties, and then click Customize. If you are using Start menu, click the Advanced tab, and then, under Start menu items, click the Favorites menu. If you are using the classic Start menu, click Display Favorites under Advanced Start menu options.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove Search
The "Remove Search" check box lets you remove the "Search" item from the Start menu, and from the context menu that appears when you right-click the Start menu. Also, the
system does not respond when users press the Windows key (the key with the Windows logo) + F.
In Windows Explorer, the Search item still appears on the Standard buttons toolbar, but the system does not respond when the user presses Ctrl+F. Also, Search does not appear in the context menu when you right-click an icon representing a drive or a folder.
This setting affects the specified user interface elements only. It does not affect Internet Explorer and does not prevent the user from using other methods to search.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove Help
The "Remove Help" check box lets you remove the "Help" command from the Start menu. This setting only affects the Start menu. It does not remove the Help menu from Windows Explorer and does not prevent users from running Help.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove Run
The "Remove Run" check box lets you remove the "Run" command from the Start menu, Internet Explorer, and Task Manager.
If you enable this setting, the following changes occur:
(1) The Run command is removed from the Start menu.
(2) The New Task (Run) command is removed from Task Manager.
(3) The user will be blocked from entering the following into the Internet Explorer Address Bar:
--- A UNC path: \\<server>\<share>
--- Accessing local drives: e.g., C:
--- Accessing local folders: e.g., \temp
Also, users with extended keyboards will no longer be able to display the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key (the key with the Windows logo) + R.
Note
I: This setting affects the specified interface only. It does not prevent users from using other methods to run programs.
Note
II: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove Log Off
The "Remove Log Off" check box lets you remove the "Log Off" item from the Start menu and prevents users from restoring it. If you enable this setting, the "Log Off" item does not appear in the Start menu and the Windows Task Manager.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove My Recent Documents
The "Remove My Recent Documents" check box lets you remove the "My Recent Documents" menu from the Start menu.
The "My Recent Documents" menu contains links to the non-program files that users have most recently opened. It appears so that users can easily reopen their documents.
If you enable this setting, the system saves document shortcuts but does not display them in the "My Recent Documents" menu. If you later disable it, the document shortcuts saved before the setting was enabled and while it was in effect appear in the "My Recent Documents" menu.
Note
I: This setting does not prevent Windows programs from displaying shortcuts to recently opened documents.
Note
II: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove "Turn Off Computer" button
The "Remove "Turn Off Computer" button" check box lets you prevent users from shutting down or restarting Windows. If you enable this setting, the "Turn Off Computer" button is removed from the simple Start Menu and the user is prevented from turning off Windows using the standard shutdown user interface.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove "Undock PC" button (portables only)
The "Remove "Undock PC" button" check box lets you remove the "Undock PC" button from the simple Start menu, and your PC cannot be undocked.
Note: Only applies to portables
Remove user name
The "Remove user name" check box lets you remove the username from the top of the Start Menu
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Clear history on exit
The "Clear history on exit" check box lets you clear the history of recently opened documents on exit.
If you enable this setting, the system deletes shortcuts to recently used document files when the user logs off. As a result, the "My Recent Documents" menu on the Start menu is always empty when the user logs on.
This setting does not clear the list of recent files that Windows programs display at the bottom of the File menu.
Disable recently opened documents history
The "Disable recently opened documents history" check box lets you prevent the operating system and installed programs from creating and displaying shortcuts to recently opened documents.
If you enable this setting, the system and Windows programs do not create shortcuts to documents opened while the setting is in effect. Also, they retain but do not display existing document
shortcuts. The system empties the "My Recent Documents" menu on the Start menu, and Windows programs do not display shortcuts at the bottom of the File menu.
Note: The system saves document shortcuts in the user profile in "<System-drive>\Documents and Settings\User-name\Recent".
If you enable this setting but do not enable the "Remove My Recent Documents" setting, the "My Recent Documents" menu appears on the Start menu, but it is empty.
If you enable this setting, but then later disable it, the document shortcuts saved before the setting was enabled reappear in the "My Recent Documents" menu and program File menus.
This setting does not hide document shortcuts displayed in the "Open" dialog box.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Disable Highlighting of newly installed programs
The "Disable Highlighting of newly installed programs" check box lets you disable this annoying feature. When a new program is installed it will appear highlighted for some time by default.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Disable Personalized menus (classic menu only)
The "Disable Personalized menus" check box lets you disable "personalized" menus.
Windows personalizes long menus by moving recently used items to the top of the menu and hiding items that have not been used recently. Users can display the hidden items by clicking an arrow to extend the menu.
If you enable this setting, the system does not personalize menus. All menu items appear and remain in standard order. Also, this setting removes the "Use Personalized Menus" option so users do not try to change the setting while a setting is in effect.
Note
I: Only applies when using the "Classic" Start menu.
Note
II: Personalized menus require user tracking. If you enable the "Disable user tracking" setting, the system disables user tracking and personalized menus and ignores this setting.
Disable user tracking
The "Disable user tracking" check box lets you prevent the system from tracking the programs users run, the paths they navigate, and the documents they open. The system uses this information to customize Windows features, such as personalized menus.
If you enable this setting, the system does not track these user actions. The system disables customized features that require user tracking information, including personalized menus.
Note: Only applies when using the "Classic" Start menu.
Disable Drag-and-drop
The "Disable Drag-and-drop" check box lets you prevent users from using the drag-and-drop method to reorder or remove items on the Start menu. Also, it removes context menus from the Start menu.
This setting does not prevent users from using other methods of customizing the Start menu or performing the tasks available from the context menus.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Force classic Start menu
The "Force classic Start menu" check box lets you change the way the Start menu is displayed.
The classic Start menu in Windows allows users to begin common tasks, while the new Start menu consolidates common items onto one menu. When the classic Start menu is used, the following icons are placed on the desktop: My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer.
If you enable this setting, the Start menu displays the classic Start menu in the Windows 2000 style and displays the standard desktop icons.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove Balloon tips
The "Remove Balloon tips" check box lets you hide pop-up text-balloons on the Start menu and in the notification area.
When you hold the cursor over an item on the Start menu or in the notification area, the system displays pop-up text providing additional information about the object.
If you enable this setting, some of this pop-up text is not displayed. The pop-up text affected by this setting includes "Click here to begin" on the Start button, "Where have
all my programs gone" on the Start menu, and "Where have my icons gone" in the notification area.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove pinned programs list
The "Remove pinned programs list" check box lets you remove the "Pinned Programs" list from the Start menu, and the Internet and Email checkboxes are removed from the simple Start menu customization CPL.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove frequent used programs list
The "Remove frequent used programs list" check box lets you remove the frequently used programs list from the Start menu.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove All Programs
The "Remove All Programs" check box lets you remove the "All Programs" item from the simple Start menu.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Add "Run in Separate Memory Space" check box to Run
The "Add "Run in Separate Memory Space" check box to Run" check box lets you add a check box to the "Run" command box.
Checking the "Run in Separate Memory Space" check box lets users run a 16-bit program in a dedicated (not shared) Virtual DOS Machine (VDM) process.
All DOS and 16-bit programs run on Windows XP in the Windows Virtual DOS Machine program. VDM simulates a 16-bit environment, complete with the DLLs required by 16-bit programs. By default, all 16-bit programs run as threads in a single, shared VDM process. As such, they share the memory space allocated to the VDM process and cannot run simultaneously.
Enabling this setting adds a check box to the Run dialog box, giving users the option of running a 16-bit program in its own dedicated VDM process. The additional check box is enabled only when a user enters a 16-bit program in the Run dialog box.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove "Set Program Access and Defaults"
Setting "Remove 'Set Program Access and Defaults' Icon" will remove the "Set Program Access and Defaults" Icon from the top of the "All Programs" menu. This icon is added in Windows XP Service Pack 1 and later.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Lock Taskbar and Start menu settings
The "Lock Taskbar and Start menu settings" check box lets you prevent users from opening the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.
If the user right-clicks the taskbar and then clicks Properties, a message appears explaining that a setting prevents the action. It also hides the "Taskbar and Start
Menu" item from the Control Panel
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Disable Taskbar & Tray context menu
The "Disable Taskbar & Tray context menu" check box lets you hide the menus that appear when you right-click the taskbar and items on the taskbar, such as the Start button, the tray, and the taskbar buttons.
This setting does not prevent users from using other methods to issue the commands that appear on these menus.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Lock Taskbar
The "Lock Taskbar" check box lets you prevent users from moving or resizing the taskbar. While the taskbar is locked, auto-hide and other taskbar options are still available in Taskbar properties.
The taskbar includes the Start button, list of currently running tasks and the notification area. By default, the taskbar is located at the bottom of the screen but it can be dragged to any side of the screen. When it is locked, it cannot be moved or resized.
Note
I: Enabling this setting also locks the Quick Launch bar and any other toolbars that the user has on their taskbar. The toolbar's position is locked and the user cannot show and hide various toolbars using the taskbar context menu.
Note
II: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove & Disable Toolbars from Taskbar
The "Remove & Disable Toolbars from Taskbar" check box lets you hide any custom toolbars and remove the "Toolbars" command and submenu from the (right-click) context menu.
The taskbar includes the Start button, buttons for currently running tasks, custom toolbars, the notification area and the system clock. Toolbars include Quick Launch, Address, Links, Desktop and other custom toolbars created by the user or by an application.
If this setting is enabled, the taskbar does not display any custom toolbars and the user cannot add any custom toolbars to the taskbar. Moreover, the "Toolbars" menu command and submenu are removed from the context menu. The taskbar displays only the Start button, taskbar buttons, the notification area and the system clock.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Remove Clock
The "Remove Clock" check box lets you prevent the clock from being displayed in the system notification area.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Hide notification area
The "Hide notification area" check box lets you hide the "notification area". The notification area is located at the far right end of the task bar and includes
the icons for current notifications and the system clock.
If this setting is enabled, the user's entire notification area including the notification icons is hidden. The taskbar displays only the Start button, taskbar buttons, custom toolbars (if any) and the system clock.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Turn off system tray cleanup
The "Turn off system tray cleanup" check box effects the system tray, also called the "notification area."
The notification area is located in the task bar, generally at the bottom of the screen, and it includes the clock and current notifications. This setting determines whether the items are always expanded or always collapsed. By default, notifications are collapsed. The notification cleanup << icon is referred to as the "notification chevron.
If you enable this setting, the system notification area expands to show all of the notifications that use this area.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Turn off low diskspace warning
The "Turn off low diskspace warning" check box lets you disable the pop-up notification in the "notification area" when one of your hard disks is running low on space.
Note
I: It is usually good practice to ensure that there is at least 10-15% free space available on your hard drive. For example, if Windows would run out of space and be unable to create temporary files or unable to grow the paging file if needed, Windows could crash.
Note
II: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Start menu & Taskbar > Prevent taskbar grouping
Prevent taskbar grouping
The "Prevent taskbar grouping" check box lets you disable "taskbar grouping". Taskbar grouping consolidates similar applications when there is no room on the taskbar. It kicks in when the user's taskbar is full.
If you enable this setting, it prevents the taskbar from grouping items that share the same program name.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Change taskbar grouping behavior
The "Change taskbar grouping behavior" setting allows you to change the way taskbar grouping behaves:
You can choose between:
* Group by age (oldest group first)
* Group app with most windows first
* Group apps with n windows
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Start menu & Taskbar > Internet Time feature
The Internet Time feature lets you synchronize
your system time with a timeserver over the Internet. By default, the polling interval is set to 7 days.
Note
I: Can only be changed when logged in with Administrator privileges.
Note
II: The new time interval is applied only after the current scheduled update has run.
Start menu & Taskbar > Start menu programs
Hide
programs from Start menu
By default, Windows does not list certain programs on the Start menu MRU (Most Recently Used) list, which is the left side of the (new) Start menu. Here you can add/remove your own choice in program files you wouldn't want to show.
Click the Add button, and browse to the program you want to exclude from the Start menu. To remove a program from the exclusion list, select the program on the list and press the Remove button.
As default are listed:
SETUP.EXE
INSTALL.EXE
ISUNINST.EXE
UNWISE.EXE
UNWISE32.EXE
ST5UNST.EXE
RUNDLL32.EXE
MSOOBE.EXE
LNKSTUB.EXE
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.
Max no. of recent documents
Specifies the number of shortcuts displayed on the "Recent Documents" submenu. You can choose a number between 2 and 19.
Configure
Menu speed
Here you can change the speed in which the menu opens.
The setting is in milliseconds, and can range from 0-99999. The Windows default is 400.
Prevent application from stealing focus
Checking "Prevent application from stealing focus" will prevent applications from stealing focus ("jumping in front") from the windows you are working in.
Instead the icon of the application demanding your attention will flash on the taskbar.
You can also set the number of times an application icon will flash on the taskbar to get your attention.
Note: Changing this setting requires a logoff.