Tag: Computer Configuration
Turn off Help and Support Center “Did you know?” content
This policy setting specifies whether to show the “Did you know?” section of Help and Support Center. This content is dynamically updated when users who are connected to the Internet open Help and Support Center and provides up-to-date information about Windows and the computer. If you enable this policy setting the Help and Support Center no longer retrieves nor displays “Did you know?” content. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the Help and Support Center retrieves and displays “Did you know?” content. You might want to enable this policy setting for users who do not have Internet access because the content in the “Did you know?” section will remain static indefinitely without an Internet connection.
Turn off Help and Support Center Microsoft Knowledge Base search
This policy setting specifies whether users can perform a Microsoft Knowledge Base search from the Help and Support Center. The Knowledge Base is an online source of technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products and is searched as part of all Help and Support Center searches with the default search options. If you enable this policy setting it removes the Knowledge Base section from the Help and Support Center “Set search options” page and only Help content on the local computer is searched. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the Knowledge Base is searched if the user has a connection to the Internet and has not disabled the Knowledge Base search from the Search Options page.
Turn off Registration if URL connection is referring to Microsoft. com
This policy setting specifies whether the Windows Registration Wizard connects to Microsoft. com for online registration. If you enable this policy setting it blocks users from connecting to Microsoft. com for online registration and users cannot register their copy of Windows online. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting users can connect to Microsoft. com to complete the online Windows Registration. Note that registration is optional and involves submitting some personal information to Microsoft. However Windows Product Activation is required but does not involve submitting any personal information (except the country/region you live in).
Turn off Internet Connection Wizard if URL connection is referring to Microsoft. com
This policy setting specifies whether the Internet Connection Wizard can connect to Microsoft to download a list of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). If you enable this policy setting the “Choose a list of Internet Service Providers” path in the Internet Connection Wizard causes the wizard to exit. This prevents users from retrieving the list of ISPs which resides on Microsoft servers. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting users can connect to Microsoft to download a list of ISPs for their area.
Turn off Event Viewer “Events. asp” links
This policy setting specifies whether “Events. asp” hyperlinks are available for events within the Event Viewer application. The Event Viewer normally makes all HTTP(S) URLs into hyperlinks that activate the Internet browser when clicked. In addition “More Information” is placed at the end of the description text if the event is created by a Microsoft component. This text contains a link (URL) that if clicked sends information about the event to Microsoft and allows users to learn more about why that event occurred. If you enable this policy setting event description hyperlinks are not activated and the text “More Information” is not displayed at the end of the description. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the user can click the hyperlink which prompts the user and then sends information about the event over the Internet to Microsoft. Also see “Events. asp URL” “Events. asp program” and “Events. asp Program Command Line Parameters” settings in “Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Event Viewer”.
Turn off Windows Error Reporting
This policy setting controls whether or not errors are reported to Microsoft. Error Reporting is used to report information about a system or application that has failed or has stopped responding and is used to improve the quality of the product. If you enable this policy setting users are not given the option to report errors. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting the errors may be reported to Microsoft via the Internet or to a corporate file share. This policy setting overrides any user setting made from the Control Panel for error reporting. Also see the “Configure Error Reporting” “Display Error Notification” and “Disable Windows Error Reporting” policy settings under Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Error Reporting.
Turn off access to all Windows Update features
This policy setting allows you to remove access to Windows Update. If you enable this policy setting all Windows Update features are removed. This includes blocking access to the Windows Update website at http://windowsupdate. microsoft. com from the Windows Update hyperlink on the Start menu and also on the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. Windows automatic updating is also disabled; you will neither be notified about nor will you receive critical updates from Windows Update. This policy setting also prevents Device Manager from automatically installing driver updates from the Windows Update website. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting users can access the Windows Update website and enable automatic updating to receive notifications and critical updates from Windows Update.
Restrict Internet communication
This policy setting specifies whether Windows can access the Internet to accomplish tasks that require Internet resources. If you enable this setting all of the the policy settings listed in the “Internet Communication settings” section are set such that their respective features cannot access the Internet. If you disable this policy setting all of the the policy settings listed in the “Internet Communication settings” section are set such that their respective features can access the Internet. If you do not configure this policy setting all of the the policy settings in the “Internet Communication settings” section are set to not configured.
Turn off Automatic Root Certificates Update
This policy setting specifies whether to automatically update root certificates using the Windows Update website. Typically a certificate is used when you use a secure website or when you send and receive secure email. Anyone can issue certificates but to have transactions that are as secure as possible certificates must be issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA). Microsoft has included a list in Windows XP and other products of companies and organizations that it considers trusted authorities. If you enable this policy setting when you are presented with a certificate issued by an untrusted root authority your computer will not contact the Windows Update website to see if Microsoft has added the CA to its list of trusted authorities. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting your computer will contact the Windows Update website.
Turn off printing over HTTP
This policy setting specifies whether to allow printing over HTTP from this client. Printing over HTTP allows a client to print to printers on the intranet as well as the Internet. Note: This policy setting affects the client side of Internet printing only. It does not prevent this computer from acting as an Internet Printing server and making its shared printers available via HTTP. If you enable this policy setting it prevents this client from printing to Internet printers over HTTP. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting users can choose to print to Internet printers over HTTP. Also see the “Web-based printing” policy setting in Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Printers.