Locking icon position on desktop

  • Thread starter Thread starter dave
  • Start date Start date
D

dave

Hello all,

I work in an internet cafe, and I've been trying to lock down the
machines as tightly as possible. I've got a shared desktop set up on
our server (Win2003 SBS) for all the machines, and the domain logins
only have read permissions over it, so they can't change anything.
However, they can still move the icons about, and it's driving me
crazy!

Ideally, I'd like the users to be unable to move the icons at all, but
I'd accept the icons being set back to the default positions when they
log off. I've seen a couple of suggestions for how to go about this
(most notably by adding the NoSaveSettings registry entry and enabling
it), but nothing has worked yet.
From what I can gather, NoSaveSettings performs the same task as the
Click to expand...
'Don't save settings on exit' entry in Group Policy, which I already
have enabled. This states that it doesn't stop shortcuts being saved,
which would explain why it hasn't worked in the way I was hoping.

I've also tried the layout.dll fix from the NT Resource Kit, but the
users can right-click on the Recycle Bin and save their own layout, of
course. I tried hiding the Recycle Bin, which worked pretty well,
apart from the fact that restoring the desktop layout didn't always
work - the icons would still sometimes jump around to exciting new
places.

I know it's possible to do this as I've seen it done elsewhere; any
suggestions for ways to accomplish this would be gratefully received,
even if it's quite complicated. Third-party programs are a last
resort, but please suggest anything that could perform this task for me
(especially if it's freeware).

Please help if you can, as this is driving me a bit mad at the moment
:-s

Many thanks,

Dave Skillin.
 
Hello all,

I work in an internet cafe, and I've been trying to lock down the
machines as tightly as possible. I've got a shared desktop set up on
our server (Win2003 SBS) for all the machines, and the domain logins
only have read permissions over it, so they can't change anything.
However, they can still move the icons about, and it's driving me
crazy!

Ideally, I'd like the users to be unable to move the icons at all, but
I'd accept the icons being set back to the default positions when they
log off. I've seen a couple of suggestions for how to go about this
(most notably by adding the NoSaveSettings registry entry and enabling
it), but nothing has worked yet.

'Don't save settings on exit' entry in Group Policy, which I already
have enabled. This states that it doesn't stop shortcuts being saved,
which would explain why it hasn't worked in the way I was hoping.

I've also tried the layout.dll fix from the NT Resource Kit, but the
users can right-click on the Recycle Bin and save their own layout, of
course. I tried hiding the Recycle Bin, which worked pretty well,
apart from the fact that restoring the desktop layout didn't always
work - the icons would still sometimes jump around to exciting new
places.

I know it's possible to do this as I've seen it done elsewhere; any
suggestions for ways to accomplish this would be gratefully received,
even if it's quite complicated. Third-party programs are a last
resort, but please suggest anything that could perform this task for me
(especially if it's freeware).

Please help if you can, as this is driving me a bit mad at the moment
:-s

Many thanks,

Dave Skillin.
Click to expand...


Have you looked at the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sharedaccess/default.mspx
 
No, I'd never heard of it, so thanks very much for that. We're giving
it a trial at the moment, and Windows Disk Protection certainly seems
to solve that particular desktop issue.

Thanks again,
Click to expand...

You're welcome, Dave.
 
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