Permanently Uninstall Games

[Guest]

Hey everyone...I'm trying to permanently uninstall the games on my PC at
work..running Windows XP. I've tried uninstalling via the Control
Panel..Add/Remove Programs..Add/Remove Windows
Components..Accessories/Utilities...Games route. Problem is that some of the
people I work with go to my desk when I'm not there and follow these same
steps but they "check" the box and reinstall the games and then play them. I
wanna get rid of the games period...so that they can't be reinstalled. Any
ideas? Thanks....

 

[Chris H.]

Yes, Anthony, password your own logon. That'll keep these people out. I
doubt you know, other than games, what else they might be getting into. If
you leave you computer unsecured, you're only asking for trouble. You can
also set a password on the screensaver and set it to activate after about
three minutes of inactivity. If you don't protect your machine, it isn't
you computer.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Guest]

Chris,

I understand your concerns over security but I have a situtation where we
have computers (at work) which are all shared and we don't have individual
logins. It's not practical for us to set up each user to have his/her own
login. Saying that, is there any way to remove games permanently? Is there a
registry entry I could change or something under the policy I could change?

BrianR

 

[RobertVA]

Chris,

I understand your concerns over security but I have a situtation where we
have computers (at work) which are all shared and we don't have individual
logins. It's not practical for us to set up each user to have his/her own
login. Saying that, is there any way to remove games permanently? Is there a
registry entry I could change or something under the policy I could change?

BrianR

Maybe you should permit an occasional break as long as the work gets
done in a reasonable time and any calls or visits by customers or
suppliers are taken care of without delays to complete the game(s).

You could set yourself up on an administrator account WITH A PASSWORD
for maintenance and software installations. Don't tell ANYONE what the
password is unless you can trust them not to reinstall the games. Then
set up a shared limited user account without a password for general use.

MOST EFFECTIVE:
First, tell EVERYONE when playing games starts adversely affecting
productivity there WILL be unpleasant consequences. Then when someone
neglects their job to play games give them a few days unpaid vacation.
Make sure the offender is aware that the second offense will result in a
significantly longer vacation. If you're really feeling like being a
nice guy put a notification in their employment records that they were
individually warned about the game play and postpone the unpaid vacation
for the second offense.

 

[Guest]

It's against company policy to have games installed on company computers.

 

[RobertVA]

It's against company policy to have games installed on company computers.

Yet it doesn't seem to stop the employees from installing the games. I
doubt they would be installing the games unless they were intending to
play them.

These games were included in Windows as demonstrations of manipulating
data with the mouse. Since they were designed with the intention of
using the Administrator/Limited/Guest User privileges system to control
access to them, the probability that the game applications would check
places like the registry for clearance to run is low. Basically,
Microsoft considers the issue resolved through limiting the privilege of
installing applications to personnel with administrative accounts.

You MIGHT need to BRIEFLY promote the shared account to administrator
level running a just installed application the first time so that it can
establish some folders for data files. Some Windows 9x/ME compatible
applications might make it necessary for you to adjust their default
data storage location to a folder they will be permitted to modify when
run with a limited account.

A system running under a Limited or Guest account is less vulnerable to
the acquisition of malware like viruses and spyware too. Many malware
applications need the privileges of a running administrative account to
establish themselves.

SOME networked computers are configured to load a fresh image if the OS
and software installations from a central server EACH time they are
started. The OS and associated software installations were automatically
reset to the IS department's default configuration at that time. That
default configuration did NOT include things like the games that came
with Windows. Data files had to be kept on the server, since ALL data
was cleared from the hard drives in the work stations every time they
were shut down. At one time that was implemented through to use of a ROM
on a Network Interface Card (NIC) that acted as a boot "drive" and may
have contained information about where to find the OS image on the
server. I don't know how feasible that would be with the more recent
network interfaces that are integrated into the computer's motherboard.
Check with your IT supplier to see if they have someone with knowledge
about implementing such a system.

 

[RobertVA]

It's against company policy to have games installed on company computers.

You MIGHT be able to place several copies of some less recreational .EXE
to the folder where the games are normally installed after renameimg the
copies to the file names of the game .EXEs. If you write protect them
the employees might have a SLIGHTLY more complicated time reinstalling
the games. I'm not sure if the write protection would keep the system
file recovery wizard from replacing your fake files with the real games
though.

 

[Guest]

Not a bad thought. We hire part time college students and most of them are
very computer savvey.

BrianR