Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 manual Modifying Policy Settings on Stand-Alone Workstations

Modifying Policy Settings on Stand-Alone Workstations

If you need to modify settings of a Windows NT 4.0-based workstation user who is not a member of the domain and thus will not be able to use the policy file located on the domain, you have three options available to you:

∙You can create a policy file for stand-alone workstations where users log on locally, or

∙You can change policy settings remotely, or

∙You can change policy settings locally.

Procedures for each option are described next. Note that you must have administrator rights to the stand-alone workstations in question.

To create a policy file for stand-alone workstations:

1.Log on as administrator, and create a policy file that includes Computer and User objects with appropriate settings for the computer and users re- spectively. The user objects may include the Default User or user accounts from the local workstation, but global group objects will be ig- nored if added to the policy file. Windows NT recognizes machine-specific policy settings for the computer if those are specified in the policy file.

2.Place the policy file in a secure directory on the stand-alone computer or on a network share to which the user has at least Read permissions.

3.In the workstation registry, locate the UpdateMode value in the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet

\Control

\Update

4.Update the data to a hex value of 2.

5.In the same registry subkey, modify the NetworkPath value with the local or UNC path where the policy file resides. If this path does not exist, add it as a data type of REG_SZ. For example, if the policy file is named NTcon- fig.pol and is placed in the root directory of Windows NT, NetworkPath should contain the path c:\Winnt\Ntconfig.pol.

6.Have the user log on to the workstation. Windows NT will read the policy file specified by NetworkPath and then apply the appropriate policy to the computer or to the user.

NOTES:

UNC paths may be used in the NetworkPath value. This is beneficial to those administrators who want to centralize the policy file in use.

To change policy settings remotely:

1.Log on as administrator, open the System Policy Editor, and from the File menu, select Connect.

2.Type the computer name of the workstation to be modified, and click Enter. A dialog will appear displaying the user name of the currently logged on

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