Exploration of new things in Windows Vista Group Policy

Group PolicyWe have learned about the powerful functions of windows XP, So what features do we not know about the Group Policy of windows vista? Let's explore it together.

Group Policy is a powerful tool used to customize, control, and protect Windows operating systems. Replaces the system policy features in Windows NT, and is introduced as part of IntelliMirror Technology in Windows 2000. In the subsequent Operating Systems Based on NT, its application scope and functions are also expanded.

Group policies can be applied to sites on the Local Computer layer, organizational unit, domain, or Active Directory. The group policy can be supported by Windows XP Professional, but cannot be supported by XP Home. Similarly, group policies are also supported by Vista Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions, whereas those of Home Basic and Home Premium versions are not supported.

The Group Policy in Vista adds hundreds of new settings, allowing administrators to better control users and computers. Some of them are used to add features, while others are used to improve group policies in Windows XP. In this article, we will discuss some interesting new features you can use in group policies. You can download the table containing group policy settings configured for computers and users from the Microsoft website. This is included in the Administrator template file released along with Vista. Note that the Administrator template file in Vista is a new XML-based file format. ADMX ).

Control removable media

Removable devices include USB drives, flash memory card readers, and external USB hard drives, as well as CD, DVD writers, and even traditional floppy disks, which can easily transfer data between two computers. Unfortunately, they are also accompanied by a big security problem: users can easily download data that could not have left the company's network to removable devices and carry it with them, or they can upload data from devices to the company's computers, possibly without knowledge of virus or malware.
In the past, some companies may physically destroy USB interfaces by filling in some physical means. In less extreme cases, remove the USB interface connection in the computer and remove the optical drive to remove the disc burning function. You can also purchase third-party software to enable or disable access to USB devices, CD/DVD recorders, and so on. Alternatively, you can create a custom. ADM file to prevent people from using these devices in XP.

Vista makes it easier. The following procedure allows you to use a group policy to control the access to the local Vista computer by the removable media:

1. Click Start, enter gpedit. msc in the search box, and press Enter.

2. In the left pane of the "Group Policy object Editor", under "Computer Configuration", expand "management template" and click "system ".

3. Scroll with the mouse in the right pane and click "Removable Storage Access", as shown in 1.

Figure 1 You can control access to removable storage through the Vista Group Policy

You can choose from a variety of options, depending on the type of removable storage you want to control. For example, you can double-click "all removable storage classes: deny all Permissions" in the right pane to deny access to all types of removable storage.

4. In the properties pane, select "enabled", as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 enable this policy to deny access to all removable storage

6. Click "application" or "OK ".

This deny permission for all types of removable storage is superior to the Group Policy set for individual storage classes. You can set the following Storage types separately:

CD and DVD

Floppy disk drive

Removable disk

Tape drive

WPD device cellular phone, Portable Media Player, secondary display device, CE-based devices like handheld computers)

You can also set policies to deny read or write permissions respectively. Therefore, you can allow users to read data from devices but cannot store the data in them.

Control Power Supply ManagementSet

It has been a long time for enterprises to be able to control power management methods in Windows. There are already third-party software that allows administrators to centrally control these settings, but additional costs must be borne for the software. In Vista, the company is able to control power management through group policies, which can also save on electricity consumption.

In the Vista Group Policy, the power management is in the same "management template" folder as the previously mentioned removable storage access, which contains some subfolders, the policy can be applied to different aspects of power management, as shown in 3.

Figure 3 Vista allows administrators to control different aspects of power management

The "button Settings" folder contains the following group policy options:

Select the power button to connect to the power supply)

Select the sleep button to enable the power supply)

Select the Start Menu power button to enable the power supply)

Select the lid switch to turn on the power)

Select the power button to operate on the battery)

Select the sleep button to use the battery)

Select Start Menu power button to operate on battery)

Select the lid switch to operate on the battery)

You can set the following options for each button:

Do not perform the operation

Shutdown

Sleep

Sleep

Double-click the power item you want to configure and select "enabled. Next, select the corresponding operation from the drop-down menu, as shown in figure 4.

Figure 4 You can configure the required operations for the power supply and sleep buttons, Start Menu buttons, and lid Switches

Hard Disk settingsThe "Hard Disk Settings" folder contains only two policies:

Turn off hard drive power-on)
 

Turn off the hard disk battery)

You can use them to control the duration before Windows shuts down the hard disk when the computer is inactive. You must enter the required value in seconds. The value range is 1 to 999999.

Notification Settings

The "Notification Settings" folder has the following policies for you to configure:

Notification operation for serious shortage of battery power

Insufficient battery notification operation

Notification level for severe battery shortage

Notice of insufficient battery power off

Notification of insufficient battery level

By using these group policies, you can set the extent to which notifications are triggered. When a level of policy is enabled, the value you customize represents the percentage of the battery capacity. For example, if you want to notify when "10" is enabled, this means that when the battery capacity is 10%. These settings are shown in figure 5.

Figure 5 you can set a notification to be sent when the power supply is insufficient or the supply is insufficient.

The notification operation policy allows you to set the computer prompts when the computer is in a shortage or serious shortage. When these policies are enabled, you can select from the following operations:

Do not perform the operation

Shutdown

Sleep

Sleep

To "turn off insufficient battery user notification" is not just as it described: when it is enabled, when the battery reaches the level of insufficient or serious shortage, the user is not prompted.

To learn more about new things in the windows vista Group Policy, click New things you are exploring in the windows vista group policy.