How to block users from installing or running programs in Windows 7 | 8

You can if you wish to restrict users from installing or running programs in Windows 8, Windows 7 , Windows Vista, Windows XP , Windows 2000 & Windows Server family. You can do so by using certain Group Policy settings to control the behavior of the Windows Installer, prevent certain programs from running or restrict via the Registry Editor.

The Windows Installer, msiexec.exe, previously known as Microsoft Installer, is an engine for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software on modern Microsoft Windows systems.

 

1. Disable or restrict the use of Windows Installer via Group Policy

Type gpedit.msc in start search and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor. Navigate to Computer Configurations > Administrative templates > Windows Components > Windows Installer

In RHS pane double-click on Disable windows installer. Configure the option as required.

This setting can prevent users from installing software on their systems or permit users to install only those programs offered by a system administrator. If you enable this setting, you can use the options in the Disable Windows Installer box to establish an installation setting.

The “Never” option indicates Windows Installer is fully enabled. Users can install and upgrade software. This is the default behavior for Windows Installer on Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista when the policy is not configured.

The “For non-managed apps only” option permits users to install only those programs that a system administrator assigns (offers on the desktop) or publishes (adds them to Add or Remove Programs). This is the default behavior of Windows Installer on Windows Server 2003 family when the policy is not configured.

The “Always” option indicates that Windows Installer is disabled.

This setting affects Windows Installer only. It does not prevent users from using other methods to install and upgrade programs.

 

2. Always install with elevated privileges

In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components

Scroll down and click Windows Installer and configure it to Always install with elevated privileges.

This setting directs Windows Installer to use system permissions when it installs any program on the system.

This setting extends elevated privileges to all programs. These privileges are usually reserved for programs that have been assigned to the user (offered on the desktop), assigned to the computer (installed automatically), or made available in Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. This setting lets users install programs that require access to directories that the user might not have permission to view or change, including directories on highly restricted computers.

If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the system applies the current user’s permissions when it installs programs that a system administrator does not distribute or offer.

This setting appears both in the Computer Configuration and User Configuration folders. To make this setting effective, you must enable the setting in both folders.

Skilled users can take advantage of the permissions this setting grants to change their privileges and gain permanent access to restricted files and folders. Note that the User Configuration version of this setting is not guaranteed to be secure.

 

3. Don’t run specified Windows applications

In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System

Here in RHS pane, double click Don’t run specified Windows applications and in the new window which opens select Enabled. Now Under Options click Show. In the new windows which opens enter the path of the application you wish to disallow; in this case : msiexec.exe.

This will disallow Windows Installer which is located in c:\Windows\System32\ folder from running.

This setting prevents Windows from running the programs you specify in this setting. If you enable this setting, users cannot run programs that you add to the list of disallowed applications.

This setting only prevents users from running programs that are started by the Windows Explorer process. It does not prevent users from running programs, such as Task Manager, that are started by the system process or by other processes. Also, if you permit users to gain access to the command prompt, cmd.exe, this setting does not prevent them from starting programs in the command window that they are not permitted to start by using Windows Explorer. Note: To create a list of disallowed applications, click Show. In the Show Contents dialog box, in the Value column, type the application executable name (e.g., msiexec.exe).

 

 

4. Restrict Programs from being installed via Registry Editor

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun

Create String value with any name, like 1 and set its value to the program’s EXE file.

e.g., If you want to restrict msiexec, then create a String value 1 and set its value to msiexec.exe. If you want to restrict more programs, then simply create more String values with names 2, 3 and so on and set their values to the program’s exe.

You may have to restart your computer.

- The SWC’s workstation for Parit Raja 4, Yong Peng 3 and Simpang Renggam 2 has been disabled its windows installer. LogMeIn connection to Simpang Renggam 2 WTP is very slow but it was still possible to make the following settings. 

  a. Disable windows installer - Enabled > Always

  b. Don’t run specified Windows applications - c:\windows\system32\msiexec.exe

Solution to Restore Missing or Disappeared Safely Remove Hardware Icon

The manual way of bringing back the Safely Remove Hardware window is by running a command. Go to Start -> Run or press Windows key+R, type in or copy and paste the following line and click OK. The command below IS case sensitive.

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

That will bring up the “Safely Remove Hardware” dialog which you can use to stop the USB device that you want to unplug. When you close the window, this often has the side effect of also restoring the icon back to the tray.

How to Enable Telnet Client in Windows 7

 
It's very rare that I use Telnet these days, so it took a long time for me to notice that by default it was not packaged with Windows 7.  I did some research and found out that this was also true for Windows Vista.  More than likely this was an attempt to make Windows more secure by default, as Telnet is very insecure and whenever you have the choice you should always use SSH.  However, with that being said, you can quickly re-enable Telnet by following these steps:

1. Click Start
2. Control Panel
3. Programs And Features
4. Turn Windows features on or off
5. Check Telnet Client
6. Hit OK

After that you can start Telnet via Command Prompt.

Another Method:

• Open a command prompt window.
• Click Start,type cmd in start search box, and then press Enter.
• Type the following command

pkgmgr /iu:"TelnetClient"

• If the User Account Control(UAC) dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is want you want, and then click continue.
• When the command prompt appears again, the installation is complete

How to convert a GPT (GUID Partition Table) hard disk to MBR

1.Open up command prompt
2. Type "diskpart" and press Enter. You will be presented with a DISKPART prompt.
3. Select the hard disk you wish to clean by using the select disk command. By default, the primary hard disk is classified as hard disk 0. Type in "list disk". Find the number of the disk you want. Then type in "select disk x" x = number of the disk you want
4. Type in "clean"
5. Open up Disk Management, and you will find it has a new disk to initialize, make sure you check mbr this time

How to open an Open Office file(.ods) in Excel?

One of the easiest way is to transfer the file to google drive (convertor: ON) and have it converted there. But if it is possible, it is best to do it in Open Office.

Another method is to enable Microsoft Office XP, 2003, or 2007 to open the Open Office files.  This can be done by downloading and installing the converter from http://odf-converter.sourceforge.net/ . Just like any other file converters, it is not perfect and the converted file may have some issues.