How to use the Group Policy Editor to change default systems settings

Date:  Apr 21, 2002 Section:  Articles & Tutorials :: Windows XP Author:  Johannes Helmig Company:  WindowsNetworking.com   Printable Version Rating:  4.1/5 - 120 Votes   1 2 3 4 5

Note : The "Group Policy Editor" is only available for Windows XP Professional !

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If you do not like some of the default settings of Windows XP (like the new Start-Menu or
the "colorful" Windows XP theme of the desktop ) , you can change these settings by using the
"Group Policy Editor" : Select from the Start-menu "Run" and enter : GPEDIT.MSC :

A few examples :

Define Start menu and Taskbar options : example : Force the use of the Classic Start Menu :


Example : Define for the Control-Panel / Desktop to use the "Windows Classic" theme :


Example : Define to use always the Classic Logon :


Example : Define to use always the Classic Control Panel style :


example : switch off the automatic start of the Microsoft Windows Messenger :


Example : allow access to shared Windows XP resources without passwords defined for users :

By default, Windows XP is configured (= enabled) to allow blank password ( = no password)
only for logon via the console (= keyboard, mouse and screen), requiring passwords to be
defined for accessing shared resources (=disks/folders) on this system via the network.

Rating:	4.1/5 - 120 Votes
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