SetUserTile permissions

[Callum]

We have a program written in C# which starts when a network user logs in, and among the many tasks it does, it has been programmed to set the Windows user tile to the photo we have, stored in Active Directory. It does this by calling the SetUserTile import, as shown here. When debugging the program as an administrator (with no group policy restrictions) it works fine. However, when actually running it as either a staff user or a student user, the program completely crashes and does not set the tile. After adding some debug outputs to the code it is definitely SetUserTile which is causing the crash.

 

So why can't network users set their tile? I doubt it's the fact they're not administrators, as users in a default environment are free to change their own user tile. I think the most likely cause is some form of group policy setting that is applied to the users. We have an extremely locked down environment for staff and students; they login with a mandatory profile and group policy prevents them changing any form of visual setting. They cannot change the wallpaper, cannot change the start menu, etc.

 

TLDR: If anybody is aware of any group policy settings which hinder the ability to change your user tile, I'd very much appreciate any information.

[JRowley]

Computer -> Administrative Templates -> Control Panel -> User Accounts

Apply the default user logon picture to all users

 

This would prevent you from changing it if you are receiving "Unhandled exception: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (90x800704EC)".

 

If its not that then you should check which security context the application is running in and try giving a student user local admin rights.

[Callum]

Thanks for the response, JRowley. We initially thought this may be the issue and so removed the setting. However the problem still persists. We do apply "Disable changes to Taskbar and Start Menu Settings" to network users; could this be causing the issue? Though ideally we don't want to undo this setting as it would allow students to mess around with the visuals of the Start Menu and Taskbar.

[JRowley]

I wouldn't have thought it would cause issues, though you might want to disable it with a local group policy on a machine to test it. It's more likely security I would have thought, can the staff user do run as administrator?

[Callum]

No, the staff are also very locked down, and cannot run programs as administrator.