Hiding Administrative Tools

[Scorpio]

Hi all

 

how are you guys hiding or removing your Administrative Tools, all the GPOs, GPP/start menu and Regedits dont work with the new 1703 to hide them so theres only two options:

 

Change Permissions on the folder - Leave the Folder in the users start menu but Empty

Hide the folder - Hides in control panel too for admins (Not a massive deal but can catch some unsuspecting admins out) also not fully secure.

 

Ideally want to leave it intact and just hide in the menu so admins can use in control panel as control panel is blocked for standard users, seems the start menu and control panel icons are linked.

 

Any pointers would be great, also it would be good to see how you guys handle all the other folders too such as the PowerShell and System Tools etc.

 

Cheers

 

S

[Michael]

You can't hide it as such, but you can restrict what happens within MMC - there are GPOs for this.

[ShellfishClive]

I believe if you choose User Configuration -> Admin Templates -> Control Panel then "Hide Specific Control Panel items". If you enable that and type "Microsoft.AdministrativeTools it should block it for the users that you apply it to.

[Scorpio]

Ive tried this it doesnt work anymore when ive tried.

[3s-gtech]

Hide All Users Start Menu GP setting along with redirected Start Menu has allowed me to hide its contents, at least with local and mandatory profiles. I made sure that the folder was in my redirected Start Menu too, which seemed to offer me more control over what showed.

[Scorpio]

Do you mean, remove common program folders GPO ?

 

If so this removes all user profile shortcuts and removes from desktop so not ideal.

 

Anyone else? Cheers

[mrwoberts]

I've just tried this and it seemed to work (I needed to sign out and back in... wait a few seconds and.... gone)

 

attrib  +H   "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools"

[Scorpio]

Cheers...Yes ive done this, this hides them in the Control panel also, we wanted a cleaner fix for this as we have admins on site who are not as clued up and it will look empty to them. Surely there is a way of doing this by GPO or reg entry that works, ive tried the ones that did work but dont seem to work now on newer versions, why is MS creating a game of cat and mouse for us... grrrr.

[Arthur]

we wanted a cleaner fix for this as we have admins on site who are not as clued up and it will look empty to them.

Could you copy the shortcuts to a network share all admins have access to, but leave the local shortcuts hidden?

[Scorpio]

Some machines are fixed remotely while offsite too, so this wouldn't be an option...

[Arthur]

Another option would be to check the "Run as Administrator" box in the Advanced properties of each shortcut. This will prevent standard users from running any of the admin tools without an appropriate username and password.

 

 

[Scorpio]

seems messy, i have 100s of computers to do this on, so need a clean simple solution. I cant believe this is such a problem to do it will be so common.

 

Thanks all so far... im still looking and trying.

[Arthur]

I'm still looking and trying.

The solution @ShellfishClive posted in post #3 works fine for me in Windows 10 1709.

[Scorpio]

Thanks...Yes, but the folder is still there just empty? Is that what you are seeing, that the best so far but would be better with the folder gone completely out of sight.

[Arthur]

Thanks... Yes, but the folder is still there just empty?

I see what you mean now.

 

The link has gone out of the Control Panel, but the folder is still there for me on the Start Menu.

 

Do you have any classroom management software like Impero that could block these programs based on their path or window titles for non-admins?

[kennysarmy]

Disable Administrative Tools in Windows 8/10

 

Deny access to Administrative Tools menu

To hide the Administrative Tools menu from Standard Users, you can also do the following.

 

The Administrative Tools shortcut is located at:

 

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Right-click on the Administrative Tools folder and select Properties. Click Security tab. Select Everyone and click on the Edit button. In the Permissions box which opens, again select Everyone and then click on the Remove button. Next click on the Add button, select the domain administrators and give full Access and Full Control. Click OK and Exit.

[Scorpio]

Cheers... Tried this and also all the ones in that post, some dont work anymore....applying permissions doesn't hide the folder from the users menu.

[alfatec]

Remove folder 3 from the WinX folder in the default profile.

[Scorpio]

Revisiting this after being sidetracked as usual, I cant believe there isn't a proper solution for this its madness. Going to have to hash together a solution based on the above ideas and suggestions, unless anyone else has a proper solution for this. Cheers.

[kennysarmy]

Revisiting this after being sidetracked as usual, I cant believe there isn't a proper solution for this its madness. Going to have to hash together a solution based on the above ideas and suggestions, unless anyone else has a proper solution for this. Cheers.

 

This works:

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-10/163286-windows-10-start-menu-working-solution-9.html#post1421421

[Scorpio]

Ok, so is this the 3rd folder as mentioned above ? Or all ? Edited November 8, 2017 by Scorpio

[alfatec]

I remove the complete folder which removes the capability to right click on the Start menu.

[Scorpio]

Ive read if you delete the whole Winx folder it recreates ? Also i cant see Administrative tools in any of the 3 WinX folders ?

[Scorpio]

Also isnt the WinX menu the right click menu on the start button, i have classic shell installed and want to remove access to the Administrative tools on the start menu not the WinX menu?

[alfatec]

You delete it from your default profile. If you are using classic shell then you need to enable 'Remove common program groups from Start Menu' in User config, admin templates, Start menu and taskbar. This will then remove the common folders like admin tools etc.