Disable 'save as background' in IE?

[indiegirl]

Is it possible, without enabling Active Desktop?

 

I'm trying to explore various ways around this without much luck.. I've managed to stop students from setting backgrounds everywhere but through the right-click menu in IE.

 

I'd like to disable the right-click, but that's a tad extreme.

 

Has anyone successfully done it?

[Geoff]

Change the permissions on C:\Windows\Internet Explorer Wallpaper.bmp so that they can't write to it. Replace the file with your standard wallpaper.

[indiegirl]

The students don't have access to the C:\ drive as a whole, and permissions are so that they can't write to it even if they find it... I'll double check those permissions, tho....

[Geoff]

IE runs as part of Windows. It does this paticular trick using its 'SYSTEM' privs. Regardless of who's logged in. Deny the everyone group write access to the file.

[MkII]

Do you deploy MS Paint? When I had right click disabled students could use paint to set backgrounds. I don't have any wallpaper set by default.

[Guest]

I also had this problem. I use GPOs for a custom wallpaper, so the only time a wallpaper set this way is seen is at the users logon / logoff.

 

I delete said bmp file from both local and roaming profiles at logon. Works ok for now.

 

You can grey out the option to "set as desktop wallpaper" from the IE context menu via the registry. Although I have had trouble getting it to work for standard users.

[indiegirl]

OK.. I've had a look:

 

Geoff: I can't actually see the IE wallpaper Bitmap you mention (we've XP desktops). We don't have a wallpaper specified by default, could this be why? Can I get around it by creating a blank bmp and setting permissions?

 

Mark: The students do have access to it, yes...

[Geoff]

I've had another look. IE6 on WinXP actually places the file in \Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Internet Explorer Wallpaper.bmp

 

Depending on how your profiles are setup if you create a blank BMP with the correct permissions in your Default User profile that should solve the problem. Clear off all the old profiles with delprof.

 

If your using folder redirection, roaming or mandatory profiles you'll have to alter each profile directly.

[MkII]

If your using folder redirection, roaming or mandatory profiles you'll have to alter each profile directly.

 

Or delete all the student profiles as well as the local ones so that a fresh one is created

[DMcCoy]

Hmm, I have all this disabled. Even if you get the option, it doesn't work. I have set the background for the mandatory profiles via the policy using the active desktop wallpaper option. There was one way to do it with paint if I remember, but I got rid of that - at least it doesn't do anything when you try.

[tarquel]

My students get a manditory background lol

 

I cant remember the exact details but I've put it in the netlogon folder and used GP to make it compulsory.

 

Its a AUP of sorts lol No one has complained yet - and is a get around for me incase shit hits the fan about anything. I can say I've done my bit - its up to the SMT if they want me to do anything else.....sorry i digress/rant.

 

I'll dig it out for ya ....

 

My Default pupil GPO contains this:

 

User Config:

 

-=- Administrative Templates > Desktop > Active Desktop -=-

Enable Active Desktop = Enabled

Disable All Items = Enabled

Prohibit changes = Enabled

Active Desktop Wallpaper:

Wallpaper Name: \pupilbg.jpg

Wallpaper Style: Stretch [i just changed it from Center hehe]

 

-=- Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Display -=-

Prevent Changing Wallpaper = Enabled

 

Think thats all ya need

 

Cheers

Nath

[indiegirl]

Thanks all.

 

Half day for the kids here Monday, think I might have a play and give them a nasty shock Tuesday morning :-D

[MkII]

that sounds interesting Tarquel - If I read you right - you set an AUP as background - is that still legible stretching the image? We still have a mixture of 15" and 17" monitors...

[tarquel]

dunno mate....

 

not seen the results yet

 

the text in the image was quite big anyhow so it should strech ok.

 

If not, just make the background to the lowest res u have running on a machine, and have it set in the above settings to Center instead of stretch

 

Cheers

N.

[MkII]

That'd really piss em off I like!

[OverWorked]

@tarquel

 

Thanks for that. Another little problem that's been bugging me for the past three years has just been solved.

 

I already had a GPO with the active desktop settings, but didn't know about the other bit:-

 

-=- Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Display -=-

Prevent Changing Wallpaper = Enabled

 

The little darlings were using IE and My Pictures to set their own unsuitable pictures, even though they could only see them at logon and logoff.

 

Now they can't even do that! Wonderful!

[ICTNUT]

I Have had the same set of problems but I went the whole hog and disabled the right click context menu in IE.

 

This was ok for a while until the blighters found that if you go into My Docs -> My Pics then double click on a picture this opens M$'s wonder Picture and Fax viewer which if you right click the image, guess what, "Save as Desktop Backgound"

 

I have hunted high and low and to date can not find a way of disabling it regardless of GPO.

 

So at the moment to get around it I use the following at user Logon:

 

' Script to change desktops back to the original corp/school image.
'
' This script runs each time the user logs onto the machine and resets the desktop.
'
' Author: Ozan Pakyuz, 16-09-2005

Option Explicit

Dim RegKey, WshShell, FSO

' Declare variables and enumerate existing printer connections
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

' Step 1 Delete The Key
WshShell.RegDelete "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper"
WshShell.RegDelete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper"

'Debug Line MsgBox "Key Has Been Deleted"

' Step 2 Add the new key
WshShell.RegWrite "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper","C:\Windows\image.BMP","REG_SZ"
WshShell.RegWrite "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper","C:\Windows\image.BMP","REG_SZ"

' Debug Line MsgBox "Key Has Been Added"

' Step 3 Copy the background over (1024*768)
If FSO.FileExists("c:\Windows\imae.BMP") Then
FSO.DeleteFile "C:\Windows\image.BMP"
FSO.CopyFile "\\UNC Path to image file\imgae.bmp", "c:\Windows\"
Else
FSO.CopyFile "\\UNC Path to image file\imgae.bmp", "c:\Windows\"
End If

 

Now you can either call this from your logon.bat file or like I do apply via GPO as Logon Script.

 

This seems to have done the trick so far by replacing the users desktop backgrounds and replacing the logon screen background to so even when no user is logged in you still get the desktop visible.

 

Enjoy

[Geoff]

Why not just change the ACL on the registry key?

[E1uSiV3]

The problem we have here is the kids change the desktop pics constantly during lesson, so resetting it makes no odds to them, its the "ability" to change the desktop that causes the issue for us.

[OverWorked]

Am I missing something?

 

I've just set up GPO's as recommended by tarquel, and logged on as a pupil. I can't see any way they can change the wallpaper now.

 

They just get the blue html wallpaper I set for them.

 

Yes, the 'set as desktop background' is still on Explorer's context menu and Picture and Fax Viewer, but it no longer has any effect.

 

I haven't used any registry hacks, scripts or the like, just GPO. As far as I can see, it works.

[OverWorked]

Forgot to add:

 

What I've also done is wait until the end of the day, and delete all their roaming profiles from the server. I've also used delprof in a computer shutdown script to delete the locally cached roaming profiles.

 

This will remove all their existing wallpapers and the GPO's will (I think) stop them from reappearing.

[tarquel]

Shared Computer Toolkit for WinXP related discussion posts moved to new topic located:

 

http://www.edugeek.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1061 - Shared Computer Toolkit for WinXP

 

Nath

[jonny_valentine]

I used gpo's to stop as much as poss, then used reg.exe with reg.ini to change permissions to the user registry so they cant change the background.

[Kitt]

Am I missing something?

 

I've just set up GPO's as recommended by tarquel, and logged on as a pupil. I can't see any way they can change the wallpaper now.

 

They just get the blue html wallpaper I set for them.

 

Yes, the 'set as desktop background' is still on Explorer's context menu and Picture and Fax Viewer, but it no longer has any effect.

 

I haven't used any registry hacks, scripts or the like, just GPO. As far as I can see, it works.

 

Yes, but it still technically sets the wallpaper when they do that, so it will show up upon logging on/off. My kids got really crafty and, using that knowledge, found a really nice way around it... The use task manager to end explorer.exe and re-run it a few times. After that it somehow braks the active desktop, and no desktop shows, just a white error screen. At this point, anything you set as your desktop stays your desktop =/ After this i finally cracked down and disabled task manager, but they just went online and found a proprietary version of the task manager and ran it from there USB drives. I still havn't found a way to stop this from happening...

 

I must hand it to them though, these kids are rather bright and resourceful, i simply wish they'd use there intelect to go places and do things rather than focus on getting around stupid things like default backgrounds.

[russdev]

Hi kitt welcome

 

anychance of putting your location in your profile even if it is just a genreal area if you want to remain anonymous just useful if people know were you from mainly as different areas have different rules and regs when it comes to goverment policies like those funny buggers up north in scotland

 

and yes kids are..

 

Russ