GPOs and managing computers

[sparkeh]

Hello all,

 

I'm quite new to GPOs and my question might be stupid so be gentle

 

So we have a win server 2003 domain and I have set up a gpo for the pupil login. I have disabled lots of configuration things such as control panel and all is working well.

 

However something is bothering me and I can't quite think it through:

 

In the future there may be occasions when I wish to access the settings in the control panel when logged on as pupil, perhaps to alter things that aren't configurable by the gpo. However I don't really want to have to edit the gpo to re-enable the control panel or particular settings panel. So I was wondering if it is possible to launch a settings panel as the administrator?

 

I have played around with this for a while with little success. What I have found is that if I try to launch a panel from the command line with the 'runas' command then it complains that the panel is not a valid application. If I run the command line as administrator and launch the panel, I get the settings for the administrator!

 

Perhaps this goes against the point of using the gpo, but as I say there are some things that you have to set locally.

 

Any idea appreciated

[Guest Guest]

afaik you cant do it and ive had no need to do it myself. Most things are computer based ie resolution so all you need do is log on as an admin, change it, log off and the pupil can then go on with the new resolution

[sparkeh]

afaik you cant do it and ive had no need to do it myself. Most things are computer based ie resolution so all you need do is log on as an admin, change it, log off and the pupil can then go on with the new resolution

 

Hmm kinda thought it would be the case.

 

Guess its no biggie though, just annoys me that you can't

[ajbritton]

Might be useful: Run control panel applets as another user

[MkII]

What are you trying to run in the control panel? If it's display configurations can't you achieve the same thing with the accessibility tools??

[sparkeh]

Might be useful: Run control panel applets as another user

 

Ahh yes thanks now I see why I couldn't run the panels, I wasn't calling the correct DLLs beforehand. Cheers for this

 

What are you trying to run in the control panel? If it's display configurations can't you achieve the same thing with the accessibility tools??

 

Well I currently don't have anything specific to run, just thinking ahead to a time where I might have to alter something not configurable by gpo without having to edit it.

 

Cheers guys!

[ajbritton]

It might be worth cobbling together your own control panel with all the required applets. This could be done is VB Express or even an AutoIt GUI. It would then be possible to launch this single app in the security context of another user and then use any of the applets without having to re-enter security details each time.

[sparkeh]

It might be worth cobbling together your own control panel with all the required applets. This could be done is VB Express or even an AutoIt GUI. It would then be possible to launch this single app in the security context of another user and then use any of the applets without having to re-enter security details each time.

 

That is a wonderful idea!

 

Thanks everyone