Windows 11 Gpo settings and REG settings that might be useful

[Jaan]

Hi all,

 

I'm activity playing with Windows 11 now (LTSC specifically) Don't want to start a debate about why you should or shouldn't use LTSC.

 

So i thought i'd post anything i've had to tinker with or poke with a stick it get the desired results. If anybody else has anything to contribute, feel free.

 

This can be for any version of Windows 11.

[Jaan]

Windows 11 LTSC

 

I was unable to find s GPO to remove "Network" from File explorer, so used this (feel free to tell me i looked in the wrong place)

 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}]

"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000000

 

[Olliedawg]

I've set a reg key to force the classic right click menu & another to force compact spacing in the file explorer

[DDR5]

Yep, did the same. The standard right click menu has to be the most ridiculous change ever - why they did this I'll never know.

[jthompson]

TBH, I've always found the classic right-click menu to be quite messy, especially if you have apps installed that add entries to it. I get why they've done the newer one, but leaving off the text labels for cut/copy/paste was pretty dumb.

[Jaan]

Anybody know if its possible to remove the "tiles" from the "quick settings" area?

 

 

I can hide this area totally..... but then i can't adjust volume settings from here...... i've had to add access to "sounds" in settings to perform volume/audio task.

 

Whilst this does work, its very different from what people are used too and might cause "issues".

[LeMarchand]

TBH, I've always found the classic right-click menu to be quite messy, especially if you have apps installed that add entries to it. I get why they've done the newer one, but leaving off the text labels for cut/copy/paste was pretty dumb.

 

They need to provide an easy way to customize it (not just revert to the "everything" menu). There's stuff I'd like to have on right click and other stuff I'd be happy to only see on shift+right click.

[LeMarchand]

leaving off the text labels for cut/copy/paste was pretty dumb.

 

These seem to be back in 24H2.

[thimon]

Anybody know if its possible to remove the "tiles" from the "quick settings" area?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]72332[/ATTACH]

 

I can hide this area totally..... but then i can't adjust volume settings from here...... i've had to add access to "sounds" in settings to perform volume/audio task.

 

Whilst this does work, its very different from what people are used too and might cause "issues".

 

Why would you want to remove this? It has very useful options.

[Jaan]

I get it, dont really want to get into a disscusion on it. i've been asked to look a it, its a distraction for students.

 

Any ideas on how to remove or customise it?

[Jaan]

I've managed to remove "nearby sharing"

 

 

with the below:

 

Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > System\Group Policy

Disable Continue experiences on this device

 

another option is to remove this area altogether, but you'll need to add access to the "settings" (if you hide them) page to allow the controlling of volume.

 

remove all quick settings;

user Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Start menu and taskbar

Remove quick settings

 

add sound to settings:

user Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > control panel > settings page visibility. add;

sound;sound-devices

Edited October 9, 2024 by Jaan

[Jaan]

Struggling with pinning taskbar items in 24h2

[jthompson]

Struggling with pinning taskbar items in 24h2

 

This is what I used - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/taskbar/pinned-apps?tabs=intune&pivots=windows-11

[Jaan]

Reg settings to make file explorer light and start menu and taskbar dark:

 

 

[jthompson]

Restricting users from toggling "Airplane" mode (sic). Not necessarily a Win 11 thing, but it seems more prominent with the new style system toggles.

GPO applied to disable the Windows service named "Radio Management Service" in "Computer config > Policies > Winodws Settings > Security Settings > System Services".

[CHiLL]

There are some useful registry tweaks listed here: https://kittenlabs.de/blog/2024/08/20/windows-11-tweaks-usability-improvements/?utm_source=unknownews. Some may have been to resolve things such as performance issues, which may have since been patched out.

[Jaan]

This is what I used - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/taskbar/pinned-apps?tabs=intune&pivots=windows-11

 

Yeah i'd referenced that. Must be missing something. I've tried both computer and user side of the GPO with no luck. .xml is accessible, so must be my .xml.

 

Anything look wrong here?;

 

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
   xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
   xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
   xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
   Version="1">
   
       
           
               
               
               
           
       
   

 

 

EDIT: and if by magic... it just started working! go figure..... however the file explorr pin isn't there

 

EDIT2: i had a error in the path. all sorted now using:

 

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
   xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
   xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
   xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
   Version="1">
   
       
           
               
               
           
       
   

 

Edited October 10, 2024 by Jaan

[Jaan]

I struggling to pin to the taskbar for some reason. i don't seem to have anything set in a GPO that would prevent this. It's fine in windows 10.

[Jaan]

Hey! I’ve been playing around with Windows 11 LTSC too, and I totally get wanting to make it your own. One thing that really helped me was adjusting the Group Policy settings to turn off Windows updates and telemetry—I find it makes everything feel a lot smoother without those pesky notifications popping up. I also played with the registry to customize the Start Menu layout, which made it way easier to navigate for me.

 

feel free to post your settings, it might help others

[Jaan]

I struggling to pin to the taskbar for some reason. i don't seem to have anything set in a GPO that would prevent this. It's fine in windows 10.

 

figured this out. I getting different behaviour between 10 ltsc and 11 ltsc with regards to this GPO.

 

 

On 10 you can't right click the taskbar but can right click a program you have open and click "pin"

 

in 11 it doesn't even allow right click and "pin"

 

this presents another issue, where users can right the start button:

 

 

all this is locked out via GPO, however i'd like to tidy it up and simply to just "desktop" & " Shutdown or sign out"

 

I sed to do this in W10 with this method: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/msdn-technet-forums/a6bfa211-f5fe-461d-8e09-f6ef3adb8b17

 

this doesn't work in 11, anybody already had a play in this area that could give me some pointers?

 

Cheers

[Jaan]

Just checking sysprep...... 11 is auto enabling bitlocker on my test machine. As such it can't complete sysprep and gives an error referencing bitlocker being enabled.:

 

 

 

running this to disable & decrypt bitlocker ;

 

manage-bde -off C:

 

will allow you to run and finalise sysprep

[jthompson]

Just noticed that applying an xml to configure taskbar pins seems to have the side-effect of disabling the end user options for pinning/unpinning items to the Start menu. Even though they can still pin/unpin to the taskbar. What the actual...

[Jaan]

Just noticed that applying an xml to configure taskbar pins seems to have the side-effect of disabling the end user options for pinning/unpinning items to the Start menu. Even though they can still pin/unpin to the taskbar. What the actual...

 

LOL i'm just looking at this as i type!

[Jaan]

LOL i'm just looking at this as i type!

 

if you remove the .xml from pining the taskbar, are you then able to pin to the start menu?

 

i've not been able to test this just yet

[jthompson]

if you remove the .xml from pining the taskbar, are you then able to pin to the start menu?

 

i've not been able to test this just yet

 

Yes. Not applying the XML file brings back the option to pin/unpin to Start.