Group Policy Default Background

Hello,
So I have been left in charge of creating a new windows 7 image for my company. I have come across a problem which I haven't managed to find an answer for through my extensive search through Google!
So I need to set a default desktop background every time a
new user logs into a machine, however they will also need the ability to be able to change the background themselves. Also, I only want it to be set for new users, (Don't want existing users to find there backgrounds have changed when they log in).
finally, it should only push it out once and not reapply.
Any way for me to do this? I can change registry keys if needed and also GPOs however I don't want it to affect existing users only new ones!
Thanks,
Ash

Now I see why I was confused - you're mixing up what you need to do. You said you need to create a NEW Windows 7 image, but then you mention not affecting existing users' backgrounds. A new image has no existing users.
Are you try to do two different things, update/create a new Windows 7 image AND set a new default background on already deployed computers?
HKU:\.Default is the default user registry hive, new user profiles are created based on what's in there. So if you create a Wallpaper REG_SZ value with the file path to the new background image as the data, that would apply to new users logging in.
That is assuming there are no GPO or GPP being applied that set the value differently. You mention c:\users\(user)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\TranscodedWallpaper.jpg, which implies there may be a theme that is being applied somehow.
I provided the reg add command because I assumed you wanted to distribute this change to existing machines, i.e. push it out, and this is the only way to do it without affecting existing users. I'm pretty sure applying a new GPP would change existing
users' background, although that would be the preferred way to do it.
For the image, if you're logged in to it, you can just navigate to the key manually and create the value.
I don't believe there's another registry value involved, but I could be mistaken.
I hope this post has helped!

Similar Messages

Cases in which Domain Group Policy settings would be reverted to default settings on a Win7 client

Hi - I'm sure this info is out there somewhere, but I'm having a hard time finding it. Basically, I'm trying to identify the cases in which settings deployed via Domain Group Policy on 2008R2/Win7SP1 would get reverted back to "default settings"
on a Win7SP1 client that is still a member of the domain, and is in a proper OU, properly targeted, WMI filters should still evaluate true, etc...
For instance, it appears that if machine-level registry settings contained within a LocalGPO file on a client get corrupted (C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine\registry.pol), all of those settings, plus all machine level administrative template settings
defined in Domain Group Policy, get reverted to default settings (corresponds with Event ID 1096 in System Event Log where it references "LocalGPO"). I have not confirmed if this is the case for machine level settings defined outside of administrative
templates in Domain Group Policy, or for any user level settings though. (But I suspect not.)
When a workstation is unable to talk to a Domain Controller in order to identify applicable Domain Group Policy settings (for instance, this issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2421599/en-us), do administrative templates Domain Group Policy settings revert to defaults up until the next successful processing interval? I don't believe
so, but would like confirmation.
Are there any other cases in which Domain Group Policy settings for a client still joined to the Domain would be reverted to defaults?
And when a client is unjoined from the Domain, what Domain Group Policy settings would remain on the client? I understand that some Domain Group Policy settings outside of administrative templates are "tattooed" to the registry. Does
anyone know of a full list of these settings? I believe that most or all of the ones in Windows Settings\Security Settings are tattooed, and the only way to get these settings removed is to explicitly change them via registry edit or LocalGPO/Local Security
Policy, after unjoining the domain.
Any info/insight/links to other doc/etc would be much appreciated!

Hi Shaun,
>>If a client cannot talk to a domain controller at all, admin template settings still stay in-place on the client, correct?
As far as I know, it's not this case. If a client can't communicate with domain controllers, it means that the GPOs applied to the client are out of scope. As suggested by
the article I provided, for native policy, "when a Group Policy object (GPO) goes out of scope, the policy setting is removed allowing the original configuration value to be used."
>>What if a client looses network connectivity while reading Domain GPO?
Group policy will be get updated when computers start up and users log on. Besides, for workstations, group policy will get refreshed at background with by default an interval
of 90 minutes. As long as workstations can restore network connectivity, the group policy settings will get updated.
>>Are there any other failure cases like this where some or all Group Policy settings (admin template or other areas) would get reverted?
There are many reasons which can cause GP malfunction. However, Windows itself provides necessary tools for troubleshooting various issues. When GP malfunctions, we can check
Event Viewer, collect group policy result, or generate group policy log to troubleshoot.
TechNet Subscriber Support
If you are TechNet Subscription user and have any feedback on our support quality, please send your feedback here.
Best regards,
Frank Shen

How do I set firefox as the default browser in Windows Server 2012 Group Policy Editor?

Hello, I am unable to set firefox as the default browser despite multiple different attempts to do so using group policy.
I have:
- Set a registry command (targeted at 32/64 via a WMI query) to reset the opening command as shown below:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\http\shell\open\command
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -osint -url "%1"
- Set a powershell logon script to run (that does run):
firefox.exe -silent -setDefaultBrowser
Despite setting the above it seems the client computers browsers are not affected by the settings above. When the script runs or if I run the command above a UAC window pops up and requests that I accept the command (for the setDefaultBrowser) but even if I click yes as an administrator it does nothing.
Since GPO in 2012 has changed perhaps there is something that I am missing? Do I need to somehow disable Windows Internet Explorer from achieving default browser status?
Please do not reply if you will suggest that I use Internet Explorer Maintenance (since this function in GPO has been disabled since IE10)
My DC is Server 2012, my client computers are Win7 32/64.

The above reply does not take into account that I am trying to use GROUP POLICY EDITOR to make it the default browser.

Group Policy - Computer Startup Scripts - Add/Set Default printer

Good Morning.
Let's say we have 2 offices, A and B, and only 1 user. The user is using Roaming Profiles. Each office has its own printer.
What I am trying to do, is make a Startup script that is specific to the COMPUTER being logged into so when any user logs into that computer, they get the printer in that office defined and set as default.
I am able to do this successfully with my script but ONLY if i have the script be on the USER side of GP (i.e. in the Logon script section)
That is great that that is working however, when my user goes to Office B, they still get mapped to Office A's printer if I use that method.
So I figured I could just modify my GP and run the same script from the STARTUP section of the computer, rather than the LOGON section of the user. It does not work.
Here is my script:
Set WRFCUNetwork = CreateObject("Wscript.Network")
PrinterPath = "\\fileserver\MAINTELLER"
PrinterDriver = "PrinterDriver"
WRFCUNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnection PrinterPath, PrinterDriver
WRFCUNetwork.SetDefaultPrinter "\\fileserver\MAINTELLER"
This is where I Have the script placed:
     Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Scripts(Startup/Shutdown)
Once i'm in there, I double click Startup, click Add, and select my script which is named:
     MainPrinterSetup.vbs
I have this GP applied to ONE OU, and that OU has ONE computer in it (my test computer)
I login with a brand new user called "testuser" (creative, huh?) and basically nothing happens
except they log in and have some Microsoft Document Image Writer printer set as default (which by the way sure does slow the PC down to the point of it almost being broke if anyone actually tries to print to that by accident)
No Main Teller Printer, no anything.
The strangest part about this is, if i apply this script to the user LOGON scripts, it works fine, the printer is there, and is set as default. (but see above why that wont work for my situation)
So obviously the script works fine, but I guess i'm missing something when it comes to applying GP's to Computers rather than Users.
Can anyone shed some light as to why the script is not running (i'm guessing the script isn't even attempting to run, rather than failing, but i have no way to know that)
Thank you in advance!!
Derek Conlon
Network Administrator
WRFCU
EDIT: Here are the PC's info that i'm working on:
     Server: Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition (where my GP's are created and managed with AD)
     Target PC: Windows XP Professional SP3
EDIT #2: I manually navigated to the Script file after logging in and "opened" it and it added and set the default printer no problem. the issue is definately with the script running at startup.

I wanted to clarify a few things:
1. While it is true that printer connections are usually per user, it is definitely possible to create "global printers". There are a number of ways to do this, but two methods that come to mind are using:
a. "Rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry" option with the "/ga" switch. The "/ga" switch is the key here since it allows you to deploy printers "per machine" instead of "per user". More information
about this is available at:
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/NetPrinterAllUsers.htm
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624057%28WS.10%29.aspx
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/Logon/logon_printer_computer.htm
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/2kprintcontrol.php
b. The Print Management console that is available in Windows 2003 R2 and higher can help you deploy printers "per machine" in addition to "per user". More information about this is available at:
http://www.czsolution.com/print-management/print-management/print-management-console.htm#DeployingPrintersByGroupPolicy
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753109%28WS.10%29.aspx
2. As Guy mentioned, Group Policy Preferences can help set the default printer. But there is another way to accomplish this. The problem with the computer startup portion is that it runs before the user logs in. And applying this script
in the login script section would not work per computer unless you used loopback processing. So another way to do this is to place a script that sets the default printer into the "All Users" startup folder. Items in the "All Users"
startup folder run for any user that logs into the computer, but it runs in the user's context. So, this script would effectively set the default printer on a "per machine" basis. The script method is a cruder way to approach the problem,
but it will help get the job done. Here are some resources on setting the default printer via script:
http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.php/2007/08/set-default-printer-from-a-script
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/ezine/ezine17.htm

Setting Default Outlook Signature By Group Policy

Hi
I am attempting to standardise our company's email signature for all users. A contact supplied me with a VBA script which generates a signature based on the user's AD information. This works great but I would like group policy to set this signature as default
to prevent users from making changes. From various Google searches, it seems that the default signature can be set by GP, but I can't seem to make sense of any of the posts that I find. This may be because I am new to GP and don't understand the context. Any
suggestions as to what would be the best way to approach this?
Thanks
Steve

Hi Steve_Flynn,
According to your description, you would like to set default Outlook signature using group policy. Right?
Based on my knowledge, the signature file is located in the path %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft \Signatures on Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8. And then we need to configure the related registry key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Common\MailSettings or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Common\MailSettings.For more information, please refer to the following article:
How to deploy a default email signature in Outlook
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2691977/en-us
We can deploy the signature file and configure the registry key via Group Policy to resolve the issue. For your information, please refer to the following article to learn more:
Configure a File Item
Configure a Registry Item
What's more, please refer to the following article to learn how to realize it via a script:
Setting Up Outlook E-Mail Signatures
Regards,
Lany Zhang

Script to override Group policy (Disable Addins and change default file type)

Hi there,
I am developing a solution for our customer that requires Office 2010 64-bit, which I have.
However my company's group policy, (I believe), keeps adding in a template manager for corporate documents, this template is 32-bit and is incompatible with my version of office. This means that everytime I open or close excel I get a warning of incompatibility.
This is irritating, as is the fact that the default new file type keeps switching back of xls, which causes me problems since my macro's need to create xlsx files, for the customer.
Now I believe that both of these are set by the group policy and while they a fine for most people, due to my unusual roll, it causes me irritations I would would rather avoid.
Since I know it will not be possible to change the group policy for the handful of people who are effected like this, I am looking for some help to, e.g. automatically run a script to adjust these settings on my local machine to make my life easier.
Thanks for your help,
Vincent.

Try using
Process Monitor for looking the key.
For example, you may set the required value through the group policy and see what windows registry keys are changed.

Group Policy For 2008 Terminal Server Users Default Open With Not Working

I'm trying to change the default open with behavior for jpg files on my terminal server. I created a Group Policy that changed it to MS Paint to Office 2010 Picture Manager. The policy appears to apply correctly but jpg files still open in
Paint. When a user is logged on, if they look at the properties of a jpg, it shows Photo Gallery as the program to open it but when opened, it opens in Paint.
Has anyone seen this behavior before?
Orange County District Attorney

> did. It would be helpful to know where the changes actually go in the
> registry to see if they did or now.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts
Martin
Mal ein
GUTES Buch über GPOs lesen?
NO THEY ARE NOT EVIL, if you know what you are doing:
Good or bad GPOs?
And if IT bothers me - coke bottle design refreshment :))

Group policy preference for creating printers setting the wrong printer as default

Hi
We have a a group policy preference applied to users. At the moment we create a shared printer and set it as default for all users in a specific OU. Now we need to add another shared printer. I have updated the policy and set it to create
the new shared printer and have set item level targeting to the same OU as the first printer. I want to keep the existing printer as the default, however when the policy runs, the new printer is created fine but it is set as the default
printer. Is this because it has been added last ? There doesn't seem to be a way of changing the order that the printers are applied.
Both printers are Shared printers and are set to Create
The existing printer (printer A) is set as the default printer. It is targeted at the London OU.
The new printer (printer B) has NOT been set as default. It is targeted at the London OU.
No other options have been set.
When the policy is applied both printers are added but printer B is being set as the default.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
G

Hi G,
>>however when the policy runs, the new printer is created fine but it is set as the default printer. Is this because it has been added last ? There doesn't seem to be a way of changing the order that the printers are applied.
Before going further, what's the operating systems of our clients? Here, I need to double confirm that the checkbox of
Set this printer as the default printer... is not selected in the new GPP Printer item. Besides, we can change the orders of the printer items. To do this, select the printer item, right click, click All Tasks, and choose Move Up or Move
Down to change the order.
Best regards,
Frank Shen
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected]

EMET group policy preference "application configuration" vs "default protection for popular software"

Hello,
Trying to implement EMET 4.1 update 1 in a VDI environment using group policy. When all default protections are enabled (IE, recommended and popular) EMET is blocking the startup of windows media player within citrix session as caller
mitigation. At this time I wanted to use the GPO "Application Configuration" to specify an exception as "wmplayer.exe -Caller". Even tried "*\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe -Caller" but startup would still get blocked. When
using emet_conf --list I would see three entries for wmplayer and the only way to remove Caller is to disable policy "default protection for popular software". Shouldn't settings in Application Configuration take priority as being the exception to
the rule? Alternative is to turn off the "default protection for popular software and list all of them one by one (or use XML file)
here is part of the output of emet_conf --list
all policies:
wmplayer.exe           *\Windows Media Player       DEP SEHOP NullPage HeapSpray
EAF MandatoryASLR BottomUpASLR LoadLib MemProt SimExecFlow StackPivot
wmplayer.exe                                        DEP SEHOP
NullPage HeapSpray
EAF MandatoryASLR BottomUpASLR LoadLib MemProt SimExecFlow StackPivot
wmplayer.exe           *\Windows Media Player       DEP NullPage HeapSpray Botto
mUpASLR LoadLib MemProt Caller SimExecFlow StackPivot
without "default protection for popular software" (much less applications listed)
wmplayer.exe                           DEP SEHOP NullPage HeapSpray EAF Mandator
yASLR BottomUpASLR LoadLib MemProt SimExecFlow StackPivot
wmplayer.exe *\Windows Media Player   DEP SEHOP NullPage HeapSpray EAF Mandator
yASLR BottomUpASLR LoadLib MemProt SimExecFlow StackPivot
Thank you

if I understood correctly from talking to EMET feedback team last time, they said App Config settings don't actually override any the default app or popular or IE protection profiles. (it really seems like App config settings override the other profiles
from the manual, hey? I thought so as well)
Sooo, it sounded like we'd need to extract the recommended or popular app list, convert it to the path + mitigation not included format for the app config GPO and then just use app config to manage it.
Needless to say it sounded surprising and laborious and not management by exception at all.
Rinse repeat for new versions of emet and XML policy files .
p.s what would be really helpful in the admin guide is some real world examples of contoso.local where they apply the recommended apps + a few exceptions for all + custom exceptions for a separate class of machines or groups of users. hmeh.

Default domain Group Policy

Hello,
In my new company, I noticed that the default domain controllers policy has been (largely) modified.
I thought it was a best practice to keep it clean (In case of restore).
So I would like to create a new GPOs for my DCs to move some of those settings out of the default domain policy.
For example, "Add workstations to domain". If I want to create a new policy for this particular setting, what kind of rules am I supposed to follow to make sure that my new setting will be applied before the default DC policy ?
Is the GPO Link order enough ?
Thank you

Hi,
Just a confirmation, did you mean that want to overwrite some settings in the
Default Domain Controllers Policy?
Within each domain, site, and OU, the
Link Order controls the order in which GPOs are applied. If several GPOs are linked to an organizational unit, their processing is in the order that is specified by the administrator, on the
Linked Group Policy Objects tab for the organizational unit in GPMC. The GPO with the lowest
Link Order is processed last, and therefore has the highest precedence. Since Default Domain Controllers Policy is linked to the Domain Controllers organizational unit, you can create a new GPO and link it to this Domain Controllers organizational
unit, then control thier order of them via Link Order.
If anything I misunderstand or any update, please feel free to let us know.
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Justin Gu

Default Group Policy - Custom policies don't apply?

We have some computers in TEST OU with password lockout after 4 attempts but it doesn't work. If we disable the Default Group policy in the domain controller then it works.
With the Default Group Policy enable, we run RSOP.exe and it does show the correct policies was applied but why it still doesn't lock the user accounts after 4 attempts? There is no password lockout policy in the Default Group Policy.
Thank you!

> Local Group Policy
This is present because someone opened gpedit.msc on the computer and
configured something in there.
> Not sure why, local policy applied to Windows 7 computer. But for both
> computers, the lockout policy is still not working.
Because Account policies for domain users can only be changed at the
Domain level, not at OU level. Account policies at OU level are only
applied to LOCAL accounts, not to domain accounts.
If you're running 2008 DFL, you can use FGPP and PSO.
Martin
Mal ein
GUTES Buch über GPOs lesen?
NO THEY ARE NOT EVIL, if you know what you are doing:
Good or bad GPOs?
And if IT bothers me - coke bottle design refreshment :))

Can I enable "Use default gateway on remote network" on VPN connection using Group Policy?

Hi,
First timer here so please bear with me!
Environment: Domain Windows 2003, Clients: Windows 7 and Windows XP (with Client Side Extensions pushed out)
When creating a VPN connection on a client machine manually with default settings the "Use default gateway on remote network" found in [Connection Properties - Networking - IPv4 - Advanced] is enabled, which is good as we don't allow split-tunneling.
I have a test GPO that creates a new VPN Connection [Computer Config - Preferences - Control Panel - Network Options], but the above setting is unticked.
Am I missing something on the options for the GP preference to set this automtically?
I can write a script to directly change the C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk\rasphone.pbk file but would prefer if I could sort it all out using Group Policy.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot!
David

Shane,
There is actually a way to set the "Use default gateway on remote network" through Group Policy Preferences. And this may even be a better way to do it, because you may change this flag without touching any other settings, or other VPN connections.
(All VPN connections are stored in the same .pbk file.)
Here's the trick: Opening the .pbk file in notepad, I realized that this is actually an oldstyle ini-structured file. And Group Policy Preferences can update ini files! In the .pbk file the section names are the VPN connections names, like [My VPN],
and the property IpPrioritizeRemote is the flag "Use default gateway on remote network".
So, in Group Policy Management Editor, go to Preferences / Windows Settings / Ini Files.
Create a new object with Action = Update, and File Path =
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Network\Connections\pbk\rasphone.pbk
(If this is where your file is located, I guess it is in c:\users if the VPN connection is made for a single user.)
Section Name should be the display name of your VPN connection, without the brackets.
Property Name = IpPrioritizeRemote
Property Value = 1
Peter, www.skov.com, Denmark
Peter :-)
This is great, but just one question. I also want to append a list of DNS Sufixes in order (when viewing a VPN properties, this is buried in
"Networking --> IPv4/6 --> Advanced --> DNS --> Append these DNS Suffixes (in order)". However, for the VPNs I have manually created with this list populated, I can't see any entries in the rasphone.pbk. Does anyone know
where these are stored?
Cheers.

Default HTML editor set through group policy

OK, this should be an easy one. I know where I can find the setting to change the default HTML editor though group policy for IE10. Do I need to have Microsoft Office installed on the server if I want to set it as Word? The only option
I have right now is Notepad and Office is not installed on the server that I created GPOs. Thank you!

Hi Erin,
>> Do I need to have Microsoft Office installed on the server if I want to set it as Word?
Based on my knowledge, we need to install Office on the server to do this. Besides, when we use Group Policy Preferences, please pay attention to F5-F8 function keys.
Regarding this point, the following article can be referred to for more information.
Enable and Disable Settings in a Preference Item
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754299.aspx
In addition, if we don't want to install Office on the server, we can try to configure the setting on a Windows 8/8.1 with both RSAT and Word installed or a member server 2012/R2 with GPMC and Word installed.
Best regards,
Frank Shen
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected]

Set default printer group policy

I am deploying our new printers via group policy. We have a new printer in place and I am fairly familiar on how to actually deploy them. I am deploying the printers MOSTLY by user configuration and with that method, I am able to easily delete old printers and set the correct one as a default.
However, We have some computers that have multiple users. In that case, I am deploying the printers as a Computer configuration, not an employee configuration. My question is, how can I set the newly deployed printer as a default for all users that log on to that particular computer? Thank you.
This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

I am deploying our new printers via group policy. We have a new printer in place and I am fairly familiar on how to actually deploy them. I am deploying the printers MOSTLY by user configuration and with that method, I am able to easily delete old printers and set the correct one as a default.
However, We have some computers that have multiple users. In that case, I am deploying the printers as a Computer configuration, not an employee configuration. My question is, how can I set the newly deployed printer as a default for all users that log on to that particular computer? Thank you.
This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

Default printer Group Policy

I am deploying our new printers via group policy. We have a new printer in place and I am fairly familiar on how to actually deploy them. I am deploying the printers MOSTLY by user configuration and with that method, I am able to easily delete old printers and set the correct one as a default.
However, We have some computers that have multiple users. In that case, I am deploying the printers as a Computer configuration, not an employee configuration. My question is, how can I set the newly deployed printer as a default for all users that log on to that particular computer? Thank you.
This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

I am deploying our new printers via group policy. We have a new printer in place and I am fairly familiar on how to actually deploy them. I am deploying the printers MOSTLY by user configuration and with that method, I am able to easily delete old printers and set the correct one as a default.
However, We have some computers that have multiple users. In that case, I am deploying the printers as a Computer configuration, not an employee configuration. My question is, how can I set the newly deployed printer as a default for all users that log on to that particular computer? Thank you.
This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

Group Policy Default Background

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for