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Q147381: How to Use System Policies On a Standalone Computer

Article: Q147381
Product(s): Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
Version(s): 95
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbenv kbtool win95
Last Modified: 17-DEC-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows 98 
- Microsoft Windows 95 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, you should first make a backup copy of the
registry files (System.dat and User.dat). Both are hidden files in the
Windows folder.

SUMMARY
=======

This article describes how to configure Windows to use a system policy on a
stand-alone computer (a computer that is not on a network).

WARNING: Using System Policy Editor (Poledit.exe) incorrectly can cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall Windows. Microsoft cannot guarantee
that problems resulting from the incorrect use of System Policy Editor can be
solved. Use System Policy Editor at your own risk.

MORE INFORMATION
================

You can use system policies in Windows to customize parts of the desktop or to
restrict access to certain programs or options.

To use system policies, user profiles must be enabled and System Policy Editor
must be installed. System Policy Editor is available in the following
locations:

Windows 95
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The Admin\Apptools\Poledit folder on the Windows 95 CD-ROM.

NOTE: System Policy Editor is not included in the floppy disk version of Windows
95. You can download Policy.exe, a self-extracting file containing Poledit.exe,
from online services. Please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base for information about downloading Policy.exe:

  Q135315 CD-ROM Extras for Microsoft Windows 95 Upgrade

Windows 98
----------

The Tools\Reskit\Netadmin\Poledit folder on the Windows 98 CD-ROM.

Use the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel to install System Policy
Editor.

To configure a standalone Windows-based computer to use system policies, follow
these steps:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type "poledit" (without the quotation marks), and then click
  OK.

3. In System Policy Editor, click Open Registry on the File menu.

4. Double-click the Local Computer icon, then the Network icon, and then
  double-click the Update icon.

5. Click the Remote Update check box, and then click Manual in the Update Mode
  box. In the Path box, type the path and file name for your system policy
  file. You can place this file in any folder on the hard disk. Click OK.

6. On the File menu, click Save. On the File menu, click New File.

7. Select the system policy settings you want to use.

8. On the File menu, click Save As. Save the file with the name and path you
  used in step 5.

  NOTE: If you try to save a file with an extension other than .pol, you receive
  the error message "An error occurred writing the registry. The file cannot be
  saved." Therefore, if you specified a file name with an extension other than
  .pol in step 5, save the file with a .pol extension in step 8, quit System
  Policy Editor, and then rename the file to match the file name you specified
  in step 5. Restart Windows.

9. Quit System Policy Editor, and then restart Windows.

For information about how to set up locally-based system policies on a computer
running Windows NT, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q168579 How to Set Up Locally-Based System Policies

Additional query words: protect

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbenv kbtool win95 
Technology        : kbWin95search kbWin98search kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin98
Version           : 95
Issue type        : kbhowto

=============================================================================

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