Power tools for IT pros

Management and deployment tools

In homes and small businesses, you typically work on computers one at a time. In Windows domains, you can use Group Policy Objects to configure settings for users and machines. I discuss this option in Chapter 3.

Even if you’re on a small network, though, you can use the same policy editor to manage Local Computer Policy settings. To accomplish that task, open the oddly named Local Group Policy Editor (Gpedit.msc), which is available only in Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. Many policies available here date back years, even decades, but each new Windows version typically includes its own new policies. Figure 1-13 shows a group of privacy settings that are new in Windows 10.

FIGURE 1-13 Group Policy isn’t just for Windows domains: You can use local policies to define or restrict capabilities for users of an individual PC.

I could spend an entire book on the subject of Group Policy, but for now the single example in Figure 1-14 will have to suffice. Note that the policy is turned on for the local PC, which in turn makes available to you (as administrator) the three options in the Select A Setting section.

FIGURE 1-14 To enforce a specific policy on a PC, you first must configure it. For some policies, as in this privacy setting, you can select from multiple options that a standard user can’t override.