I'm using Windows 8 Pro. I'm trying to create a very limited Windows account. The account will only have:
-
Remote Desktop Access
-
Shell replaced by our own in-house application
-
Access to the one FTP client (currently
FileZilla
) that our in-house application will launch for them (sends log-in info on command line)
I do not want them to be able to run any other applications. I've disabled task manager and replaced the shell, so the only way they can currently run other applications is from inside FileZilla
, since it allows you to "open" an EXE (runs it) or other files that open other apps.
I tried Group Policy Editor, and from what I can tell all that does is not allow an admin user to run apps.. but has no effect on non-admin users. I've seen HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun
, but I need a white-list, not black, and also I think that only works for processes that Explorer starts, not other apps like FileZilla
.
I'd like the blacklist to use the full path of the EXE also, not just the name. Since users will have FTP ability, and ability to rename files (nothing in the system or program files folders though, since this is a limited account).
I also tried going to the root of the C drive and adding a "Deny execute/traverse
" permission at the file system level, but I get tons of errors about access denied on lots of folders like c:\windows
and even stuff under c:\users
. I then started to go to each sub-folder and add that permission, but it was taking forever and I was still getting lots of access denied errors (I was doing this from an admin account).
Update — with the accepted answer, plus the info I found here, I got what I needed.
Start the MMC (Microsoft Management Console). Type mmc into the Start
menu search box or command prompt window or you may use the “Run…”
feature.Select File andchoose Add/Remove Snap-in… from the drop-down menu.
The Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box will appear. On the left-hand
pane, highlight Group Policy Object Editor and click Add >;.The Select Group Policy Object dialog box will now appear. Click the
Browse… button. Switch to the Users tab and select Non-Administrators
in the list. Click OK.The Group Policy Object should now display, “Local
ComputerNon-Administrators.” Click Finish.
Once I was able to set policies for the one user, using the above steps, I just had to go to "Admin Templates->System->Run only specified Windows applications". I had already tried that, but was missing the part about how to edit policies for only one user, not "admin users only" (which seems like a weird default to me).
Best Answer
To further eleaborate on what everyone else has said, the "correct" way to do this is through GPO. You may want to look at the package "Group Policy Common Scenarios Using GPMC", it is a set of group policy scripts to lock down workstations for various situations. I believe you are looking for the AppStation script.
The GPMC is not used anymore but the scripts are still really good templates for starting points for doing this.