How to disable the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination completely on XP/Vista/7

shell

I have been googling extensively to figure this out, and nobody seems to be able to give a direct answer.

Let me start by saying that I'm NOT talking about requiring CTRL-ALT-DEL to enter logon information.

I'm working on a golf simulator program which is used at golf centers. I need the ability to completely disable the CTRL-ALT-DEL key sequence so that the golf center customers can't get out of the program and access the computer at all. I realize there are other key combinations that need to be handled as well, we already have this entire feature working in XP, but we're going to be switching to Windows 7 soon, and CTRL-ALT-DEL is the only one that doesn't seem to work in Win7. I'd really like an all-around solution if at all possible.

This same program may also be installed on a client's personal computer for an in-home golf simulator, but the computers that really need this feature (golf center computers) are provided to the golf center by us, so would the best option be to write a new shell? I don't know anything about that at all, other than others that suggest writing a new shell for kiosk mode.

I'd really like a simpler option, like modifying the registry in some way. I have heard that you can remove some buttons from the menu screen that pops up, but unless I can remove pretty much all of them (including the shutdown/restart button in the bottom-right corner), this won't be enough of a solution for me.

Best Answer

Disable Ctrl-Alt-Del:

Save the following text into a text file named disableCtrlAltDel.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\taskmgr.exe]
"Debugger"="Hotkey Disabled"

Enable Ctrl-Alt-Del:

Save the following text into a text file named enableCtrlAltDel.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\taskmgr.exe]

Double click either of them to enable / disable

Related Question