Handy Windows 7 GPO Policies

The official roll-out of Windows 7 has begun in my office.  We are doing a round of hardware refreshing for some end users and with that comes Windows 7 and Office 2010. Here are a couple handy GPO settings we’ve used to make our lives easier.

Verbose Startup and Shutdown – by default, Windows 7 will just display “please wait…” while it handles it’s startup and shutdown processes.  If you find the verbosity of Windows XP handy, likely displaying the name of software that’s being installed automatically, you’ll want to change use these policies.

Computer Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates  – System – Verbose vs normal status messages = Enabled

Computer Configuration-Policies – Administrative Templates – System – Remove Boot / Shutdown / Logon / Logoff status messages = Disabled

Let Users Install Printers – Windows 7 increased security and UAC will prompt standard users for administrative credentials before adding a printer because the driver store is a protected area.  If running around to help every user who’s trying to add another network printer isn’t your cup of tea, try these policies to give the standard user a little bit more power.

Computer Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates – Printers – Point and Print Restrictions = Disabled

User Configuration – Policies – Administrative Templates – Control Panel – Printers – Point and Print Restrictions = Disabled