User too restricted

Hello all!

In our flying club, we have a public computer which until last week was running Win98SE. Now we have installed Win2K to be able to restrict the members privileges. The computer is a stand-alone, not on a network.

We neither want them to be able to make system changes, nor do we want them to be able to to install programs.

In addition to the administrator account, I tried to set up a members account as restricted User but then the modem wasn´t accessible, it was greyed out in Internet Explorer.
This is a no-go since the purpose of the computer is to collect weather information and do flight planning over the Internet.

If set up as Power User, they can access the Internet but they can also install programs, which sort of sets us half way back to square one.

Is there a way to add the "modem privilege" to a restricted User account?

Thanks for Your time,
Christer

 

Hi Newt!

When logged in as member, I try to access the modem by clicking it to see its properties, I get an "Acces denied" (don´t remember the exact words) message.

I don´t know how to set up a web page on the PC, well, I don´t know how to set up a web page, period.

If You by that mean clicking a link in e.g. an E-mail, I don´t know. I haven´t tried it.

It wasn´t I who did the installation of Win2K. All I know is that the modem is internal and was probably sitting there during the installation.

It was probably a clean installation, not an upgrade.

That is what I suspected. I´ll talk to my friend who did the installation and see what we´ll be able to do about it.

I´ll start by deleting the members account and recreate it to see what happens.

If that doesn´t work, I´ll try Your modem drill. That will probably not happen before the Hollidays though.

Thanks,
Christer

 

Hi Newt,
thanks for the web page!

It could be opened from the members account but the links within it didn´t open.

However, at first I didn´t notice that my friend who installed Win2K had modified the default Guest account by renaming it and giving it restricted User privileges. I proceeded by disabling (not deleting) that account and created a new members accout from scratch.

It is a restricted User account and it works as supposed, with internet access but the users can´t mess things up or install programs, with one exception ...... ...... :

We have set the modem to disconnect when the browser is closed or after five minutes idling. When the "warning pop-up window" appears, there is a countdown from 30 seconds before disconnecting. There are two buttons, "stay connected" and "disconnect now ".
However, there is aslo a check box which can be ticked to "do not use auto disconnect" and that´s annoying since sooner or later someone will check that box.

I´m currently trying to find a way to get rid of that check box.

Thanks for Your assitance,
Christer

Edited:

There are different places to do these settings, one for the Modem itself and one for Windows. I believe that it is the "Windows" setting that can be changed by the user and the the "Windows" setting overrides the "Modem" setting.

 

Newt,

On my own computer, most of them pointed to a target outside Your HDD ...... ...... fishing and photo upload and stuff but don´t worry ...... ...... I won´t tell about ...... ......

I did tick that box to "not use auto disconnect" and there was no "You´re not allowed to" message. I checked in the connection properties and it was no longer in "auto disconnect ".
I didn´t wait the five minutes to see what happened and I didn´t log out and re-log in as restricted User to see what happened but I´ll do that later, hopefully sometime this weekend.

(Of course, I reconfigured it to "auto disconnect ".)

Christer

 

I´ve been messing around ...... ...... and it´s really annoying!

In Control Panel > Phone And Modem Options > Modems > Properties > Advanced > Change Default Preferences, a setting can be made to "Disconnect a call if idle for more than ? minutes ".
This is not accessible for the restricted user.

In Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Properties > Settings > Properties > Options, there is another setting for idle time disconnect.

In ...... > Properties > Advanced, there is a third setting for idle time disconnect and "if no longer needed ".

If the last (third) setting isn´t made then the other two doesn´t matter ...... ...... nothing happens no matter what.

The third that actually works has a PopUp window warning the user prior to disconnecting. The user can tick the box "do not use auto disconnect" and it does no longer disconnect even after a reboot.

The restricted user can make canges to the two latter settings (in IE) without any problem at all, no restiction in that regard.

I created a new account, set to "guest" and there are no folders created for that account in c:/documents and settings which means that after logging out everything is reset as if never logged in before, except one setting ...... ...... and no price for guessing which!
If having ticked "do not use auto disconnect ", that setting comes back but nothing else. Well, I didn´t check it all but that was enough.

I don´t believe this and M$ has been pulling my leg all afternoon so I have to go see my chiropractor tomorrow ...... ...... !

Why on earth is access to IE connection settings totally unrestricted for any user?

While poking around in Win2K, I came across Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policies > Security Options > "Amount of idle time required before disconnecting session ".
I don´t know what this is and if it affectes internet connections. It was set to 15 minutes which I changed to 10 minutes, I thought I had waited enough for one day but nothing happened.

Christer

 

It´s a stand alone computer.

There are two values displayed, the local one which I changed and the effective one which had been automatically changed when I went back to check.

It still disconnects nothing that I notice.

Christer

Edited:

On my WinXPpro, the same (?) setting refers to "Microsoft Network Server ", which is not relevant in this case ...... ...... I guess.

 

It seems like I have found a solution in Internet Explorer Control Panel Restrictions !

I will try it and let You know the result.

Christer

 

Newt,
there might be a reason why You have forgotten about them, a reason which I may have discovered the hard way.

1) I had to temporarily add the members to the administrators group to be allowed to make changes to the registry.

2) I created the registry key "Connection Settings" as instructed on that web page.

3) I removed the members from the administrator group.

4) I checked that the appropriate buttons in Internet Options > Connections had been greyed out.

5) I tried to connect to the internet with a blue screen as the result, the message read:

STOP: 0x000000D1
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

6) I rebooted from the power switch

7) During the BIOS sequence, a new error message:

PLUG AND PLAY CONFIGURATION ERROR
PRESS F1 TO CONTINUE OR F2 TO ENTER SETUP

8) I hit F2 but found no setting to change.

9) The next time I hit F1 and it booted.

The modem was no longer in the Task Area by the clock but its properties said it was okey.

10) Log out members and log in administrator.

11) Tried to connect from that account but with the same result.

12) After power switch reboot, there was no mouse ......

13) I went home to sulk.

14) I am still sulking and considering the options.

15) No please, don´t ask that question about backups. I am so used to having Ghost Images of the system partition that I totally forgot.

Christer

 

That must be done by clicking F8 or something during the boot process, right?

I´ve been looking for System Restore in Win2K but didn´t find it.

Do You think that something could have been wrong with the current installation?


Thanks for the suggestions,
Christer

 

It was not an upgrade from Win98SE. It was a delete two partitions to make one single partition, format NTFS and install Win2K operation.
It´s an old-ish computer with a 4 GB HDD. It was split in halves with Win98SE on the C-drive and a Ghost Image on the D-drive. The guy who did the installation, thought that 2 GB was too small for Win2K and made it a single one instead.

I´ll await Arie's verdict!

Christer

 

Yes, TTW [ http://www.tweakingtoolbox.com/ttw/ ] Will let you add restrictions to how users can use certain functions. You can restrict access to IE options, and can also disable downloads.

For more info see http://www.tweakingtoolbox.com/ttw/ (Win 9x / 2000)

or

http://www.tweakingtoolbox.com/tt-xp/ (Win XP)

 

An update on the situation:

Another member of our club, who is a computer professional, well, he is paid to to mess around with them, had a look and gave this verdict:

In his opinion, these two error messages could not originate from my additions to the registry.
Next, he started talking a foreign language, possibly Geek, which I didn´t understand ...... ...... but fragments that I understood were IRQ stack, overflow, conflict, rebuild and coincidence .
When the computer was back in working order, with no error messages when starting, he did the same additions to the registry as I had done and it worked.
The connection settings are now "nailed to the ground ".

I don´t know if this makes any sense to You but I am now convinced that I have a magic finger ...... ...... or maybe it is cursed?

Christer

 

I was at the club today and checked the computer to see how it behaves.

My (professional) friend did the same additions to the registry as I had done, plus a few more items to really lock the settings. Everything should be / seemed to be, nailed to the ground.

I connected to the internet and rolled my thumbs for five minutes, waiting for the Pop-Up window, with the warning for the impending auto disconnection.

The Pop-Up showed up and ...... ...... it still had the option to untick a box DISABLING THE AUTO DISCONNECT!

There must be a way ...... ...... !!

Christer