Windows SteadyState Setup in XP SP3

I'ma Hyper Technologies (Faronics) Deep Freeze user and I'm experimenting
with Windows SteadyState v.2.5 in a shared use environment. I'm using Windows
XP Home computers in a network. (BIG mistake! I got Home Edition for its
entertainment features. But, I wish I'd gotten Pro for its ease of
Administration and flexibility.) I'm trying to compare the features and the
ease of use of SteadyState and Deep Freeze before deploying one of them.
However, I've read the FAQs and I still have some questions.


QUESTIONS:

1. Can SteadyState lock down specific user accounts and not others on a
system drive? I'd like to lock down all the Limited account users, and leave
the Local Administrators' accounts alone. If so, how do you accomplish this?

[Note: I ask this question because I installed SteadyState to see what the
GUI looks like (and then immediately uninstalled it without making any
changes or setups). I noticed that the only user accounts it inherited were
the Limited Accounts I had on the system. The Local Administrator account
wasn't included. Is this by design? And, does this address my question about
only locking down some users?]

2. I see in the Quick Start DEMO that after you install SteadyState, you
create a new User Account. Presumably, this is because SteadyState maintains
its settings in a seperate User Account. Do you also have to create a Profile
for this account? And, is this account/profile hidden, similar to the .NET
account in XP? If not, is there a way to hide it from all but the System
Administrator?

3. Finally, I notice that SteadyState can selectively hide such items as
the Control Panel and My Computer from the Start Menu. However, this can
also be accomplished in other ways, such as with the "Start Menu | Properties
| Customize.. | Advanced" tab. The problem with this function is that even
though these links are hidden on the Start Menu (e.g., Control Panel),
they're still visible in the left-hand pane or Menu Bar of most Windows
Explorer windows. Does SteadyState do a better job of completely hiding ALL
such links? If not, is there a better way to accomplish this so that nobody
but the System Administrator can access them, no matter how they access the
system?

Thanks in advance for you help!

Maybe the FAQ would help
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

There used to be a detailed handbook available for an earlier version, but
it seems to have been pulled. Clicking on the Handbook link on

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...s/default.mspx

leads to a page saying there isn't one.



"Robert" <cool_groove@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B2B87861-94F8-4E35-BA77-11620B3E4E9D@microsoft.com...
> I'ma Hyper Technologies (Faronics) Deep Freeze user and I'm experimenting
> with Windows SteadyState v.2.5 in a shared use environment. I'm using
> Windows
> XP Home computers in a network. (BIG mistake! I got Home Edition for its
> entertainment features. But, I wish I'd gotten Pro for its ease of
> Administration and flexibility.) I'm trying to compare the features and
> the
> ease of use of SteadyState and Deep Freeze before deploying one of them.
> However, I've read the FAQs and I still have some questions.
>
>
> QUESTIONS:
>
> 1. Can SteadyState lock down specific user accounts and not others on a
> system drive? I'd like to lock down all the Limited account users, and
> leave
> the Local Administrators' accounts alone. If so, how do you accomplish
> this?
>
> [Note: I ask this question because I installed SteadyState to see what the
> GUI looks like (and then immediately uninstalled it without making any
> changes or setups). I noticed that the only user accounts it inherited
> were
> the Limited Accounts I had on the system. The Local Administrator account
> wasn't included. Is this by design? And, does this address my question
> about
> only locking down some users?]
>
> 2. I see in the Quick Start DEMO that after you install SteadyState, you
> create a new User Account. Presumably, this is because SteadyState
> maintains
> its settings in a seperate User Account. Do you also have to create a
> Profile
> for this account? And, is this account/profile hidden, similar to the .NET
> account in XP? If not, is there a way to hide it from all but the System
> Administrator?
>
> 3. Finally, I notice that SteadyState can selectively hide such items as
> the Control Panel and My Computer from the Start Menu. However, this can
> also be accomplished in other ways, such as with the "Start Menu |
> Properties
> | Customize.. | Advanced" tab. The problem with this function is that even
> though these links are hidden on the Start Menu (e.g., Control Panel),
> they're still visible in the left-hand pane or Menu Bar of most Windows
> Explorer windows. Does SteadyState do a better job of completely hiding
> ALL
> such links? If not, is there a better way to accomplish this so that
> nobody
> but the System Administrator can access them, no matter how they access
> the
> system?
>
> Thanks in advance for you help!

I found a link to the handbook as pdf download, presumably an archived
google page.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...ToIzlcGFf4gBgw

Copy paste the whole of the above link if clicking on it does not work..

"Robert" <cool_groove@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B2B87861-94F8-4E35-BA77-11620B3E4E9D@microsoft.com...
> I'ma Hyper Technologies (Faronics) Deep Freeze user and I'm experimenting
> with Windows SteadyState v.2.5 in a shared use environment. I'm using
> Windows
> XP Home computers in a network. (BIG mistake! I got Home Edition for its
> entertainment features. But, I wish I'd gotten Pro for its ease of
> Administration and flexibility.) I'm trying to compare the features and
> the
> ease of use of SteadyState and Deep Freeze before deploying one of them.
> However, I've read the FAQs and I still have some questions.
>
>
> QUESTIONS:
>
> 1. Can SteadyState lock down specific user accounts and not others on a
> system drive? I'd like to lock down all the Limited account users, and
> leave
> the Local Administrators' accounts alone. If so, how do you accomplish
> this?
>
> [Note: I ask this question because I installed SteadyState to see what the
> GUI looks like (and then immediately uninstalled it without making any
> changes or setups). I noticed that the only user accounts it inherited
> were
> the Limited Accounts I had on the system. The Local Administrator account
> wasn't included. Is this by design? And, does this address my question
> about
> only locking down some users?]
>
> 2. I see in the Quick Start DEMO that after you install SteadyState, you
> create a new User Account. Presumably, this is because SteadyState
> maintains
> its settings in a seperate User Account. Do you also have to create a
> Profile
> for this account? And, is this account/profile hidden, similar to the .NET
> account in XP? If not, is there a way to hide it from all but the System
> Administrator?
>
> 3. Finally, I notice that SteadyState can selectively hide such items as
> the Control Panel and My Computer from the Start Menu. However, this can
> also be accomplished in other ways, such as with the "Start Menu |
> Properties
> | Customize.. | Advanced" tab. The problem with this function is that even
> though these links are hidden on the Start Menu (e.g., Control Panel),
> they're still visible in the left-hand pane or Menu Bar of most Windows
> Explorer windows. Does SteadyState do a better job of completely hiding
> ALL
> such links? If not, is there a better way to accomplish this so that
> nobody
> but the System Administrator can access them, no matter how they access
> the
> system?
>
> Thanks in advance for you help!

Thanks Jean! But, I already read the FAQs and they didn't answer the specific
configuration questions I raise. I was hoping someone could give me some
practical experience froman MVP or expert perspective who could give me some
advice, short of reading the entire 81 page manual (which I downloaded).

-Robert








"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote:

> I found a link to the handbook as pdf download, presumably an archived
> google page.
>
> http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...ToIzlcGFf4gBgw
>
> Copy paste the whole of the above link if clicking on it does not work..
>
> "Robert" <cool_groove@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B2B87861-94F8-4E35-BA77-11620B3E4E9D@microsoft.com...
> > I'ma Hyper Technologies (Faronics) Deep Freeze user and I'm experimenting
> > with Windows SteadyState v.2.5 in a shared use environment. I'm using
> > Windows
> > XP Home computers in a network. (BIG mistake! I got Home Edition for its
> > entertainment features. But, I wish I'd gotten Pro for its ease of
> > Administration and flexibility.) I'm trying to compare the features and
> > the
> > ease of use of SteadyState and Deep Freeze before deploying one of them.
> > However, I've read the FAQs and I still have some questions.
> >
> >
> > QUESTIONS:
> >
> > 1. Can SteadyState lock down specific user accounts and not others on a
> > system drive? I'd like to lock down all the Limited account users, and
> > leave
> > the Local Administrators' accounts alone. If so, how do you accomplish
> > this?
> >
> > [Note: I ask this question because I installed SteadyState to see what the
> > GUI looks like (and then immediately uninstalled it without making any
> > changes or setups). I noticed that the only user accounts it inherited
> > were
> > the Limited Accounts I had on the system. The Local Administrator account
> > wasn't included. Is this by design? And, does this address my question
> > about
> > only locking down some users?]
> >
> > 2. I see in the Quick Start DEMO that after you install SteadyState, you
> > create a new User Account. Presumably, this is because SteadyState
> > maintains
> > its settings in a seperate User Account. Do you also have to create a
> > Profile
> > for this account? And, is this account/profile hidden, similar to the .NET
> > account in XP? If not, is there a way to hide it from all but the System
> > Administrator?
> >
> > 3. Finally, I notice that SteadyState can selectively hide such items as
> > the Control Panel and My Computer from the Start Menu. However, this can
> > also be accomplished in other ways, such as with the "Start Menu |
> > Properties
> > | Customize.. | Advanced" tab. The problem with this function is that even
> > though these links are hidden on the Start Menu (e.g., Control Panel),
> > they're still visible in the left-hand pane or Menu Bar of most Windows
> > Explorer windows. Does SteadyState do a better job of completely hiding
> > ALL
> > such links? If not, is there a better way to accomplish this so that
> > nobody
> > but the System Administrator can access them, no matter how they access
> > the
> > system?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for you help!
>
>
>

Robert wrote:

> Thanks Jean! But, I already read the FAQs and they didn't answer the
> specific configuration questions I raise. I was hoping someone could give
> me some practical experience froman MVP or expert perspective who could
> give me some advice, short of reading the entire 81 page manual (which I
> downloaded).

More on SteadyState: http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=27570

SteadyState support -
http://social.microsoft.com/forums/e...state/threads/

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Thanks Malke! I'll check out these two resources for more information on
SteadyState configuration.

-Robert



P.S.
If anyone else in this newsgroup has some information on this issue, feel
free to offer it. Thanks!










"Malke" wrote:

> Robert wrote:
>
> > Thanks Jean! But, I already read the FAQs and they didn't answer the
> > specific configuration questions I raise. I was hoping someone could give
> > me some practical experience froman MVP or expert perspective who could
> > give me some advice, short of reading the entire 81 page manual (which I
> > downloaded).
>
> More on SteadyState: http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=27570
>
> SteadyState support -
> http://social.microsoft.com/forums/e...state/threads/
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>
>