As per the Image In this post, Windows has a native setting, namely the "Desktop Icon Settings" that allows you to show or hide the desktop Icons. Such Icons Include This PC (Computer), User's Files, Network , Recycle Bin and Control Panel. These can be enabled or disabled with a few clicks of the mouse, which means that anyone can add or remove them. In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to prevent users from making changes.
In order to achieve this, I will be using the Group Policy Editor, which Is a default utility In the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education editions. If you're not running either of these editions, time to get on the net and upgrade your Windows 10 operating system.
These Icons are the first thing I enable after purchasing and/or formatting my system, and I certainly don't want anyone messing around with them. So without further ado, let's rip Into this guide.
Step One:
To access the Group Policy Editor, open the Run menu, enter "gpedit.msc" (no quotes) and hit "OK".
Step Two:
Next, navigate to the following directory:
"User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization".
On the right pane, click on "Prevent changing desktop Icons".
Step Three:
In the left-hand side, select the "Enabled" radio button, and then click "OK" to finalize the process.
Last Step:
When a user attempts to access the Desktop Icon settings via Personalization Settings, Windows will return a message Indicating that It's been disabled.
Final Thoughts:
To most computational users, this may not seem like a big deal- as they can easily re-enable any changes made to the aforementioned desktop Icons. Well, think about It from a logical standpoint. As per the above guide, you only enable the setting "once" to prevent unauthorized changes, so doesn't It make perfect sense to do just that? I thought as much!
To reverse the change, simply go back to Step Three above and select the "Not Configured" radio button. Don't forget to click "OK" to finalize It.
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