Windows 7 Locking Down a Windows 7 Computer

[Phatty]

First off, forgive me. I've done some digging, but I'm a Windows 7 newb and I have a lot to learn. I have a production computer meant for factory users to use and I want to have it locked down. I've been using Windows XP and the "Policy Editor" (poledit.exe) to remove access to the control panel, remove lock workstation, block the task manager, and all kinds of stuff like that.

Now, our company is rolling out Windows 7 computers and Poledit doesn't seem to work with that. I keep getting an error "Cannot connect to Registry" when I click on the user to use it.

What is the best way I can lock down ONE user on a Windows 7 stand-alone machine? I don't want to restrict EVERY user on the machine like when I log in as "administrator". I tried the "Group Policy" editor that comes with it, but it wants to change every user. Is there something else I can use? Is there a way to get Poledit to work?

Also, another problem I'm having is getting auto-logon to work. The check box to require the user to logon is unchecked but I can't check it or uncheck it and I have administrative privileges, so I don't know why I can't click there and autologon isn't working.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Phatty]

I did some more digging and am inching my way forward. To start, poledit will work if I'm logged on as administrator. Group Policy will work for just one user if you run the User settings while logged in as that user.

I'm still working on a few more problems, though. I've disabled just about everthing I can think of and find, BUT when you click on the Start menu, it still shows programs they can select. I don't want ANYTHING to be visible there when they press the start menu. Any ideas for that?

Also, I'm trying to put start-up items in my locked down user when I'm logged in as Administrator and I keep getting "Access Denied" errors when I try to navigate to some folders. If I'm administrator, why would there be any "Access Denied" errors? What's up with that?

 

[Phatty]

So, no one has any ideas on how to lock down the Start menu so it's either not accessible or bare when the user clicks on it? I'm pretty close to getting this finished, but that's a big one for me.