Member Avatar for disophisis

Hey everyone.

I work at a library and I have some public access computers for searching our catalog with internet explorer. I want the user to not be able to close this internet explorer window, and I believe the setting for that is in the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in in the MMC. I was wondering if anyone could point me to the right options in order to accomplish this. I think that once it is enabled it is a system-wide setting, and that I won't be able to close any windows, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice so I won't be getting bothered every time the internet explorer gets closed and no one knows how to bring it back up.

Thanks in advance.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 223 Views
  • 4 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Member #244427

Dani AI

Generated

confirmed that the local Group Policy change suggested by prevented patrons from closing the Internet Explorer session on the public terminals. That local policy is a quick, low‑impact way to get kiosk‑style behavior for IE6/7 on XP, but it is not a complete lock‑down by itself.

Complementary steps recommended for a robust public‑access setup include assigning the browser to a dedicated, non‑administrator kiosk account so regular patrons cannot change settings or kill processes; removing alternate exit vectors such as Task Manager and access to the Run/command prompt via separate local policies; running the browser in full‑screen kiosk mode (iexplore.exe -k) to hide toolbars and menus (keyboard shortcuts and process termination remain possible unless those vectors are also blocked); adding a lightweight watchdog at startup (a scheduled task or script) to relaunch the browser automatically if it exits; and evaluating commercial kiosk‑lockdown software where stronger, tamper‑resistant restrictions are required.

Operational notes: at least one administrative account should be kept exempt from the kiosk policy and a rollback procedure documented (for example, boot to Safe Mode or use the admin account to restore policies). Changes should be trialed on a spare machine before wider deployment and regular maintenance windows scheduled so updates and troubleshooting can be performed without disrupting patrons.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for Member #244427

Try typing in gpedit.msc ( group policy editor ) and navigate to

User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->Internet Explorer->Browser menus

Then locate the following setting

File menu: Disable closing the browser and Explorer windows

Let us know if that solves the issue. This works for IE 6 and 7 on Windows XP professional

commented: Thanks! +1
Member Avatar for disophisis

Thank you very much for the reply. I will be trying this solution within the hour and I'll tell ya how it goes.

Thanks again! :icon_smile:

Member Avatar for disophisis

Alright. The solution worked perfectly. Thanks a lot!

Member Avatar for Member #244427

your're welcome!

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.