New Windows 11 Pro user - which Group Policy Editor options do you recommend?

Omnimaxus · Thursday at 9:18 AM

Hi to everyone. I am a new Windows 11 Pro user. I am just about done installing all of my applications and have customized my Start11 menu (and taskbar) the way I want it to be. (Note I said "Start11," meaning the Start Menu program from Stardock; I do not use the regular Windows 11 Start Menu itself.) I have never used Windows 11 Pro before. I have used "Pro" versions of Windows before, like Windows 2000 Professional (the best OS Microsoft ever came out with, IMHO - clean, simple, and stable as heck).

But not for Windows 11. I have not touched the Group Policy Editor yet. It's one of the reasons why I got Windows 11 Pro. My question is, what settings do you recommend to change to help with privacy, with Windows Update (such as to disable "preview" updates, for example - these have caused problems for me before), to help have as "clean" of a Windows experience as possible, and so on? I'm hoping there's at least a few folks on here who can help. Thank you in advance to those who help. Appreciate it.

cereberus · Thursday at 10:11 AM

Really GPE is more for use by IT departments to restrict User access to various items and force security constraints
e.g. preventing a user to bypass passwords, prevent installation of unauthorised software etc., prevent usb drives being used etc.

For an ordinary domestic consumer, there is generally little need to invoke such restrictions on the main user admin account, but one might want to put restrictions on standard accounts e.g. for minors.

It is hard to be specific about any particular setting as every user is different.

In the end, go through the various settings and read descriptions and decide if they are of use to you.

I have only a couple out of the hundreds actually setup e.g. one is to dismiss the lockscreen and jumping directly to the login screen, as I find it irritating to dismiss a screen that is (imo) pointless.

By and large, the defaults are sensibly set up to allow domestic users to have full access to functions.

Berton · Thursday at 12:01 PM

I had Win 2000, there was no Pro or Home. It was at the time of Windows ME for consumers. WinXP was the start of the difference between Home and Pro and the Pro was the first for 64-bit/x64 computers.

I seldom have need for many of the Group Policies on my Pro machines as I'm only on a LAN, not a Server-base network and both Home and Pro work for my use.

When installing Windows the choice of use is based upon the licensing that OEMs use when building or what a DIY buys when building their own. The software used contains both Home and Pro and again what is used is based upon the licensing.

pseymour · Thursday at 1:13 PM

Berton said:
I had Win 2000, there was no Pro or Home. It was at the time of Windows ME for consumers. WinXP was the start of the difference between Home and Pro and the Pro was the first for 64-bit/x64 computers.

There was a Pro for Windows 2000, along with three server editions.

Scott · Thursday at 1:24 PM

Omnimaxus said:
what settings do you recommend

Here's one I recommend

Enable or Disable Include Drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable including drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Update will include drivers when available in Windows 11 by default. You can enable the Do not include drivers with Windows Updates policy to not include drivers...

www.elevenforum.com

glasskuter · Thursday at 1:35 PM

I agree. There's no way we can tell you what group policy settings would need to be set for YOU. For most things, you do not need GP.(although for some you do)
I suggest you use the tutorial section of this forum. Find the tutorial for what you want to do, Brink gives instructions within each tutorial for using either GPO, reg file, or even Windows settings to accomplish what you want. The tutorial section is in alphabetical order, by category, or by search. I suggest you use windows settings whenever possible. Just be sure to keep record of whatever changes you make. I also suggest you make a system image before you start changing things.
If you can't find a tutorial for a particular wanted change, report back and we can point you to the correct one to accomplish whatever it is you want.

For example to disable "preview" updates,

Enable or Disable Get Latest Updates as soon as available in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off "Get the latest updates as soon as they are available" in Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 22621.1635, Microsoft added a new "Get the latest updates as soon as they are available" toggle under Settings > Windows Update. When you turn...

www.elevenforum.com

Omnimaxus · Thursday at 6:11 PM

glasskuter said:
I agree. There's no way we can tell you what group policy settings would need to be set for YOU. For most things, you do not need GP.(although for some you do)
I suggest you use the tutorial section of this forum. Find the tutorial for what you want to do, Brink gives instructions within each tutorial for using either GPO, reg file, or even Windows settings to accomplish what you want. The tutorial section is in alphabetical order, by category, or by search. I suggest you use windows settings whenever possible. Just be sure to keep record of whatever changes you make. I also suggest you make a system image before you start changing things.
If you can't find a tutorial for a particular wanted change, report back and we can point you to the correct one to accomplish whatever it is you want.

For example to disable "preview" updates,

Enable or Disable Get Latest Updates as soon as available in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off "Get the latest updates as soon as they are available" in Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 22621.1635, Microsoft added a new "Get the latest updates as soon as they are available" toggle under Settings > Windows Update. When you turn...

www.elevenforum.com

Thank you; this is helpful. I will take a look through the tutorials in due time.

Omnimaxus · Thursday at 6:11 PM

Scott said:
Here's one I recommend

Enable or Disable Include Drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable including drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Update will include drivers when available in Windows 11 by default. You can enable the Do not include drivers with Windows Updates policy to not include drivers...

www.elevenforum.com

Hmm. I think I'd want to leave this one enabled. But thanks, though.

Omnimaxus · Thursday at 6:12 PM

pseymour said:
There was a Pro for Windows 2000, along with three server editions.

That's right. Correct.

Omnimaxus · Thursday at 6:13 PM

cereberus said:
Really GPE is more for use by IT departments to restrict User access to various items and force security constraints
e.g. preventing a user to bypass passwords, prevent installation of unauthorised software etc., prevent usb drives being used etc.

For an ordinary domestic consumer, there is generally little need to invoke such restrictions on the main user admin account, but one might want to put restrictions on standard accounts e.g. for minors.

It is hard to be specific about any particular setting as every user is different.

In the end, go through the various settings and read descriptions and decide if they are of use to you.

I have only a couple out of the hundreds actually setup e.g. one is to dismiss the lockscreen and jumping directly to the login screen, as I find it irritating to dismiss a screen that is (imo) pointless.

By and large, the defaults are sensibly set up to allow domestic users to have full access to functions.

I understand. Well - so far, I have telemetry and diagnostics disabled. Still on the lookout for any other useful edits to make.

Omnimaxus · Thursday at 6:14 PM

Berton said:
I had Win 2000, there was no Pro or Home. It was at the time of Windows ME for consumers. WinXP was the start of the difference between Home and Pro and the Pro was the first for 64-bit/x64 computers.

I seldom have need for many of the Group Policies on my Pro machines as I'm only on a LAN, not a Server-base network and both Home and Pro work for my use.

When installing Windows the choice of use is based upon the licensing that OEMs use when building or what a DIY buys when building their own. The software used contains both Home and Pro and again what is used is based upon the licensing.

Thank you for commenting.

Bree · Thursday at 6:28 PM

Omnimaxus said:
I have not touched the Group Policy Editor yet. It's one of the reasons why I got Windows 11 Pro. My question is, what settings do you recommend to change to help with privacy, with Windows Update (such as to disable "preview" updates, for example - these have caused problems for me before), to help have as "clean" of a Windows experience as possible, and so on?

Preview updates are simple to deal with, same in Home as in Pro. Just turn off 'Get the latest updates as soon as they are available and they will no longer be automatically installed. They will be optional with their own separate 'Download and install' button.

There is just one group policy setting I consider as essential, I enable it on all my Pro installs: Configure Automatic Updates, enabled and set to '2 - Notify for download and auto install'. This means I will be notified by Windows Update when a new update is available, but it won't download and install until I choose to allow it.

Omnimaxus · Friday at 9:27 AM

Bree said:
Preview updates are simple to deal with, same in Home as in Pro. Just turn off 'Get the latest updates as soon as they are available and they will no longer be automatically installed. They will be optional with their own separate 'Download and install' button.

There is just one group policy setting I consider as essential, I enable it on all my Pro installs: Configure Automatic Updates, enabled and set to '2 - Notify for download and auto install'. This means I will be notified by Windows Update when a new update is available, but it won't download and install until I choose to allow it.

View attachment 130909

Thank you; this is an extremely useful setting. I have enabled the policy, and set it to # 2. Excellent.

cheaterslick · Friday at 10:15 AM

Omnimaxus said:
Thank you; this is an extremely useful setting. I have enabled the policy, and set it to # 2. Excellent.

I've done the same.

neves · Friday at 10:35 AM

Berton said:
I had Win 2000, there was no Pro or Home. It was at the time of Windows ME for consumers. WinXP was the start of the difference between Home and Pro and the Pro was the first for 64-bit/x64 computers.

Wrong mate. Windows 2000 was released as Professional and Server editions. Windows 2k Pro SP4 - was actually my favorite Windows at the time and for the upcoming years (barely used Windows XP Pro SP3 - with next major hardware upgrade after Intel Core 2 Duo was released).

Omnimaxus · Friday at 11:28 AM

cheaterslick said:
I've done the same.

Omnimaxus · Friday at 11:30 AM

neves said:
Wrong mate. Windows 2000 was released as Professional and Server editions. Windows 2k Pro SP4 - was actually my favorite Windows at the time and for the upcoming years (barely used Windows XP Pro SP3 - with next major hardware upgrade after Intel Core 2 Duo was released).

For what it's worth, Windows XP wasn't bad. That's my take on it. It was decent, but I preferred 2000 over it. I did like Windows 7, though. If Microsoft would just go back to either Windows 2000 Professional (in terms of relative aesthetics and whatnot) or Windows 7, and took it easy with the cramming down of Microsoft stuff down our throats, then I'd be a Microsoft customer for life. EDIT: In all fairness, I must say they've made some improvements towards allowing greater user choice, like the ability to uninstall OneDrive, for example. It helps that there's software like Start11, too, to help bridge certain functionalities and the user experience together.

KevTech · Friday at 11:35 AM

List of what I do.

New Windows 11 Pro user - which Group Policy Editor options do you recommend?

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