Question

Group Policy - Run Only Allowed Windows Applications

Asked by: SquareOneResources

We have a group policy setup to run only allowed Windows applications.  The core processes we allow to run on each PC can be seen below:

acrobat.exe                        Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0
acroRd32.exe                        Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0
calc.exe                                        Microsoft Calculator
colleague.exe                         Colleague FrontOffice
collea~2.exe                        Colleague FrontOffice
ctfmon.exe                                        Microsoft Office XP Language Bar
excel.exe                                         Microsoft Excel
gcasserv.exe                         Microsoft Anti-Spyware Server Process
giantantispywaremain.exe                             Microsoft Anti-Spyware
helpctr.exe                         Microsoft Help and Support Center
hh.exe                              Microsoft Windows Help
hkcmd.exe                         Intel Hotkey
iexplore.exe                        Microsoft Internet Explorer
igfxpers.exe                         Intel Common User Interface Module
jucheck.exe                         Sun Java Update Checker Module
jusched.exe                         Sun Java Update Scheduler
kodakimg.exe                         Microsoft Imaging
kodakprv.exe                        Microsoft Imaging Preview
mspaint.exe                         Microsoft Paint
mspview.exe                         Microsoft Picture Viewer
notepad.exe                         Microsoft Notepad
ntspinit.exe                         BCM LANCTE
osa.exe                                         Microsoft Office Startup Assistant
outlook.exe                         Microsoft Outlook
powerpnt.exe                         Microsoft PowerPoint
qttask.exe                                         Apple QuickTime Tray Icon
rcimlby.exe                         Microsoft Remote Assistance
reader_sl.exe                         Adobe Reader Speed Launch
regedit.exe                         Microsoft Regedit
regedt32.exe                         Microsoft Regedit 32
rundll32.exe                         Microsoft Open With Command
shstat.exe                                         McAfee VirusScan Shstat
smax4pnp.exe                         Sound Max MFC Appplication (Audio Card)
square one telephone directory.exe                       Square One Telephone Directory
square~3.exe                         Square One Telephone Directory
tbmon.exe                         Network Associates Error Reporting Service
updaterui.exe                         McAfee Update UI
userinit.exe                         Microsoft Userinit Logon Application
winword.exe                         Microsoft Word
wordpad.exe                         Microsoft Wordpad

The problem we are having is when a user logs onto a Windows XP machine their logon script doesn't run, however when they logon to a Windows 2000 machine it does.  If we turn this policy off and then log the user back onto a Windows XP machine their script will run which leads me to believe we need to add some more processes.  The logon script only maps network drives so we have tried including cmd.exe and net.exe in the above list but with no luck.

We have checked which processes run on the machines during the running of the logon script but cannot see anything we may have missed.  Can anyone tell us what we're missing?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

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Asked On
2006-02-07 at 01:36:52ID21726599
Tags

only

,

allowed

,

windows

Topic

Operating Systems Miscellaneous

Participating Experts
5
Points
500
Comments
11

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Answers

 

by: allocationerrorPosted on 2006-02-07 at 02:11:22ID: 15890719

You can try to use a visual basic script as logon script and allow wscript.exe in your policy.

On Error Resume Next
Dim WshNetwork
Set WshNetwork = CreateObject("WScript.Network")
WshNetwork.MapNetworkDrive "m:", "\\Server\Share"

Save as "logon.vbs"

 

by: SquareOneResourcesPosted on 2006-02-07 at 02:29:53ID: 15890796

Unfortunately this is not an option for us.  Policies state we must use batch files as login scripts.

 

by: merowingerPosted on 2006-02-07 at 02:42:06ID: 15890852

add cmd.exe in the group policy when you want to run batch file for logon scripts

mero

 

by: SquareOneResourcesPosted on 2006-02-07 at 02:45:43ID: 15890868

As stated in the original post we have tried adding both cmd.exe and net.exe (the command used in the batch file) but it doesn't work.

 

by: merowingerPosted on 2006-02-07 at 03:01:55ID: 15890944

have you tried both cmd.exe and net.exe at the same time?

Is in this policy only Run Only Allowed Windows Applications configured,
or are there configured other settings, too?

mero

 

by: SquareOneResourcesPosted on 2006-02-07 at 03:08:09ID: 15890969

Yes they've both been present in the list at the same time.  There is one other policy set but there are no conflicting options.  If I disable the User Configuration section of the Run Only Allowed Windows Applications policy then the script runs fine, re-enabling it stops it running.

 

by: KalateetPosted on 2006-02-07 at 04:58:45ID: 15891829

Please try to include csrss.exe, lsass.exe, winlogon.exe files which I don't see in your list.

Kalateet

 

by: SquareOneResourcesPosted on 2006-02-07 at 05:14:37ID: 15891944

Kalateet,

I have just tried adding these but they made no difference.  The 'Run Only Allowed Windows Applications' policy setting relates to processes started by the EXPLORER.EXE process (aka the user), these three processes are started by the SYSTEM process which isn't affected.  They seem to start up fine whether included in the policy or not.

This policy works fine on Win2k machines, it's just WinXP that's having issues.

 

by: Bill4224Posted on 2006-02-07 at 07:36:22ID: 15893286

Is it that the logon script doesn't open at all or do the commands fail?  What happens if you try to execute the batch file after a user has logged in?
Also have you tried adding the name of the batch file to the list of allowed programs?

 

by: SquareOneResourcesPosted on 2006-02-07 at 07:47:09ID: 15893403

If we add the name of the batch file it works.  Thanks very much for your help!!

 

by: sej69Posted on 2009-09-17 at 07:53:50ID: 25356933

As a footnote to this issue, I had to add the .VBS to the exception list in addition to wscript.exe.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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