[SOLUTION] Blocking access to Windows 10 Store on Windows 10 Pro.

Blocking access to Windows 10 Store on Windows 10 Pro.

Hello, we would like to stop our students accessing the Windows 10 Store; however, the main system image we use contains Windows 10 Pro. To restrict access to the Win 10 store you have to have Windows 10 Enterprise installed. Nice one MS!

So, is there a work-around here, that will enable me to restrict access to the store without having to create a new master image using Win 10 Enterprise edition. Would save me about a weeks worth of work!

I read, below, that setting permissions on the object using GPO will prevent users form launching the store. But, what object is he referring to.
https://redmondmag.com/articles/2016/05/05/windows-10-pro-store-blocking.aspx

Has anyone else encountered this issue?

Thanks

Restricting users to running only certain apps in the Registry follows almost exactly the same procedure as blocking specific apps. You’ll again need to log on to Windows using user account you want to change. Fire up Registry Editor and then head to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

Right-click the Policies key, choose New > Key, and then name the new key Explorer

Next you’re going to create a value inside the new Explorer key. Right-click the Explorer key and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) value. Name the new value RestrictRun

Double-click the new RestrictRun value to open its properties dialog. Change the value from 0 to 1 in the “Value data” box and then click “OK.”

Now, you’ll add apps to which the user is allowed access. Create a new string value inside the RestrictRun key for each app you want to block. Right-click the RestrictRun value and then choose New > String Value. You’ll be naming these values with simple numbers, so name the first value you create “1.”

Double-click the new value to open its property dialog, type the name of the executable you want to block into the “Value data” box (e.g., windowsstore.exe or path), and then click “OK.”

When you’re done, restart Windows, log into that user account again, and test your settings.

You can also achieve the same using Group Policy and restrict selected users.

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LVL 24

Patrick BogersDatacenter platform engineer LindowsCommented: 2017-03-22

Hi spencer,

He is refering to a computer policy setting in where he is creating a outbound firewall rule to prevent the store*.exe from starting.
How to get to the right path is a little tricky but this movie Will make it clear to you.

Cheers

Spencer KAuthor Commented: 2017-03-22

Hello Pat,

Thanks for the link, this does indeed help. However, does this indeed block any APP from accessing the APP store - for example, Xbox is an pre-installed APP, will this now be disabled?

Thanks

Hi again,

One would think the xbox app relies on the app store exe but i am not sure at all.
What you can do is creating a batch file which calls an PS COMMAND like

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxApp | Remove-AppxPackage

This Will delete the xbox app if present. Throw the batch in a startup GPO and Youre done.
Startup script are run as local system so the script should execute as admin.

Let me know.

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LVL 5

Vikas BhatExperienced IT Infrastructure Services/operations ManagerCommented: 2017-03-22

Thanks guys.

Blocking access to Windows 10 Store on Windows 10 Pro.

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