Prohibit a user from changing LAN settings using the registry

To provide restrictions even for administrator accounts merge the following in the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_EnableAdminProhibits"=dword:00000001

To prohibit access to properties of a LAN connection:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_LanProperties"=dword:00000000

To disable the Ability to enable/disable a LAN connection:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_LanConnect"=dword:00000000

To prohibit TCP/IP advanced configuration:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_AllowAdvancedTCPIPConfig"=dword:00000000

To Prohibit access to the advanced settings item on the advanced menu:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_AdvancedSettings"=dword:00000000

To Prohibit access to the new connection wizard:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_NewConnectionWizard"=dword:00000000

Prohibit a user from changing LAN settings using Group Policies

One way is to give a limited account to the user. But what about accounts that need other administrative privileges? Well here how you can restrict network settings for the administrative user account:

Run GPEdit.msc

Go to User Configuration> Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections.

Here you’ll find many network restrictions.

The ones I find useful are:
Prohibit access to properties of a LAN connection
Ability to enable/disable a LAN connection
Prohibit TCP/IP advanced configuration
Prohibit access to the advanced settings item on the advanced menu
Prohibit access to the new connection wizard

None of the above seemed to be working for an administrative account. Later on I learned that for it all to work in an administrative account I had to enable this:

Enable Windows 2000 Network Connections settings for Administrators.

How to edit the windows registry: Video tutorial for beginners

Well here’s a simple video tutorial to edit the registry. It lacks audio though.

Hope it helps somebody:)

Prevent changing file associations using the Folder Options

To prevent users from changing file associations using the File Types tab in Folder Options, merge the following in the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoFileAssociate"=dword:00000001

Delete the key to allow changing the associations.

Remove options to Shutdown using the Start menu and the task manager

Merge the following into the registry to remove access to shutdown using the Start menu and the task manager.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoClose"=dword:00000001

You can shutdown using the command prompt or by first logging off. to get it back change the value of NoClose to 0 or delete the key.

Make Explore/Open the first option when you right-click a folder

To make Explore the first option in the right-click, merge the following to the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell] @="explore"

To make Open the first option in the right-click, merge the following to the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell] @="open"

Reset User Password without knowing the previous password

Manage local groups using the command prompt

User accounts using the command prompt

Hide your data in an Image file

You can hide your documents in a JPEG image file.

1) Put your files in a RAR file. You can use WinRAR for that. I'll use abc.rar as an example.

2) Now move this RAR file into a particular folder. I'll use the C:\MyFolder here.

3) Have a JPEG/JPG file (The one in which you want to hide the stuff) in the same folder. I'll use Logo.jpg as an example.

Now in the command prompt navigate to the folder using cd MyFolder

now type this: copy /b Logo.jpg + abc.rar Logo.jpg

Now double-click on the Logo.jpg file it should open with your Picture viewer. To open it as a RAR file you can use open with from the files right-click menu and choose WinRAR Or drag it into WinRAR otherwise the JPG's open with will have a WinRAR entry. To make it more secure I recommend adding a password for the RAR file.