[ale] [OT] Need to lock down a Windows laptop

[vanloggins at gmail.com (Van Loggins)]

At one time Microsoft had a program that 
would let you do this called SteadyState 
I actually used it at one time for a 
"loaner" laptop that I'd send out to 
sales reps at a company that I used to 
work for. It was configured with the 
company software and had all the 
necessary drivers loaded for the 
hardware they also sold. I used to have 
problems with sales reps who thought 
that they could keep the loaner as long 
as they wanted even after I had repaired 
or replaced their assigned company 
laptop, so this solution worked well. It 
allowed them to do their sales 
demos,etc. but didn't allow them to 
actually save any files on the hard 
drive as when it shut down it cleared 
and went back to it's original state. It 
worked pretty well, it was like a pair 
of bowling shoes, you use them then 
can't wait to give them back and get 
your nice comfy shoes back....

There are some other commercial 
alternatives, a google search found this 
link when I searched for SteadyState

http://alternativeto.net/software/windows-steadystate/

It appears that microsoft no longer 
offers steadystate though, shame it 
worked very well on XP.

I did a little more googling and found 
some info that might be useful for you 
if your daughter's windows install on 
her laptop is windows 7

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-7-Steady-State-Alternative-Available-from-Microsoft-159484.shtml

it's not really an alternative, just 
info on how to use group policy,etc. to 
lock down the install. anyways it might 
help so wanted to post it.



Van Loggins, A+

678-316-0136

http://www.linkedin.com/in/vanloggins


On 4/11/2011 7:31 PM, Chris Fowler wrote:
> I've been looking for a way to make Windows like a LiveCD.  It does not
> have to be a LiveCD but should behave like one.  A reboot takes it back
> to a known state.
>
> This would be cool because I would no longer have to worry about
> viruses, malware, etc.
>
>