hi all.

got a new batch of workstations in work after a burglary, all with win2k.

being a bit of a novice at security policies as its not actually my job at the office ( im a CAD technician, but because of my rather large knowledge of PC's in general, from being a gamer im the unofficial IT manager )

i need some help.

the office is small, 10 workstations and a file server (win2k server OS)

basically i wanted to setup the folks at the office as Restricted Users because myself and management dont want the old system ( win98, no security controls) with the staff installing anything they like etc etc.

Ive hit some problems already as certain apps are just really disliking the Restricted policies.

ICQ for example just will not work on the restricted user level ( it gives an error saying the administrator needs to give the user write access for it to work) i gave full control over the whole ICQ folder in Program Files but it still didnt work.

Also AutoCAD2000 gives an error saying it cant write to the registry, but once you click ok the program starts and works perfectly.

is there ANY way that you can get the program access of a Power User Level, with the Restricted User ability to disallow any installation of software??

very grateful for any help.

I would advise you to buy the book "Windows 2000 Professional Expert Companion" by Craig Stinson and Carl Siechert, published by Microsoft. ISBN 0-7356-0855-5. US$ 39.99 / Can$ 57.99
Also see www.microsoft.com/mspress

You can solve your problem with centrally managed Group Policy settings (as stored in Active Directory on a win2000/3 server)
It goes too far to explain this here.

The above book only deals with W2K Pro and refers to the server-versions only superficially. But for that you will have your 2003-Server book.