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Group Policy Deployment - Best Practice
http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1429		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  rdefulio [ Tue Oct 15, 2013 7:54 am ]
Post subject:  Group Policy Deployment - Best Practice
Looking for some advice on the best way to deploy a classicshell.net configuration to my users. I am currently using group policy to hack the registry entries into the profile, but I think there might be a better way?

Here's what I'm doing right now to force classicshell to use a classic start menu with some other tweaks.

With Group Polcy Manager, create a new policy called "ClassicShell.net"

On windows 2008 R2, run powershell.exe, then execute the following commands

Code:
Import-module grouppolicy

Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu" -ValueName ShowedStyle2 -Type DWORD -value 1

Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName EnableStartButton -Type DWORD -value 1
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName MenuCaption -Type String -value "%computername%"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName MenuStyle -Type String -value "Classic1"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinC1 -Type String -value "Classic Skin"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinOptionsC1 -Type String -value "BD80CDB3|C26EAF5C|86F3669C|5225DC46|5D3248DD|E87963C2|80316ABE|"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinOptionsW7 -Type String -value "C26EAF5D|5D3248DD|E87963C2|80316ABE|"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName StartButtonType -Type String -value "ClasicButton"



I got these settings out of the registry for my current user after I tweaked the view the way I wanted. Is there a Group Policy snap-in to manage these settings interactively or is this the best practice?

Thanks!

Ron
Author:  Ivo [ Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Group Policy Deployment - Best Practice
A better approach might be to set the defaults in the HKLM registry. They will apply to all users. Check out the Administrative Settings section in the help.
The next version will have the ability to suppress the initial opening of the settings so you don't have to set "ShowedStyle2" per user.
Author:  rdefulio [ Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Group Policy Deployment - Best Practice
I'll go back and take a closer look at the Administrative section of the docs, I must've missed that.

As a followup on my GPO script, I created three policies, a standard "all computers" policy, and a 2008-r2 only and a 2012 only policy, each with a respective WMI filter to only apply to that operating system. Then I tweaked the settings on 2012 to use the AeroButton for a better experience.

Code:
Import-module grouppolicy

Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu" -ValueName ShowedStyle2 -Type DWORD -value 1

Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName EnableStartButton -Type DWORD -value 1
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName MenuCaption -Type String -value "%computername%"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName MenuStyle -Type String -value "Classic1"

Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2008)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinC1 -Type String -value "Classic Skin"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2008)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinOptionsW7 -Type String -value "C26EAF5D|5D3248DD|E87963C2|80316ABE|"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2008)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinOptionsC1 -Type String -value "BD80CDB3|C26EAF5C|86F3669C|5225DC46|5D3248DD|E87963C2|80316ABE|"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2008)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName StartButtonType -Type String -value "ClasicButton"

Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2012)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinC1 -Type String -value "Windows 8"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2012)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinOptionsW7 -Type String -value "C26EAF5D|5D3248DC|1FC64124|5EA361A2|6EDFA36A|2E838408|22C9A1E2|0663DC39|"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2012)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName SkinOptionsC1 -Type String -value "BD80CDB3|C26EAF5C|86F3669C|5225DC46|5D3248DD|1FC64124|5EA361A2|6EDFA36A|2E838408|22C9A1E2|0663DC39|"
Set-GPRegistryValue -Name "ClassicShell.net (2012)" -key "HKCU\Software\IvoSoft\ClassicStartMenu\Settings" -ValueName StartButtonType -Type String -value "AeroButton"
Author:  Gaurav [ Sun Jan 19, 2014 11:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group Policy Deployment - Best Practice
Classic Shell 4.0.4 introduces Group Policy support for its own settings. The file, C:\Program Files\Classic Shell\PolicyDefinitions.zip includes the policy definitions. If you have an Active Directory domain, extract the files to %logonserver%\sysvol\%userdnsdomain%\policies\PolicyDefinitions\ or whatever your Group Policy Central Store is. For Local Group Policy, extract them to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions folder.
Author:  rdefulio [ Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Group Policy Deployment - Best Practice
@GauravK thanks for this update, the admx files will make administering these values much easier!
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