GPO or Group Policy is Configure rules to take security measures On some or all of the computers and users that make up the server network. Among the measures we found, access to the most important units of the computer, such as C or D, was hidden.
What do you get by hiding this access is to prevent unauthorized users from mistakenly Make relevant modifications, how to turn off Windows 10 Action Center or store data or even network stability. Read on as we explain everything you need to know to keep your system completely secure.
What are the steps to hide a drive in Windows Server using GPO?
Microsoft’s operating system offers the possibility to adjust the group policy that hides the hard drive, Via specific settings in Active Directory. You have to keep in mind that hiding the unit does not guarantee that it is completely inaccessible, it may be that if you know the exact address, access it directly via the explorer.
Group Policy can be applied at the local computer level (on the computers assigned to them), site (computers and/or users belonging to a site), domain (computers and/or users belonging to a domain), or organizational units (teams and/or users) or a user belonging to an OU). The steps to configure the GPO to hide the drive are:
Deploy Control GPOs on Windows Server
To create a GPO policy by using Windows Server, there is a route that can be achieved, you have to do the following, go to the start menu, then click on «all applications», now click on «administrative tools», with this we open group policy management .
- inside»Group Policy Management«We continue.
- Click the drop down arrow»area” and in one of the domains you belong to, you place it in the left panel of the newly opened window.
- superior»Default Domain PolicyRight click and select the Edit option. Now follow the path: User Configuration > Administrative Templates Policies > Windows Components > File Explorer > Hide these specific drives from My Computer.
- To change the status of this policy, you have to right click and go to properties, in the new window select the «Enable» option, in the drop down list «Choose one of the following combinations» Select the drive to hideYou can even limit all units.
- now you have to give Click Apply, then OK, When you close the properties window, you will see that the status of the configuration has been updated.
Verify GPO policy on Windows Server My Computer
To configure the policy correctly, the next step you must take is to validate it, for this you must Open a new «Command Prompt», Search for «cmd» in the start menu and open the options shown to you, now enter the following command «gpupdate /force». A message will be displayed stating » Computer policy update completed successfully«.
How can I confirm if a disk drive is hidden using a GPO in Windows Server?
Verifying that the disk is no longer visible is as simple as accessing My Computer from the relevant device with the policy applied Check if the symbol is not available in the window. Remember that you can still use the default folders on the drive to store data, some of which are My Documents, My Pictures, Music, etc.
This invisible situation is completely reversible, it is enough to open the Windows 10 hard drive, go back to the properties of the policy and check «Not Configured».In fact, you will see There are many possible GPO settings on your server.
Why don’t GPOs in Windows Server hide drives on disk?
If you don’t follow the steps described, you’re pretty sure you won’t be able to successfully hide drives from a specific domain, especially if you don’t Force parameter update Use the command prompt.
If you can’t hide the disk in Windows Server, another very simple option you can try is to reboot the device so the system is usually fully updated, applying the newly established policy.
It is now possible that the default disk limit option in the domain policy does not match your requirements, in which case you can choose Change the limit by modifying the System.adm file.
However, this is another process that involves a comprehensive assessment of the risks and benefits presented, so you should understand yourself well before proceeding. Also, knowing how to restrict access to the Control Panel using GPOs can be useful for this usage restriction as an alternative to hiding the disk. Windows Server is an extremely valuable system where you can adapt different solutions to your requirements.