Any way to lock "advanced startup options"?

fhuge

New Member
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My Dell Latitude 10 tablet runs Windows 8. I have created a standard user account and want to forbid the user from accessing the "advanced startup options", which he might use to go to safe mode and reset my tablet. How can I do it? Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude 10
You might be able to do that in the Group Policy Editor.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I think you won't be able to stop access to Advanced Startup for one user, because one way to get there is from the Login screen itself, before you've actually logged in as any user (whether Administrator or Standard).

(You right click on the "power button" icon that's in the bottom-right corner of the login screen, and hold the Shift key down as you click on Restart.)

Once in Advanced Startup, some options seem to require Administrator access, but when I tried it just now, I could get a long way into Reset before I chickened out (the screen where you choose whether you just want to wipe the Windows partition) without it asking me for a password.

I certainly got further than Step 3 in this Tutorial, which is when I expected to be asked for an Admin-level password. (My PC has both Admin- and Standard-level accounts, all with passwords.)
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2302-reset-windows-8-a.html

However I was doing this with a Windows Setup DVD in the CD drive; it may be different if the user is accessing files on the local PC's Recovery Partition instead and doesn't have access to a Setup DVD. But it's not hard to get hold of the images to make a Windows Setup DVD - for one thing the Windows 8.1 Preview currently has ISO versions which you can download freely, which I strongly suspect would have the capability to Reset your computer and lose your information.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
Why do you associate with people you can't trust ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Yeah, you can definitely reset your pc without providing a password, through advanced startup - troubleshoot - reset your pc. I have tried this before as a standard user.

I think you won't be able to stop access to Advanced Startup for one user, because one way to get there is from the Login screen itself, before you've actually logged in as any user (whether Administrator or Standard).

(You right click on the "power button" icon that's in the bottom-right corner of the login screen, and hold the Shift key down as you click on Restart.)

Once in Advanced Startup, some options seem to require Administrator access, but when I tried it just now, I could get a long way into Reset before I chickened out (the screen where you choose whether you just want to wipe the Windows partition) without it asking me for a password.

I certainly got further than Step 3 in this Tutorial, which is when I expected to be asked for an Admin-level password. (My PC has both Admin- and Standard-level accounts, all with passwords.)
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2302-reset-windows-8-a.html

However I was doing this with a Windows Setup DVD in the CD drive; it may be different if the user is accessing files on the local PC's Recovery Partition instead and doesn't have access to a Setup DVD. But it's not hard to get hold of the images to make a Windows Setup DVD - for one thing the Windows 8.1 Preview currently has ISO versions which you can download freely, which I strongly suspect would have the capability to Reset your computer and lose your information.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude 10
Is it something available only in Windows 8 pro? I typed gpedit.msc in "Run" and it said there is no such thing. My tablet runs windows 8 standard.

You might be able to do that in the Group Policy Editor.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude 10
Is it something available only in Windows 8 pro? I typed gpedit.msc in "Run" and it said there is no such thing. My tablet runs windows 8 standard.

You might be able to do that in the Group Policy Editor.
I think this is correct - Group Policy editor is in Windows 8 Pro (and Enterprise) but not Windows 8 Standard.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
Yes it looks like its only available with Pro or Enterprise, I have 8 Pro. Sorry. :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Autologon as standard user - thus bypassing the logon screen? Netplwiz in start screen etc - give the standard user a password that is only known to the administrator.
No that's flawed, you would have to also disable the restart option if you logged out or tried to switch user.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
So it seems that isn't quite possible. Anyway, thanks so much for your help.:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude 10
The only thing I wondered about was whether encrypting the drive with Bitlocker might help?

I think it's possible to use TPM (or something??) so that a standard user can log into the PC with just their ID without knowing the full Bitlocker keys.

I know that once you've encrypted the drive, you have to manually suspend encryption before doing certain tasks, which might involve entering the Recovery password.

However there are several things against this...
  • I don't know enough about Bitlocker to recommend it
  • You'd need to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro to get Bitlocker and
  • You may not have the right hardware to use Bitlocker in that way
  • My suspicion is that a Reset might still be able to wipe a Bitlocker'd PC (what I've read suggests that some configurations allow this and some don't; but I don't know which is which).

I'm not sure it's a solution, but thought I'd mention it, in case someone who knows about Bitlocker chips in.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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