Chapter 6: Configuring and Implementing Local Policies

All settings in Windows 10 are stored in the registry. The registry is a database that contains details of all your settings, applications, device drivers, and many more. Without the registry, Windows will not work.

This chapter will introduce how to configure devices by using local policies, configure the local registry, and troubleshoot group policies in Windows 10. Group policy is a centrally managed technology that is designed to manage and control Windows 10 devices. The local group policy is the local implementation of these policies, and you need to know how you can configure local settings on a computer using these policies.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

• Configuring the local registry
• Configuring local policies
• Implementing account policies
• Troubleshooting group policies

This chapter will provide you with the skills to configure local policies and understand the registry...

Technical requirements

This chapter will use PowerShell code. This code is available on the GitHub page at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Microsoft-Exam-MD-100-Windows-10-Certification-Guide/tree/master/Chapter06.

In this chapter, you will implement and configure local policies and registry keys. The steps that you will follow are also recorded. You can find these videos here: https://bit.ly/2LsQDqD

Configuring the local registry

The Windows registry is the heart of the Windows 10 Operating System (OS). All of the settings are stored in the registry. The registry is a database that contains all of the Windows settings, installed software, device drivers, and many more settings. Without this registry, Windows 10 would not work.

You should take care when working with or editing the registry. An incorrect change in the registry can result in an unreliable OS, with a reinstallation of the OS as a solution. You should always create a backup of the registry before editing the registry.

To better handle the registry, we must understand the registry structure first.

Understanding the registry structure

The registry is organized hierarchically. At the top level, there are five registry hives. These five hives are DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, and SYSTEM. These five hives are a distinct collection of related settings that are structured as a series of keys, subkeys, and...

Configuring local policies

A group policy controls the environment of user accounts and computer accounts. A set of group policies is called a Group Policy Object (GPO). And one set of a group policy is called a Local Group Policy (LGPO). The difference between group policy objects and the local group policy is that GPOs are managed centrally and distributed across the Active Directory members, and an LGPO is managed decentrally and is intended for members without Active Directory, for example, standalone computers.

GPOs are processed in the following order:

• Local
• Site
• Domain
• Organizational Unit

Local policies are becoming effective when a user is logging in to a Windows 10 device. In this local policy, you can configure user settings and/or computer settings. For example, you can configure policies that implement auditing, specify user rights, and set security options. These three settings will be handled in the next sections.

Configuring the Audit...

Implementing account policies

In the previous section, you learned how you could open the Local Security Editor to configure Local Policies to the user or computer. In the Local Security Editor, you can also configure Account Policies within this Local Security Editor.

Important Note

These policies only work for local accounts and not for Microsoft accounts.

With the Account Policies, you can configure policies such as password policies and account lockout policies.

Configuring a Password Policy

If you want to ensure that all users on a local device use secure passwords and these are changed after several days, you can configure a Password Policy. Follow the next steps to configure a Password Policy:

1. Click Start and type Secpol.msc.
2. Click on Local Security Policy.
3. In the Local Security Policy window, click on the Account Policies | Password Policy tab:

   Figure 6.9 - The password policies settings

4. We first double-click on Enforce password history.
...

Troubleshooting group policies

You should now be able to understand how to perform basic troubleshooting of Group group policies in Windows 10. We are not going to deep dive into every Group Policy because that is too much to cover in this book.

In general, when we refer to Group Policy, we are referring to Group Policy Objects (GPO) that contain Group Policy settings that are created by you as an IT administrator and are deployed to devices in a domain environment. Local Group Policy refers to policy settings that are locally administered and configured. A Group Policy can fail when applied to a Windows 10 device and there can be many reasons for this, such as incorrect GPO settings or a poor network connection.

Before you start investigating failed group policies, you can do a preliminary check in the following areas:

• Group Policy Client Service: Check whether this service has the status Running or Automatic in the Services.msc utility.
• Network Connection: Verify...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned the basics of the registry. The registry contains registry hives, keys, and values. You also learned about the different value types.

You also learned about configuring local policies, such as configuring the audit policy, to monitor, for example, failed login attempts. You also learned how to configure specific user rights to give users, for example, the right to change the system time. With configuring security options, you learned to allow or deny users access to specific sources, such as a CD-ROM drive.

With the implementation of account policies, you have learned how to configure a Password Policy for secure passwords and to configure an Account Lockout Policy to prevent brute-force attacks on a Windows 10 device.

In the next chapter, we will look at how we can secure data and applications within Windows 10 to make use of the features that Windows 10 offers.

Questions

1. Is the USERDIFF binary file by default present in Windows 10?
2. Can you import or export registry keys?
3. Is REG_DWORD_SZ a valid value type?
4. Can you set the Maximum password age setting to 123 days?
5. Can you use the RSoP Planning Mode on a standalone Windows 10 device?

Further reading

• Windows registry information for advanced users: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/256986/windows-registry-information-for-advanced-users
• Group Policy Search: https://gpsearch.azurewebsites.net/
• Audit Policy: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/audit-policy
• User Rights Assignment: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/user-rights-assignment
• Security Options: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/security-options
• Gpresult: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/gpresult