Applying group policy

I want to set up an individual local computer with Windows 2000 Professional and several user accounts and apply a group policy such as those found under user configuration in the Local Policy snap-in without affecting the administrator account. What I am having trouble understanding is how to create or modify and utilize the administrative templates to implement this. Is Server and Active Directory necessary to do this or can someone give me an idea on how to do this in a 2000 Pro environment?