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How do I make a 95 machine a nonbrowser?

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20 replies

by eriki

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For security reasons I would like to make about 100 of our Windows 95 clients non-browsers of our network. Is this possible and if so how? Or is there a better way. I basically don't want the users to be able to browse any of the network resources through network neighborhood.

20 replies

by rsoft

Use Policy Editor. There you can switch of access to several parts of the computer (including Network Neighbourhood).
I don't have it at hand, but it's on NT-CD's (policy95) and probably on the microsoft site.

Also you could try adding a $ to the share-name. This makes it invisible to all users (including sysadmins)

by rsoft

If you use policy95.exe, Policy Editing IS possible on 95/98. The policy editor of NT is policy.exe

Hope this helps some more.

by eriki

I searched a Windows 95 Computer, 95 CDROM and an NT CDROM and could not find policy or policy95.exe, where is this located?

by its a secret

policy editor also comes with win95, if you browse the win 95 cd, look for a filefolder called poledit.

good luck

by eriki

Found it, thank you. But it did not solve my problem. I can't find any refrence about making a computer a non-browser or disabling browsing services.

by saihib

If you don't want these machines to have access to any resources, why are they on the network in the first place? If you go into Contro Panel/Network and remove File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks that will kill the Browser Service. But doyou want other machines to have access to these clients?

by eriki

I want then to have access to some network resources I just don't want them to be able to browse those resources through the Network Neighborhood.

by lejer

This is probably not the answser you are looking for either, but here it goes.

What can and cannot be seen through Network Neighborhood is determined at the Network/Server Security Level, not at the local workstaion level. That type of permission depends on the Server OS you are using. You are running a client/server network? If it is W95-98 or peer to peer, you can't get there from here.

Hidden shares might work. But, with that many computers, how long do you think they would stay hidden?

LeJer

by eriki

Thanks for your input. I need these machines to access the resources in the network I just don't want the users to be able to browse the network. This setup is in a school and the users are young students who I have caught browsing the network just looking to create problems, I guess if they don't know what is there it's less likely they will cause any problems. I know this can be done because the previous Network Technician before me had them setup so that the users could access the required resources if the full UNC path was used but when a user would click network neighborhood it would say unable to browse network.

by ceo_race

Go into the registry with regedit, Open the Hkey Local Machine\system\currentcontrolset\services\browser\parameters\maintainserverlist and change the value to no.

That should solve your problem.

Randy Miller

by eriki

That option is not available on 95, at least the machine I looked at. I think it's a NT reg entry. I know on 95 you can change the File and Print sharing properties to disable the Browse Master Function as well as create a system.ini entry the says MaintainServerList=No but that doesn't prevent the machine from browsing it just prevents it from storing the browse list on the individual machine itself.

by eriki

Thanks for the comment but that will not prevent users from access to entire network in which they can browse all the workgroups and domains.

by vagab0nd

As I understood you only wan't to make it invisible. If yes just use TweakUI utility. Desktop Tab allows you to make Network Neighborhood icon disappear from desktop. If those students are not dumb enough you can also remove TweakUI icon from Control Panel using Control Panel tab of TweakUI itself.
This should help in most cases.

by eriki

Graet suggestion but when you diable the network neighborhood it also disables the UNC in Windows which will not allow any network access.

by eriki

Your the luck man although disabling network neighborhood did not solve my problem for the same reason as above it disables the ability to use UNC paths to access network resources there were two other options below it that allows you to disablethe entire network icon as well as workgroup contents and that will do the job. I can still access all the network resources but when you open up Network Neighborhood it just an empty white window. I know this suggestion was made earlier but for some reason I could not find these options under Local User/Shell/Restrictions. Thanks Again!

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