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Windows

This project will basically turn you into a system administrator. I used Windows Server 2022, which you should understand is not a full-feature Windows. There is no Microsoft Store. There are no AI features. Think of it this way: as an end user who has no computer science background, it's Windows Lite. But for someone looking to experiment with the OS, it should be everything you need.

User Setup

The most important part of my workflow on Windows was having two users:

  • Administrator: Where I wrote code, set up Task Scheduler, messed with registries, etc.
  • KioskUser: The end user

Kiosk Mode

"Kiosk" refers to an umbrella term for single-app sessions in Windows. The burger menu screen at your local Wendy's? That's a kiosk.

Normally, when a user logs into their desktop on Windows, it runs an executable called explorer.exe, which gives them the desktop GUI. If you replace that with your own executable, like burger.exe, congratulations, you just made a kiosk. The only thing the user has access to (not entirely true, see AppLocker below) is your app. If they Alt + F4 and kill that process, they will only get a black screen.

The main way that you configure a kiosk (other than creating a brand new user, which is straightforward) is via regedit, or Registry Edit. These are low-level instructions that the OS reads when booting up and when loading specific user profiles.

⚠️ Warning: Do not go poking around here without a purpose because you could brick your whole virtual machine.

Task Scheduler

You'll also get familiar with Task Scheduler, which is a pretty awesome automation application that allows you to basically run any command on a certain trigger. There are pre-written triggers (e.g. at log on), but you can create custom triggers too (I never needed to).

AppLocker

The last thing I'll mention now is AppLocker. AppLocker basically denies access to certain paths on a desktop, even ones that a user has access to by default. For example, you probably don't want your KioskUser accessing Task Manager, and you can lock that.

It is NOT a keyboard logger, so users can still press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and get to the session menu that contains Task Manager.