She closed the editor. The changes weren’t instant—Group Policy updates in the background or at next login. To force an update, she opened Command Prompt as admin and typed: gpupdate /force
Then she went to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions . She enabled This would block USB drives and unauthorized printers.
The Night Maria Saved the Printers
But she needed to stop software installs, too. She went to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System . She enabled and “Don’t run specified Windows applications” (adding setup.exe , installer.exe ).
She opened her laptop. She remembered: Group Policy Editor is only available on Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education . Her laptop had Windows Pro. Good. (Home users would need a registry hack or third-party tool.) how to open group policy editor
Subject: How to Open Group Policy Editor (A Useful Story)
She pressed Enter. A User Account Control prompt appeared. She clicked “Yes.” She closed the editor
She pressed the to open the Run dialog box. Her fingers typed: gpedit.msc