Every Microsoft Windows operating system (starting with Windows XP) has a grouping of configuration settings that is accessed and structured in a similar way. These configuration settings can be used and tweaked to manage and manipulate the workstation or server to your heart's content. This locally-stored conglomeration of settings that exists individually on each machine is known as Local Group Policy, or sometimes simply Local Policy. These local settings could certainly be used on a machine-by-machine basis to administer your entire workforce, but there is nothing centralized about it. You would be talking about massive man-hours to accomplish all of these changes.

If you're sitting in front of a Windows computer right now, Local Group Policy can be accessed by clicking Start | Run, typing GPEDIT.MSC, and pressing Enter:

Throughout this book, we will spend much more time in an interface quite like this one so as to explain the text and settings shown here—but for the purposes of explaining Local Group Policy, this Local Group Policy Editor console is the place where you could make administrative changes to the workstation. The changes you make here take effect immediately, so don't poke around too much, or at least read over the descriptions of the settings very well!