How to exclude a Group Policy Object (GPO) to users or a security group

A common question in forums about Group Policy Objects is how to exclude (deny) a GPO for certain users or a security group. However, there are multiple other ways to have the GPO only apply to certain users (link only to certain OUs, security filtering, item-level targeting, etc), the method shown in this post should only be used as a last resort. First open Group Policy Management from the Server Manager Tools or Administrative Tools. Select the GPO that need some exclusions and open the Delegation tab. Click on Advanced… Click on Add… Select the Active Directory objects for which…

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Use Software Restriction Policies to block viruses and malware

You got a virusscanner and maybe also some other mitigation tools to protect your or company computers, but still viruses and malware can get thru into the system. Here is a method to create an extra layer of defense for your systems. We’ll be using Software Restriction Policies that can be found in the Local Security Policy for standalone PC’s or in the Group Policy Management for domain joined systems. We will be gonna use this for blocking executables from %APPDATA% and %USERPROFILE% directories, but also from compressed archives that can be mailed with an executable…

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