JSI Tip 3465. How do I disable Active Desktop in Windows 2000?

In tip 2049, we hid the Active Desktop item in Windows NT.

To disable Active Desktop in Windows 2000, two policies and/or registry values are available:

The Disable Active Desktop Group Policy, when enabled:

Removes Active Desktop from the context menu that appears when the user right-clicks the desktop.
Removes the Web tab from Display in Control Panel.
Disables Enable Web content on my desktop on the General tab of the Folder Options dialog box.

If the policy is not configured, you can set the NoActiveDesktop value name, a REG_DWORD data type, to 1 at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer.

NOTE: The user must logoff/logon for this change to become effective.

NOTE: To disable Active Desktop with the GUI, right-click the desktop, press Active Desktop and toggle Show Web Content.

The Prohibit changes Group Policy, when enabled:

Removes the Web tab in Display in Control Panel.
Removes Active Desktop from a right-click on the desktop.
If Active Desktop is already enabled, users cannot add, remove, or edit Web content or disable, lock, or synchronize Active Desktop components.

If the policy is not configured, you can set the NoActiveDesktopChanges value name, a REG_DWORD data type, to 1 at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer.