Using ThinKiosk as the Windows shell

Replacing the computers default shell (explorer.exe) is the simplest and most secure method to deploy thinkiosk.

In order to replace the computers shell with thin kiosk you have three options:

1. Group Policy
2. Local Policy
3. Registry settings

Below you will find help on the three options.



Group Policy:



Create and and Configure a Group Policy on the user or compute to replace the shell to thinkiosk.

This policy can be in “Computer Configuration > administrative templates > System” Or “User configuration > administrative templates > system”

Enable this setting, then enter the path to thinkiosk as below:





Now wait roughly 15 minutes, reboot the pc and the Thinkiosk application should replace the explorer.exe shell.



Local Policy:



Using the guide above, you can configure the local machine policy of the computer by going to:

Start > run > GPEDIT.msc.

Bear in mind by doing it via local policy, you must either be logged in as the user, or configure this policy at a machine level.



Batch file:



To replace the shell on a local machine,  save the below text as a batch file. Remember to run the batch file as an administrator.

reg add "HKEY_local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v shell /t reg_sz /d "c:\program files\thinkiosk\thinkiosk.exe" /f

To Replace the shell in a user session, log in as the user, save the below text as a batch file and run it as an administrator.

reg add "HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v shell /t reg_sz /d "c:\program files\thinkiosk\thinkiosk.exe" /f