Windows 7: Limit which applications user can see

Hello,

How can I limit which applications user on win 7 could see?
I have attached the screenshot as I would like user to see when he/she presses the start. The screenshot I have attached is from win xp. Honestly I don't know how is this being done even on win xp.

Does anyone have clue on this?
Imagetoo - Free Image Hosting

Welcome to Seven Forums duleserbia. Would it suffice to limit what applications a user can run?

Applications - Prevent Running Specified Programs

AppLocker - Create New Rules

Your specs say you have Windows 7 Enterprise which would allow these things. A Guy

So basically if I implement this limitations user will not see the applications on Start menu I have banned him from?
Also how will prevent him from seeing the Control Panel, COmputer, Network and other buttons that are also on start menu?

So the end result I would like is just like on screenshot I have supplied. User can see 3-4 apps he is working in and that's it. No Control Panel, no Computer, no search field or anything other than those 3-4 applications.

I have not used group policy myself as I am the only user. I will ask for others to reply to see what users can see if restrictions are in place. A Guy

If all you want is to remove them from the start menu for other users, I think all you have to do is remove the entry from the all users start menu tree and add it to your own username start menu. At least you could do that in XP.

All users is now public in Windows 7, so I think all you have to do is move the shortcut from C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs to C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

Edit: After re-reading your third post and realizing how much you want to prune from the start menu, I don't think you would be able to achieve that. Nor would it stop anyone from running those apps if the were able to find them. I think you would have to go with policies and maybe on top of that change the security settings of each executable. I think if you go with policies alone it won't actually stop the user from running them if the user can find the executables themselves in some round-about way.

Thanks for info!
I will test this to see for the results

If that did work, wouldn't it just remove the start menu links, and not the ability to actually access the destinations through other means? A Guy

True.

One would not be eliminating the ability to access them.

One thing you would want to do is:
WIN | type GPEDIT.MSC | ENTER
navigate as shown in following pic and investigate the options.

Once I read the third post I added that edit to my original post. Didn't realize the full extent of what the OP wanted. I think you'd have to lock down most everything with policies, and even then may have to adjust security of individual executables. I don't think policy alone can do it if the user finds the executable in some roundabout way.