Enable Active Desktop

Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only

Registry

HKCU Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Value name: ForceActiveDesktopOn

Description

Enables Active Desktop and prevents users from disabling it. This setting prevents users from trying to enable or disable Active Desktop while a policy controls it. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, Active Desktop is disabled by default, but users can enable it. Note: If both the "Enable Active Desktop" setting and the "Disable Active Desktop" setting are enabled, the "Disable Active Desktop" setting is ignored. If the "Turn on Classic Shell" setting ( in User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer) is enabled, Active Desktop is disabled, and both of these policies are ignored.