Customizing the Desktop

The Explorer program (Explorer.exe file) is the source of the Windows user interface. You can use the Custom user interface Group Policy setting to specify an alternate interface. If you enable this setting, the system starts the interface you specify instead of the Explorer.exe file.

To use this setting, copy your interface program to a network share or to your system drive. Then, enable this setting in Local Computer Policy\User Configuration\System, and type the name of the interface program, including the file name extension, in the Shell name text box. If the interface program file is not located in a folder specified in the Path environment variable for your system, enter the fully qualified path to the file.

If you disable this policy or do not configure it, the policy is ignored and the system displays the Explorer interface.