Update GPO ADMX Templates For Windows 10 1703 Creators Update

Microsoft have released the ADMX templates for the Windows 10 1703 Creators Update. Updating your ADMX templates will allow you to configure GPO objects specific to the Windows 10 1703 Creators Update. In addition if you are using Server 2012 for example and have never installed any previous ADMX Templates For Windows 10, installing this ADMX Template update will give you the ability to configure Windows 10 Group Policy settings.

To do this first download the Administrative Templates (.admx) for the Windows 10 Creators Update

Next install the updated Administrative Templates for Windows 10 1703 Creators Update, i simply installed these to the default location.

Next navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Group Policy\Windows 10 Creators Update\PolicyDefinitions or the location you installed the templates to:

Now open C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\your-domain.local\Policies\PolicyDefinitions

If the PolicyDefinitions folder does not exist, simply create this. If you have never installed ADMX Templates before this folder will likely not exist.

Now copy all the .admx files in the root of C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Group Policy\Windows 10 Creators Update\PolicyDefinitions along with the folder for your language (for myself this was en-US) to C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\your-domain.local\Policies\PolicyDefinitions

The end result should be you have the language folder and the .admx files in C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\your-domain.local\Policies\PolicyDefinitions as shown below:

 

When you edit your group policy you will now see you can configure Windows 10 only features, for example:

Kodi AutoPlay & Repeat Playlist At Startup

Making Kodi autoplay a playlist when loaded, then repeat that playlist until stopped is not as straight forward as you might think, with some trial and error reading the issues various people encountered, this is how i ended up successfully making Kodi play and repeat my video play list when started / loaded up.

Firstly go to  Settings > Appearance > Skin

Ensure you are using the Confluence skin and select “Settings”:

Kodi Auto Repeat Playlist On Startup

Then under the General setting “Enable playlist at startup” and select where the playlist is saved as the path:

Kodi Auto Repeat Playlist On Startup

That’s the obvious part done, however if you do that and leave Kodi to it, you will find when you reach the end of the play list Kodi will not repeat it.

To have Kodi repeat this play list we need to place a little script in the Kodi userdata folder, the location of this will vary depending on the operating system you are using, see the table below for help:

Operative system File path
Android Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata/
iOS /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi/userdata/
Linux ~/.kodi/userdata/
Mac /Users/<your_user_name>/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata/
LibreELEC/OpenELEC /storage/.kodi/userdata/
Windows Start – type %APPDATA%\kodi\userdata – press <Enter>

 

Once you are in the Kodi userdata folder you want to create a file called autoexec.py, you can do this in any text editor. For example Notepad on Windows or Nano on Linux based operating systems.

Simply paste the following in your autoexec.py file and save it:

import xbmc
xbmc.executebuiltin( “PlayerControl(repeat)” )

Kodi Auto Repeat Playlist On Startup

If for some reason you are having trouble here is a zipped copy of my autoexec.py you can simply unzip to your Kodi userdata folder.

The end result should be when Kodi boots your playlist will start playing and the autoexec.py script will ensure the play list repeats in-defiantly.

I have done the above on a Raspberry Pi 3 running Kodi via OpenELEC 6.0.3 with no issue, my videos happily repeat all day long in our showroom.

Final Note:

It’s worth mentioning you can also make Kodi start playing a playlist with the autoexec.py script:

import xbmc
xbmc.executebuiltin( “PlayMedia(/storage/.kodi/userdata/playlists/video/showroom.m3u)” )
xbmc.executebuiltin( “PlayerControl(repeatall)” )

However i found if the TV was not on when Kodi was loaded  it would only play the first item on the playlist, then keep repeating the first item on the playlist only. This for me was not ideal as i needed everything to just work with no user interaction, which is what the solution detailed in this blog post allows for.

I hope this is of help to someone anyway!

Disable Action Center / Notification Icon On Windows 10

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607) introduced a new annoyance for me, moving the Action Center / Notification to the right of the clock in the system tray. Maybe I’ve just used Windows for too long and am so used to the clock been in the same place, however this minor change really started to annoy me after a couple of days, especially as i’ve never had any use for the action center anyway.

disable-windows-10-action-center-notification-icon-6

Thankfully Windows 10 has some options hidden away that allow users to turn system icons on and off.

So How Can I Disable The Action Center / Notification Icon On Windows 10?

The easiest way to disable the Windows 10 Action Center / Notification Icon is to do the following.

Right click on your desktop and select “Personalise”:

Disable Windows 10 Anniversary Update Notification / Action Center Icon Step 1

Click “Task Bar” then scroll down the list of options until you get to “Notification area”, here you will see a link to “Turn system icons on and off”.

Disable Windows 10 Anniversary Update Notification / Action Center Icon Step 2

Once you click the “Turn system icons on and off” link you will be able to turn the “Action Center” off:

Disable Windows 10 Anniversary Update Notification / Action Center Icon Step 3

The end result been the clock will move back to the far right of the screen where it has always been:

disable-windows-10-action-center-notification-icon-7

This is a useful work around for people who are annoyed by the Action Center changes in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607), however I would personally like to see the option to re arrange the order of system icons added. It’s possible to move some icons such as the sound and network icon, so why not the clock and action center?

Now if only the GPO to disable the lock screen still worked on Windows 10 Pro editions…