How to disable ”Automatically search for network folders and printers” (Windows XP)

There are two ways to disable the "Automatically search for network folders and printers" in Windows XP Proffesional. To change the registry key to disable automatic search for network printers and folders , follow these steps.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

You can apply this key via Group Policy or Logon Script.

or you can create a [gs batch] file which will do this for you automatically...

Create a simple batch file (i.e. NoNetCrawl.bat) containing the command:

Regedit /S \\YourDomainName\Netlogon\NoNetCrawl.reg

In the Netlogon share for your domain create the file "NoNetCrawl.reg" using NotePad.exe:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"NoNetCrawling"=-

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000001

Then assign NoNetCrawl.bat as a logon script through Group Policy.

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