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Is there a way (GPO preferred) to disable the "Take a tour of Windows XP" balloon/popup when a new user logs in for the first time?

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HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour\RunCount

The registry key's value is REG_DWORD type, setting it to "0" will disable the pop-up.

You can set this value in GPO using a logon script or, preferably, Client-Side Preferences. A logon script would look something like:

REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour" /v "RunCount" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311489

Edit: Here's an ADM that should perform the same function, if you're into that kinda thing.

CLASS USER
 CATEGORY "Software Settings"
  CATEGORY "Microsoft"
   CATEGORY "Windows"

    POLICY "Windows XP Tour Pop-up"
     KEYNAME "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour"
     EXPLAIN "Display the Windows XP tour icon in the system tray."
     VALUENAME "RunCount"
     VALUEON  NUMERIC 1
     VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0
    END POLICY

   END CATEGORY
  END CATEGORY
 END CATEGORY

Per @natxo's comment below, the above will disable the pop-up on a per-user basis. You can use this to target specific user groups/OUs if you want. Should you wish to disable the pop-up on a per-computer (all users) basis, change "HKCU" to "HKLM" in the script or change "USER" to "MACHINE" in the ADM. This is detailed in the Microsoft Support link above.

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    As a side note, the popup will run 3 times if a user dismisses the prompt. Once it runs 3 times, it won't run again.
    – joeqwerty
    Sep 14, 2010 at 14:22
  • and if you change hkcu for hklm then no one will be annoyed (system wide solution from the same kb article you indicated) Sep 14, 2010 at 14:36
  • @natxo: I'm in a K-12 environment. We were asked to disable the pop-up for student users only, not staff for whatever reason. I will update my answer to clarify the link's content.
    – jscott
    Sep 14, 2010 at 14:40
  • Depending on the version in the GPO under User Configuration, Preferences, WIndows Settings, Registry you can put in registry values to set or replace existing values.
    – Shial
    Sep 14, 2010 at 16:28

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