<p>A couple of months ago we have posted an article with instructions on <a href="https://www.wincert.net/windows-server/how-to-disable-netbios-for-dhcp-clients/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to disable NetBIOS for DHCP clients</a>. In this article, we will describe how to disable NetBIOS via GPO for servers and workstations.</p>
<p>So, in case you&#8217;re still using fixed IP addresses and you need to disable NetBIOS for clients in a domain environment this guide will help.</p>
<p>Since there is no GPO setting that will allow you to disable NetBIOS for clients older than Win10 and Windows Server 2016 we will use a Startup Scrip with a registry setting parameters.</p>
<p>Open <strong>Group Policy Management</strong> editor and under <strong>Group Policy objects</strong> create a <strong>new GPO</strong>.</p>
<p>From the left pane navigate to<strong> Computer Configuration | Policies | Windows Settings | Scripts (Startup/Shutdown)</strong></p>
<p>In the right pane <strong>double click on the Startup</strong> link.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4008" src="https://www.wincert.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/how-to-disable-netbios-via-gpo-1.png" alt="" width="592" height="432" /></p>
<p>In <strong>Startup Properties | Scripts</strong> window prompt click <strong>Add</strong>. In the <strong>Add script</strong> prompt click <strong>Browse</strong>.</p>
<p>Create a new file with the <strong>.bat</strong> extension. For instance <strong>disable_netbios.bat</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Right-click</strong> on the <strong>disable_netbios.bat</strong> file and select <strong>Edit</strong>.</p>
<p>Copy-paste the following command and save the file.</p>
<p><strong>wmic nicconfig where (TcpipNetbiosOptions!=Null and TcpipNetbiosOptions!=2) call SetTcpipNetbios 2</strong></p>
<p>Click <strong>OK</strong> a couple of times to close the GPO editor.</p>
<p>Since this is a <strong>Computer Configuration policy</strong> you may want to disable <strong>User Configuration</strong> in order to speed up GPO processing for your environment.</p>
<p>To do this, from the left pane of the Group Policy Management editor click on the policy that you&#8217;ve just created. In the right pane select the <strong>Details tab</strong> and from the GPO Status drop-down list select <strong>User configuration settings disabled</strong>.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4009" src="https://www.wincert.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/how-to-disable-netbios-via-gpo-3.png" alt="" width="418" height="334" /></p>
<p>Also, as this is a computer configuration policy a computer restart will be required to apply this policy.</p>
<p>It is advisable to link this policy on a <strong>test Active Directory container</strong> to check if everything is working as it should before you decide to apply it for all domain computer objects.</p>
<p>Comments are welcome!</p>