There are some things that I search in real search engines that have real answers out there, but the top 10 results from Google and Bing are all marketing silliness.
Try googling “cis level 1 windows c drive prevent directory creation” and see what you get… I’ll wait.
Spoiler alert: it’s nothing useful – mostly just links about CIS Level 1 marketing from various sources as well as potentially some interspersed links about how to set this particular thing up manually. There is nothing about what the CIS Level 1 hardening standards actually say on this topic. I’m sure that info is out there, but I’ve already given up at this point.
Meanwhile over in ChatGPT, I plug in a prompt of a similar nature, and can get not only what CIS Level 1 says about this, but also what specific group policies it recommends setting, even down to the individual registry keys behind those policies.
One of the amazing things about this tool is its ability to cut through the layers of cruft, to get you to the actual answers you’re after very quickly. It’s powerful, and saves a lot of crafting the right search queries with whatever Google Fu you possess.