How to avoid the "Other people are logged on to this computer ..." ?

[ofery]

How to avoid the "Other people are logged on to this computer ..." ?

Hello,

I have Windows 7 Pro with 4 users, a user for each member in my family.
When I try to shutdown the system while other users are logged on, I'm getting this message.
How can I force shutdown & avoid this message ?

The reason that I need to force shutdown is that recently, I have bought a Uninterruptible power supply (UPS), to protect my PC hardware.
One of the UPS's features is to shutdown the PC when the battery becomes low.
The problem is that the "Other people are logged on to this computer ..." message pauses the shutdown & the UPS just turned off without shutting down the PC !

Is there any way in Win 7 Pro to avoid this message & to force shutdown even if there are other logged people ?

Regards /Ofer

 

[Slartybart]

What UPS do you have - there might be a configuration option.

 

[ofery]

Its Gamatronic Smart Compact 750va.
I already checked with them, setup will not solve it. Its Windows' "fault".

Is there any way in Windows 7 to disable this message ?

Regards /Ofer

 

[sygnus21]

The reason that I need to force shutdown is that recently, I have bought a Uninterruptible power supply (UPS), to protect my PC hardware.
One of the UPS's features is to shutdown the PC when the battery becomes low.

Sorry but I'm a bit confused here. Unless the UPS is strictly running on batteries there should be no need to shut down. Don't know what kind of UPS you have but the way it should work is the UPS keeps the batteries charged until needed, which should be when you have a power outage.

Once the UPS detects a power outage, it will use it's batteries to keep the PC's up long enough the finish tasks before shutting down. Once the batteries deplete, the system will shut down. Most home UPS's have a battery life of between 5-30 minutes depending on cost. The average is usually 10-15 minutes depending on number of items connected to the UPS.

Unless you have some sort of industrial sized UPS, they're not designed to run off battery power all day. Their purpose it to provide temporary power to finish the tasks before hand and/or to shutdown the system safely as opposed to an abrupt power loss.

And yes, in this case, when the battery becomes low, you may want to force shutdown as an abrupt loss in power could damage your system(s).

Apologize if I'm misunderstanding?

 

[andrew129260]

Unfortunately, no not to my knowledge. Why don't your family members just log off?

 

[Slartybart]

The reason I asked is bc I had an APC block that came with software, but I couldn't recall the name.

I don't think this is what it was called, but the function is the same.
PowerChute Personal Edition ? PC Power Outage Protection | APC

I'm not sure if this software will work with your UPS, but maybe Gamatronic has a similar offering or can tell you if Parachute works with their equipment.

It hibernates your box so no data loss. You might still get the other users logged on message, but it won't matter - the data is saved to disk and should be available the next boot.

 

[ofery]

Hello All,

Let me clarify, please.
In case of LONG power outage, the UPS keeps my PC up & start shutdown just before the battery ends.
My problem is that the shutdown is pausing at the "other users logged on" message forever & when the battery ends, the UPS turned off the power to the PC before it completed the shutdown.

Since the UPS can't force shutdown when other users logged on & I'm not sitting near the PC to click the mouse, I need to find a way in Windows to do forced shutdown even if there are logged users WITHOUT popping up this message.

Is that possible to do that in Windows 7 ?

Regards /Ofer

 

[ofery]

Hi All,

I still need a simple answer: is there a way in Windows 7 to disable the "other people are logged on" message when I want to shutdown the system ?

Regards /Ofer

 

[Layback Bear]

ofery a lot of members have read your thread and not many answers. That usually means they don't have a answer.
I know of no way of doing what you want if you are not at the computer.
Like another has advised. Have the users log off when done.
Another way would be have the last user shut down the computer until it is needed again.

 

[Diddlededum]

If you haven't had any answers from forum members I guess that means noone else has the same UPS as you so can't advise from experience. Your best option in that case is to contact the manufacturer and clearly explain to them your concern.

If you can't get through or that doesn't help, then maybe your only option is for each person to log off before the next person logs on. The alternative, in the event of a power outage that caused the UPS to kick in, would be for whichever user was logged in at the time to immediately log off themselves, then log into each other user's account and log off from that. That assumes (a) they all have each other's passwords, (b) they have time to do that before the UPS battery runs out and (c) the monitor is also connected to the UPS (which will shorten its battery life) and the mouse is directly powered by the PC - otherwise you will have no mouse and no monitor to show you the logoff steps.

How often does your UPS actually kick in (ie how often do you have a power outage long enough for the UPS to run out of battery juice and therefore require the PC to shut down)? If often enough to be a nuisance perhaps you really need a laptop instead of a desktop since it can continue on battery for a good while....or get a DC-AC invertor and a shelf-full of constantly charging car batteries and rig the PC and monitor, any other sensitive electrical equipment and house lighting up to that. That would be effectively give you an industrial-sized UPS for your house that could last hours rather than minutes in the event of an outage.

 

[Slartybart]

There are other options if Parachute, or similar offering from the UPS mfgr, isn't an option.

These are far more technical and I cannot advise on their usage, but perhaps another member might help.
These suggestions require knowledge of scripting, task scheduling/triggering, or probably more importantly - how your UPS issues the shutdown command (an you modify the behavior?)

shutdown /l
purportedly logs off users

PsShutdown
might provide the functionality to logoff users (-o logoff console user)

The task Manager gives you the option to log off users, so there's probably a command line utility that will give you that function.

The trick is making everything fit your requirements and tying whatever command to your UPS issuing shutdown

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Bill

 

[sygnus21]

Hello, I have Windows 7 Pro with 4 users, a user for each member in my family.
When I try to shutdown the system while other users are logged on, I'm getting this message.
How can I force shutdown & avoid this message ?

The reason that I need to force shutdown is that recently, I have bought a Uninterruptible power supply (UPS), to protect my PC hardware.

One of the UPS's features is to shutdown the PC when the battery becomes low.
The problem is that the "Other people are logged on to this computer ..." message pauses the shutdown & the UPS just turned off without shutting down the PC !

Is there any way in Win 7 Pro to avoid this message & to force shutdown even if there are other logged people ?

Regards /Ofer

Let me clarify, please.

In case of LONG power outage, the UPS keeps my PC up & start shutdown just before the battery ends.
My problem is that the shutdown is pausing at the "other users logged on" message forever & when the battery ends, the UPS turned off the power to the PC before it completed the shutdown.

Since the UPS can't force shutdown when other users logged on & I'm not sitting near the PC to click the mouse, I need to find a way in Windows to do forced shutdown even if there are logged users WITHOUT popping up this message.

Is that possible to do that in Windows 7 ?

Regards /Ofer

This is kind of a hard question to answer because it depends on which route you take. Looking at it from the PC side, you probably could write a script or create a policy in Group Policy to disable the message. Or you could probably create a policy or script to force log-off after a set amount of inactivity. I have no suggestions on how as this is beyond my area of expertise.

However I'm thinking your bigger issue is simply shutting down the PC properly when it's on the UPS batteries, and for that I believe that has to be configured through the UPS's software.

However, be aware that in order for the software to function properly, the UPS needs to be connected to the PC via USB cable so that the software and UPS can properly communicate with each other in providing proper power management. This is where Power Chute for example with APC UPS's come into play....



How your UPS functions is dependent on it's design and software used. Thus if your UPS is capable of being connected to the PC via USB cable, I highly suggest doing so as gives you a lot more options on setting it up to do what it does. For me, my PC goes into hibernation mode when being shut down by my UPS. You would need to read your documentation to see how yours functions.

I'm also thinking a bit of education to the other users on proper shutdown/log-off procedures when not using the PC may be in order, especially to avoid damages should a sudden power outage occur.

Sorry if there isn't a simple answer to your question. Or perhaps there is, but there are differing variables presented - such as the log off message, and the function of the UPS.

 

[Slartybart]

Thanks sygnus

Product page (shows 650, but 750 is part of the same product line): Gamatronic - Smart Compact 650 - 1500 VA UPS » Gamatronic

A USB connection is available - but I can't locate any detailed inofrmation (documentation, setup, configuration). A disc does come with the UPS.

 

[sygnus21]

Thanks Slartybart,

I'd than suggest the OP go through the documentation to ensure the UPS is properly configured to shut down the PC.

As to the message preventing shutdown, I'm not sure where to go there.

 

[margrave]

It seems that the UPS is causing problems rather than solving them.
So ... maybe just ditch the UPS!