Log off user with "Fast User Switching" enabled

[kenboy]

We are in a domain environment.
We want to disable "Fast User Switching" on our Windows 7 client machines.
We know how to do that, but how do you log off a user who has locked the machine AND the machine has "Fast User Switching" enabled.
We are administrators on the local machine but don’t know how to log off the user.
In XP you could just put in your admin credentials and log the user off.
We only want 1 user at a time to log on the the client machines but also need to be able to log them off if we need to service the machine.

 

[zigzag3143]

We are in a domain environment.
We want to disable "Fast User Switching" on our Windows 7 client machines.
We know how to do that, but how do you log off a user who has locked the machine AND the machine has "Fast User Switching" enabled.
We are administrators on the local machine but don’t know how to log off the user.
In XP you could just put in your admin credentials and log the user off.
We only want 1 user at a time to log on the the client machines but also need to be able to log them off if we need to service the machine.

Surely you can log them off from the server.

You could create a hidden admin account and use those credentials

 

[kenboy]

We already have a local admin account and how would our desktop support people who are also admin's on the machine log off the user so they can service the machine? There is no prompt or space to input another account, it just prompt's for the user who is currently logged on to type in his passsword to unlock it.

 

[Bill2]

Try doing it through the task manager. See this tutorial.

How do you Log off another user? - Microsoft Windows Vista Community Forums - Vistaheads

Edit: If you have fast user switching enabled, you should be able to logon as a different user.

 

[kenboy]

Bill,

I can't get to task manager if the user has locked the machine.
We don't have fast user switching enabled. We don't want multiple users logging in at the same time.

 

[Bill2]

lol Kenboy, in your first post you said its enabled. The only solution i can think of is to enable fast user switching temporarily through gpedit (or whichever way domain guys do it), then reboot the machine and hope you'll be able to input an alternative login and password. Feel free to correct me if this is not possible, am no expert on domains.

 

[kenboy]

sorry, I meant we want "Fast User Switching" disabled. but be able to have our desktop techs log the user off.

 

[hokieman91]

Hi Kenboy - I am in the EXACT same boat - I DO NOT want multiple students logged in to the domain machine and can't find a way to completely turn off multiple logins for Windows 7 - This is a HUGE problem and hiding the "switch user" option is worse since NO ONE can log back in except THAT user - wanting to upgrade many machines this summer but looking at other options if this can't be resolved~
Did you get any more feedback on this? frustrating....

 

[manhunter2826]

Can Fast User Switching not be disabled on the Server side via group policies? Surely yes

 

[zzz2496]

Is "Fast user switching" enabled in Domain controlled client? AFAIK in XP and Vista, "FUS" is disabled by default when you login to domain. As for logging off the current user, I think you can do that in the Domain controller (I've been away from MS server products for far too long, I forgot where the "switch" is).

zzz2496

 

[acurasd]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rescuer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersi
on\Policies\System

is the key you are looking for. I misprinted it in my earlier reply.

Add the 32bit key DisableFastUserSwitching IF IT IS NOT ALREADY THERE

Change its value data to 1

This will cause the "Switch User" menu choice on your log off restart ect. options to disapear.

This has worked on every Vista computer I have tried it on, Including your home Premium.

Good luck!

Sorry folks... my brains just not working..

THE 32 BIT KEY YOU NEED TO CREATE is "HideFastUserSwitching" NOT the disablefastuserswitching as I noted before.

Not sure if this will help... but it got it from this page....


Disable Fast User Switching - Vista Administration

 

[Ch@n]

Have I understood the issue??? Lets see..

User A uses a desktop, once done his job, locks the computer and leaves home.
user B tries to login, he gets a message, already A has locked the machine and only a user with Admin rights or an Administrator can unlock or use the machine.

Input the admin credentials and login. This will force the user A to logoff. Also keep in mind, if the user has any open files, it wil be forced to kill.

I use the same in my office which is under Domain.

 

[manhunter2826]

Agreed. I always thought that FUS was never even available as feature with machines connected to a domain...

 

[WindowsStar]

Simple we do it all the time, check out option -o:

PsShutdown

 

[kenboy]

Hokieman91,
I have not found a solution yet. You can disable FUS either in Ad group policy or in our case a local policy but then if a user has locked the machine and you need to log them off to service it, the "Switch User" button is not present. The only option is to have the user who is logged on, log off, but sometimes that user is not around or out they are out sick. The only option we have is to power down the machine.

 

[zzz2496]

kenboy, "Fast user switching" is disabled when the computer logged into Active Directory domain. The Domain administrators are the "Boss" by then. If a user left his/her computer locked, the Domain admin can login and turn the computer off...

zzz2496

 

[WindowsStar]

Hokieman91,
I have not found a solution yet. You can disable FUS either in Ad group policy or in our case a local policy but then if a user has locked the machine and you need to log them off to service it, the "Switch User" button is not present. The only option is to have the user who is logged on, log off, but sometimes that user is not around or out they are out sick. The only option we have is to power down the machine.

Did the PSShutdown not work???

psshutdown \\computername -o

We use this all the time it works perfectly.

 

[WindowsStar]

BTW I know you say FUS is off, but if it is on you will need to use this command instead:

psshutdown \\computername -f -r -t 0

 

[kenboy]

Log off user with "Fast User Switching" disabled

Manhunter,acurasd,

FUS is turned off , that is the problem. there is no way to logoff the current user if he has locked it. I will probably have to use Windows Star's suggestion but then the desktop tech would have to go to another machine to run the command to logoff the user.

zzz2496,

We want the desktop techs to be able to log the user off, the desktop techs are administrator on the Pc's but are not domain admins. We want a local fix not a remote one. When using XP you had the option to input a different users credentials, but not with windows 7 and FUS disabled.

dre@ms,

That was the procedure with XP but not Windows 7 with FUS disable. You never get the option to input another users credentials.

Windows Star,

Looks like we will have to use your "REMOTE" fix of the "shutdown -o" command to be able to logoff a user when you are sitting right at the machine you need to logon to. It's a shame you had more control with XP than Windows 7. With XP you had the option of inputing another users credentials to log off the current user, even if it would lose any data they had opened, you could still gracefully log them off and service the machine.

 

[hokieman91]

Hi Everyone - thanks for the suggestions - with regard to the post about FUS being turned off when joined to a domain (that was true of XP but not of Vista and 7 Professional - and while this is an improvment and advantage for some, it simply works against me in a school setting).
PSSHUTDOWN is a utility I use to actually power down all my domain machines left on at the end of the day - the pain of that would be either I would have to hand off that ability to lab admins or man my workstation whenever someone needs a box powered down (again, not ideal).
Many of my classes deal in high end graphics programs (Adobe packages - and we are considering the CS5 package) so I really wanted to have the classes start each period with a max performing box and if 2 or even 1 student is logged in, that presents a problem.
Like kenboy pointed out, "hiding" the option doesn't work since that user would be the only one to be able to unlock the box - still just baffled that the powers at Microsoft missed this??
I have considered the mstsc option of allowing the lab admins to log into a remote desktop session to at least give the PC the log in prompt again but that still keeps the "locked" session live and it also opens ANOTHER port and service I would rather keep closed.
Glad I am not alone in this and hope this thread points out a solution - I am about 1 month away from deciding on whether to deploy 7 with deployment workbench (AWESOME program) or go with the tried and true rollout of XP of my old RIS box -
In my perfect world, I am trying to just make 7 as "maintenance free" as XP was for all those years~