Shared computers get locked because

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Is there any way to force a computer to log off a user after a certain period of inactivity? We have several computers around the office that have to be shared. Often we have the problem that the computer is locked due to inactivity and the only person who can log in is the person who was logged in, or an administrator has to log in so the current user can be logged off.

Does anyone know of a solution to the problem of users who constantly forget to log off when they leave a computer? I’m getting tired of having to spend time unlocking computers on a regular basis. The users I’m speaking of are people who work outside the main building, so they come in, do what they have to do and then leave. They are usually not around so I can slap them on the hand for not logging off.

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Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

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Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Check out this free tool – PsShutdown. There are lots of other very good administrative tools at that site.

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

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Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Unfortunately you have a logical problem, then. If your screen-savers are set to lock a workstation after 15 minutes of inactivity, then only the logged-on user or an administrator can log that user off (this is inherent to workstation security) – unless (as Joe says) you use a command-prompt tool like PsShutdown to intervene. Is there any way of determining whether the user has really left the workstation, or simply gone down the corridor for a coffee, and is just a few milliseconds late returning?

The only solutions I can see are:

[*]not to lock the workstation, or
[*]to cause the user to be logged off after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Neither of these is ideal, and the implementation of ‘inactivity’ sometimes causes problems.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the reply, Joe. PsShutdown looks like a useful tool, but it has to be run from a command prompt. What I’m hoping for is a way that a user (who isn’t an administrator) can log off the previous user from a computer if the previous user didn’t remember to log himself off. We have the policies set up that after 15 minutes of inactivity the screen is locked and only that user or an administrator can log on to unlock the screen.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the IT staff having to get involved on a daily basis.

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Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

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Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Since you ask, yes there is!

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Reply | Quote

Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Reply | Quote

Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Reply | Quote

Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Reply | Quote

Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Reply | Quote

Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

Reply | Quote

Thanks, BATcher. We need to keep the setting on the 15 minutes of activity. We want users to have to log on when they sit at a terminal and we want to know who’s logging on and who’s doing what. Your second suggestion is to log the user off after 15 min of inactivity. Is there a way to set up the policy to log users off rather than have the screen saver lock the screen after a period of inactivity?

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What do you do if the user is midway through a document/spreadsheet? Do you junk the lot or force a save?

cheers, Paul

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What do you do if the user is midway through a document/spreadsheet? Do you junk the lot or force a save?

“The Force application termination option forces programs to quit even if the programs contain unsaved data. If you do not use this option, programs that contain unsaved data do not quit and the user is not logged off.”

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Great, BATcher! That sounds like it’s exactly what we need. The users in question won’t be editing spreadsheets or documents. The program that they use automatically logs them out after 30 minutes of inactivity. This tool will free up the terminal for the next user who comes along. Perfect! THANK YOU!!!

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