Automatically Log Off a workstation

[ferg]

G'Day List,

Greetings and best wishes.

Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, real life experiences in setting up a
policy to automatically closing/saving all applications and logging off a XP
Pro workstation if it is idle for say 3 to 3.5 hours?

Most of my domain (W2K3 Domain servers) users just leave their XP Pro
workstations on or "locked" with applications running and files open
overnight.

Thanks.

Ferg

 

[Jerold Schulman]

G'Day List,

Greetings and best wishes.

Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, real life experiences in setting up a
policy to automatically closing/saving all applications and logging off a XP
Pro workstation if it is idle for say 3 to 3.5 hours?

Most of my domain (W2K3 Domain servers) users just leave their XP Pro
workstations on or "locked" with applications running and files open
overnight.

Thanks.

Ferg

See tip 9541 » How do I log a user off the console (desktop) after a period of inactivity?
in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsifaq.com



Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com

 

[ferg]

Jerold,

Thanks very much.
Can I ask you afew more questions?

Thanks

 

[Jerold Schulman]

Yes.

Jerold,

Thanks very much.
Can I ask you afew more questions?

Thanks

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com

 

[baronferg]

Thanks.
I cannot remember what my thoughts were then but I am thinking now: In your
article 9541, you said,"1. Create a %SystemRoot%\InActiveOff.cmd. file that
only contains %SystemRoot%\System32\logoff.exe."

Is this done on each XP Pro workstation and can I use notepad or wordpad to
create this file?

Thanks

 

[Jerold Schulman]

Yes.
Yes.

Thanks.
I cannot remember what my thoughts were then but I am thinking now: In your
article 9541, you said,"1. Create a %SystemRoot%\InActiveOff.cmd. file that
only contains %SystemRoot%\System32\logoff.exe."

Is this done on each XP Pro workstation and can I use notepad or wordpad to
create this file?

Thanks

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com

 

[baronferg]

Thanks much. 'preciate it

Yes.
Yes.



Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com

 

[ferg]

Hello Jerry.

Your instructions are quite good and helpful. Thanks. More questions
though.

I created the InActiveOff.cmd file and, using logon script, copied it
onto each workstations system32 folder.
I did the GroupPolicy part on the server and then ran gpupdate on the
workstation. Logged off and back on.
But the "Screen Saver" tab is still showing up on the workstation's
desktop and the InActiveOff script does not kick in after the XXXXX
number of seconds.

Also, how does this InActiveOff.cmd handle applications that are left
running on the workstation, like Word, Outlook, Excel?

Thanks

 

[Jerold Schulman]

If the Screen saver tab is still available, you did something wrong.
Use RSOP in GPMC to see the resultant set of policies.

Running apps will react exactly as they do when they are running when a user intentionally logs off.

Hello Jerry.

Your instructions are quite good and helpful. Thanks. More questions
though.

I created the InActiveOff.cmd file and, using logon script, copied it
onto each workstations system32 folder.
I did the GroupPolicy part on the server and then ran gpupdate on the
workstation. Logged off and back on.
But the "Screen Saver" tab is still showing up on the workstation's
desktop and the InActiveOff script does not kick in after the XXXXX
number of seconds.

Also, how does this InActiveOff.cmd handle applications that are left
running on the workstation, like Word, Outlook, Excel?

Thanks

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com