Preventing users from logging off administrators in Vista?

[Guest]

Hey everyone! I've got what would seem to be a really simply question here,
but after a little searching, I'm not so sure anymore. There is this strange
"feature" in Windows Vista which allows administrators to be logged onto a
computer and have the workstation locked, yet still be logged off by anybody,
even without any other accounts active. All that needs to be done is click
on "switch users" and then anyone can restart the computer, turn it off, put
it in standby and so on, and all this is without even having logged into any
given account. Unfortunately, this means an administrator who left tasks
running in the background, locked the workstation and walked away could
technically have all of his applications closed and the system rebooted by
literally anybody who can touch the mouse. Surely there must be a way of
changing this behavior? Thanks for any help and your thoughts on this!

 

[Michael]

Not sure how your setup differs from mine, however if I (as an
administrator, vista home premium) 'lock' the computer then there is no
'switch user' available nor the buttons for shut down etc. (I locked by -
Start orb, small arrow, select lock). Without the password for the account
that locked the computer I don't seem to be able to get anywhere.

Michael

 

[Dave]

Did you actually do this?

 

[Guest]

Thanks, that just led me on the right track! The fix for this was actually
relatively simple. All that needed to be done was to remove the button from
the login screen. The procedure is as follows:

Windows Key + R (for Run) and type "gpedit.msc" (without quotes). Go to
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Logon > Hide
entry points for Fast User Switching > Enabled > OK

After that, all is well and the switch user button is not available as would
be expected for a single-account computer. Thanks for your reply and
hopefully this can someday help somebody else as well!

 

[Guest]

Did I actually do what? If you mean carry out the procedure for changing the
behavior, then yes, I did do it. Works like a champ!

 

[Gord]

This RUN command did not work for me. I have MS Vista Home Premium (new
Toshiba Satellite Laptop A215-S7437, bought Nov2007). Full search of PC, incl
hidden and system folders, cannot find a file named "gpedit.msc". Is there
somewhere on the MS site that I can download this file from?? MS Help says
"switch users" is a default setting but provides no instruction how to
disable OR hide the setting!