Remove "turn off computer" but allow suspend?

[Dave]

Our home computer is shared by adults and children. I
want to disable children's ability to "Turn off" the
computer in case there is work in progress on another
account that was still logged in (i.e. home finances).

1> I have removed wires from the "reset" button on case.
2> I have BIOS set so power button only does "standby"
3> I temporarily set children accounts to "admin" group
and configured all their power management settings:
- Turn off monitor: 10min
- Turn off hard disks: 5min
- System standby: 20min
- System hibernate: 1hr
<advanced> - When I press power button = "standby"
4> I then set childrens accounts back to "Users" group
5> Then I used gpedit.msc and in local policies removed
the "Users" group rights to "Shut down the system".

However, step <5> appears to have disabled all the power
management features that I had set in <3>. The disks do
not spin down, and automatic suspend/hibernate also does
not function.

Is there a way to still have standby/hibernate, turn off
monitor, and disk spin down disks (energy conservation
and noise reduction) but remove ability for restricted
users accounts to "turn off" or "reset"?

Thanks in advance!

- Dave

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

www.dougknox.com, Win XP Utilities, Windows XP Security Console.

 

[Dave]

First - Thanks to Doug Knox for earlier response on XP
Security Console (nice tool). However, this did not fix
my problem.

After further testing I have found whenever accounts are
only in "Users" group the system skips power management
(does not standby, turn off screen, or power down disk).
If I add the accounts into "Admin" or "Power Users" then
the power management will work.

Here is simple test case:
1> Create new account "foo" and add into both "Users"
and "Admin" groups.
2> Login to foo and set power management settings:
example: standby= 1min
(click OK and wait to confirm standby is working).
3> Now logout of foo.
4> Remove foo from Admin group (leave only in "Users").
5> Login again to foo and wait for several minutes and
the power management features will not work.

Has anyone else seen this (or can you reproduce)?
Anyone know how to fix (or ideas of where to look, or
what to search on)?

Thanks in advance,

- Dave