Unlock workstation without logging off current session?

[Guest]

We have set up all PC's to automatically lock the workstation after x minutes
of inactivity via the winexit screensaver.
All accounts are password protected, and as the administrator I sometimes
need to perform maintenance on a machine when a user is on lunch for example.

The problem we have is that if the machine locks, the only way I can gain
access to the machine is to either:

A) Change the users password (inconvenient to both me and the user(s))
B) Log on as administrator which logs the current user off (losing any
unsaved work in the process).

Is there any way I can unlock the *current session* without logging the user
off other than resetting the password?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Hey there LDJ,

Unfortunately, that's something that we all deal with on a day to day basis.
What I would recommend is that before you go to the users PC, call them and
tell them to log off if they have to leave, because you will have to kick
them from the box otherwise, and they may lose data as a result.

Best Regards,

~Will

 

[JOHN MATHEW]

Hi LDJ,

If you know each user password then it is easy for you to log into the
systems.

If you just want to lock the user desktop press start + L buttons from
the keyboard so as that user need not want to go for logoff.

John Mathew

 

[Guest]

Just a quick reminder though, if you are in a domain environment, especially
for a publicly held company, be sure to adhere to your corporate IT Policy
Manual. Also, there's ramifications to consider along the Sarbanes-Oxley
lines too. I really wouldn't recommend obtaining the users password.
They're there for a reason after all.

Best Regards,

~Will

 

[Guest]

Thnx 4 all the replies.
We dont have the passwords. We can change them in Active Directory (as we
currently do) but then the user has to ring us up and get them changed back
etc. which is inconvenient.

 

[Nobody]

This is a problem many of us have.

I have found a third party app that you may be interested in. Unlock
Administrator ( http://www.e-motional.com/ULAdmin.htm )
lets you set which users can unlock a workstation - they unlock using their
windows username/password so anybody with an account can
be allowed to unlock. You can allow users to either unlock without logging
off or force them to log off. It seems to work but you need
to have it installed on every PC.

If you do try it let me know what you think of it.

Good luck!!!

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I ll agree with that, all too often on nondomain sites I have to yank
the plug on a running computer because some idiot's thought it would be
clever to lock it with an secret password.. Maybe we should make that a
wishlist-item for Vista.

The other related nuisance is the {Win}-L key which some users catch while
typing. They usually report a fault when this happens because they don't know
what caused it to suddenly log-out. Unfortunately this can't be turned off
except by disabling the Windows key in-toto.