PC lockouts

[buzzlight]

I have a request to install several cafe style pc’s through out the business, my issue is people are not logging of when leaving the pc. I'd like to be able to force the pc to lockout out after a timed interval so the next user on the pc would have to put their own username and password in? Any help on this I would be grateful.

 

[jonb2]

This is quite long winded but it might be what you're looking for without having to download any programmes from the Internet.

Firstly copy and paste WINEXIT.scr from the WINDOWS Resource Kit into your WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder.
Open the Group Policy Editor (Start/Run/gpedit.msc) on the machine and navigate to:

User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Control Panel/Display.

The two policies you’re interested in are: Screen Saver executable name & Hide Screen Saver Tab.

Open the Screen Saver executable name Policy and under the heading “Screen Saver executable name” type WINEXIT.scr ensure that the Policy is set to Enabled - click apply then close GPO.
Open Control Panel/Display and click on the screen saver tab.
“Logoff Screen Saver” should be selected as your new screen saver and also greyed out. Click the Setting button. This will then ask you what message you want to display to tell the user what is happening and that they will be logged off and also you can choose how long the message will stay there for before logging off (Default 30 Seconds). Click Apply.
Set the Wait limit for the screen saver to whatever you want to wait before WINEXIT.scr is kicked off (say 3 minutes of the PC being idle). Click apply / OK
Re-open Group Policy Editor and navigate back to -- User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Control Panel/Display and open Hide Screen Saver Tab. Set this to Enabled and click apply. Close the GPO. Hide Screen Saver Tab ensures that none of your users can change this screen saver.
Now re-open Control Panel/Display and the screen saver tab is no longer visible and the screen saver can’t be changed.
Test this by waiting for 3 minutes– the screen saver will appear and tell you that you will be logged off in XX seconds. If someone is actually using the PC at the time they have the chance once this logoff message appears to cancel the auto log off and stay logged on.

Within this Group Policy you can lock down other settings (Desktop wallpaper, etc)

Hope this helps – Let me know how you got on.

JonB

 

[Davetoo]

Another thing you could do is to not join the computers to your domain, just leave them in a workgroup. We do that with several systems on our shop floor. The systems don't even have a logon, the systems just boot up to the desktop. If a user needs to access something on the network, they have to provide credentials to connect to it.



I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[jonb2]

That could work quite well and its a bit less work you'd have to do aswell.