Forcing user logoff

How can I force a user logoff & close open files? I have a
user that insists on leaving files open at night. I have
open files option running on the backup, but the user's
system crashes periodically because he leaves documents
open for weeks at a time. I think that forcing him to log
on once a day at least may resolve the problem.

Setting the Logon Hours (denied 12:00 - 1:00 am) through
AD did not seem to help; it appears to deny logon during
those hours, but not force the user off.

Henry
Sat Jan 22 17:21:10 CST 2005

To be honest, what you have is a management issue, and applying any
computer based solution to it is not going to resolve that.

Simplest tool is Winexit.scr Screen Saver which will log the user off
after a period of Inactivity.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314999

It is not a stateful log-off though and unsaved a data may remain
uncommitted or the source corrupted.

There are some 3rd party Applications you can Google for that do provide
more stateful log-offs. ( Both attended and un-attended )

- Given that you have a management problem with the user, you may have
to ensure that they can not disable/uninstall/delete any solution you
implement. -

Other options are to schedule Logoff.exe or logoff.vbs ( available in
the resource kit directory) from at batch file, or create even more
elaborate scripts based on the amount of time a file is open and
annoying net send warning messages designed to do Pavlovian behaviour
modification.

If you just want to log them off at the expiry of their allowable hours
you can use the Group Policy:
Network security: Force logoff when logon hours expire
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/windowsserv/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/566.asp

I'd strongly encourage you to resolve your HR Management issue though.

--
Henry Craven {SBS-MVP}
Melbourne Australia


"Brian" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:080601c500ca$edb20d70$7d02280a@phx.gbl...
> How can I force a user logoff & close open files? I have a
> user that insists on leaving files open at night. I have
> open files option running on the backup, but the user's
> system crashes periodically because he leaves documents
> open for weeks at a time. I think that forcing him to log
> on once a day at least may resolve the problem.
>
> Setting the Logon Hours (denied 12:00 - 1:00 am) through
> AD did not seem to help; it appears to deny logon during
> those hours, but not force the user off.

Lanwench
Sat Jan 22 16:38:48 CST 2005

Brian wrote:
> How can I force a user logoff & close open files? I have a
> user that insists on leaving files open at night. I have
> open files option running on the backup, but the user's
> system crashes periodically because he leaves documents
> open for weeks at a time. I think that forcing him to log
> on once a day at least may resolve the problem.
>
> Setting the Logon Hours (denied 12:00 - 1:00 am) through
> AD did not seem to help; it appears to deny logon during
> those hours, but not force the user off.

1. Talk to this user's boss, if talking to the user doesn't help. This is
far more of a behavioral issue than a technical one. If the user leaves
files open, and unsaved, and you do force logoff, they'll probably lose
data. And if your company policy dictates that users must log out at night
(which it should), make this an HR issue.

2. There's a group policy option to "force logoff when logon hours expire"
but a) it requires that you have logon hours specified, and I don't know for
sure that this will work as you wish.

3. See #1 above. :)