automatic logout after inactivity/idle
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Tuesday, April 06, 2010 10:12 PM
i am trying to setup an automated logout after an idle period for regular domain users. this is a lab environment running windows 7 enterprise x64.
we used winexit.scr before, but it looks like it is incompatible with windows 7. i have tried making a scheduled task for this purpose but it never executes. i found a program that will do the logoff and i tried to make a scheduled task to execute the program but it never triggers.
has anyone done this successfully?
All Replies
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Wednesday, April 07, 2010 1:26 AM
If I'm not mistaken there's a Group Policy just for doing that... But what is your motivation?
Keep in mind you may have users who might like to leave things running and take up where they left off. I'm sure someone trying to either continue his/her work where they left off the next morning (or even later that night) and avoid the time to set up again would be mighty peeved if you simply ended their session. The computer may well be inactive, but there can still be a great deal of CONTEXT in what they have left on their screens. What if, for example, they had entered 100 out of 200 names into a list, and have no way to save until they're done?
Look for threads on this forum about people upset about being logged off when they disconnect their RDP sessions, for example.
Isn't locking the screen via requiring a password to exit the screen saver just as secure?
-Noel
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Friday, April 09, 2010 9:31 AMModerator
You may try this.
Important Note: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.
Arthur Xie - MSFT -
Monday, April 12, 2010 10:17 PM
READ (above): i am trying to setup an automated logout after an idle period for regular domain users. This is a lab environment running windows 7 enterprise x64.
Once again Microsoft has no concept of what is needed in an Educational Enterprise environment. First, copy to default profile is disabled and now Winexit is dead. No thought given to how the real users use W7.
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Monday, April 12, 2010 11:38 PM
My apologies; when I wrote "There is a group policy for doing just that" I believe I was thinking of idle Remote Desktop sessions.
Saying "This is a lab environment" is a rather thin way of expressing your needs. Please try to understand that not everyone is standing next to you and implicitly understands what you mean. If by "this is a lab environment" you mean the computers are shared amongst many individuals who often neglect to log out, it would be much more reasonable to force logouts than if you were setting up people's dedicated desktops to be logged out for some unspecified "security reasons". Personally, way back when I worked in corporate environments where I wasn't the admin, I always hated it when the admins thought they knew better than I did whether my computer should be logged-out, because I often left stuff running that I wanted preserved.
Assuming you are willing to take the heat from users who might lose work they've neglected to save, what I might do is explore the Task Scheduler. For example, you could schedule a SHUTDOWN /L command that will run only when the computer is idle.
-Noel
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010 12:51 AM
i've tried making a scheduled task with shutdown /l and it has failed to work. i read something about you can't initiate shutdown.exe through task scheduling?
and yes our background clearly states in plain view inactivity of 30 mins will cause a logoff.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010 1:40 AMI got it to work this evening, so it is possible. I'll post the details when I get back to the computer.
-Noel -
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 2:29 AM
I'm not sure it's working consistently, but here's what I've been able to get to log off the computer at least twice:
A scheduled task named "Log Off Idle Session", set to run when the user logs on or when the system goes idle, and with Conditions set to run only if idle for 30 minutes. It's set to run only when user is logged on and [ ] Run with highest privileges is checked.
Here's the config. I'll continue to experiment to see if it works consistently. Perhaps this can help get you closer.
-Noel
- Edited by Noel CarboniMicrosoft Community Contributor Tuesday, April 13, 2010 3:43 PM
- Marked As Answer by Arthur XieMicrosoft Contingent Staff, Moderator Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:16 AM
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010 3:02 AM
A little more research: Apparently the Task Scheduler only checks for an "Idle" condition every 15 minutes:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383561(VS.85).aspx
I've made some changes to the above config and will be trying it out tonight.
-Noel
- Marked As Answer by Arthur XieMicrosoft Contingent Staff, Moderator Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:16 AM
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010 12:39 PM
Okay, I have a configuration that appears to work, logging the user out after 30 minutes of inactivity.
I've updated the screen grabs above to show it.
-Noel
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010 4:38 PM
Thanks Noel for your contribution on this one. Will this be set for all users? Or will Default have to be copied over?
Thanks!
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010 6:58 PM
After copying Noel's exact configuration, it still doesn't seem to work. I even tested with setting it to 1 minute rather than 30. It works if I click "Run" from the manager, but it doesn't run on it's own. Any ideas?
Thanks!
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010 7:55 PM
According to the documentation, the Task Scheduler checks for "idle" condition every 15 minutes, so you can't expect it to run reliably at 1 minute. That was what I found in my testing, and it did make testing quite tricky.
As far as whether it will be set for all users, it will only be set for whatever user you schedule it for. As far as getting it to be the default for all users, I'm not completely sure how to go about that. Most likely, as you say, the Default user profile will have to be adjusted.
-Noel
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3:11 AM
I am trying to use this task by deploying it through group policy. I can get it to deploy but I need it to run as any user logged on the system. This could be anyone in the domain. Looking at the event logs, the task tries to run but doe not have the correct permissions. I have tried %USERDOMAIN%\%USERNAME% but that leaves me with MYDOMAIN\COMPUTERNAME$. I need it to run in the user's security context and not the computers context. This may be as simple as deploying it through the User Configuration of the GPO instead of the Computer Configuration.
What do you guys think?
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010 3:59 AM
I was wondering if setting up an idle task would work for something like this. Thanks for the work! I didn't know exactly how often Windows checked on the computer idle time.
If anyone is interested in a screensaver replacement to winexit.scr, I recommend trying http://www.grimadmin.com/staticpages/index.php/ss-operations .
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Friday, April 29, 2011 8:32 PM
what do you care what his reasons are? is your advice based on what you think? you spend more time postulating and hypothesizing. just go somewhere else - notwithstanding your sheduled task solution.
we have public access pc's. we want them LOGGED OFF after 30 minutes of inactivity. AND i'm trying to audit a count of logons for management. if user 1 never logs off, and n1, n2,n... users come up, i cant get a count
as well - you may be aware - the only way to unlock a locked xp pc - is to power cycle.
we also have shared computers. if a user is too lazy to log off - then the next person has to power cycle - or - so we don't hurt your sensibilities - should we call you at your villa in spain - just so you son't lose - 200 entires without saving - are you nuts - they deserve to lose it just on principle.
you further the cause of grown adults with advanced degrees, families, mortgages and every other vestige of adulthood - BUT - when they sit down at their computer they're a bag a babbling stupity -
don't bother flaming - i've got enough to do what we need to do and probably won't be back for awhile - you dope.
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012 7:54 PM
Dearest Noel,
Who cares what their motivation is and why is that any of your concern? You no doubt think you are being helpful but you should assume when a person asks for help doing something they have probably considered the scenario in further depth than you ever will from one forum post. They did not ask you to debate the repercussions of making this change nor did they come here looking for you to solicit a moral opinion on the subject. The user simply asked for help in accomplishing the desired goal.
If I had a dime for every self-righteous snide remark made by forum "experts"... If you want to foster a culture of friendly assistance then you and the rest of the people who dive into a help request with an argument rather than helping them need to wise up and just offer the help they are asking for without asking why. If they want your opinion, they will ask for it. If you cannot do that, then perhaps you should turn in your “MCC” at the nearest exit.
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Thursday, June 28, 2012 12:57 PM
If someone asked how to shut off a car engine whenever the computer detected someone was speeding, would you just assume they thought through every possible scenario? Would you want to have that car when you're rushing a loved-one to a hospital? When you're passing a truck?
Ever worked at a place where the IT department implemented utterly stupid policies that caused you problems in getting your work done? Gee, IT people couldn't possibly make mistakes like that, could they? Grow up.
Bints and dopedope, of the three of us only one has actually made an attempt to help anyone in this thread.
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options -
Friday, June 29, 2012 4:59 PMFor a solution managed centrally through group policy settings take a look at http://wizardsoft.nl/LogoffStandby/logoffstandby.html . Can force logoff or shutdown idle users and also delete temporary user files if you like.
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Sunday, July 29, 2012 1:54 PM
If someone asked how to shut off a car engine whenever the computer detected someone was speeding, would you just assume they thought through every possible scenario? Would you want to have that car when you're rushing a loved-one to a hospital? When you're passing a truck?
Ever worked at a place where the IT department implemented utterly stupid policies that caused you problems in getting your work done? Gee, IT people couldn't possibly make mistakes like that, could they? Grow up.
Bints and dopedope, of the three of us only one has actually made an attempt to help anyone in this thread.
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" OptionsTalk about growing up, seems to me you're using some old playground tactics yourself (of the 3 fo us???.. that's a bit immature). And I could not agree more with Bint's remarks as it never fails when trying to get help in forums. It's as if the question is dodged to ponder on some ridiculous moral epiphany tangent. Grant it you provided possible solutions but had to interject your beliefs at the same time. Of course that is your right and no one has to read them, but at the sametime you should be willing to accept a little constructive criticism yourself. I don't know why people that posted in a forum 100's, if not 1000's of times feel they are the pontificators of all that is right when it comes to these kind of remarks.
Noel, just offer some solutions minus the judgement calls. I think rewording your concerns (judgements) like "you may want to make sure..." would be more acceptable than your personal experiences with IT. And for the record, in a business or institution, those computers do not belong to the individual using them at that time and should adhere to policies set forth to them. Otherwise suffer the consequences.
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Sunday, July 29, 2012 7:28 PM
Thank you for your comments, Rob Roy. All I ask is that you think about mine next time someone hinders your work and tells you that you need to "adhere to policy or suffer the consequences".
Make no mistake, none of what was offered above was criticism intended to be "constructive".
Oh, and though your advice about presenting my ideas with a bit more humlity is very good (and I will take it), please rest assured I'll be providing my common-sense and beliefs wherever and whenever I choose, thank you. You're certainly welcome to comment on them as you have done; I welcome your further input.
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options -
Sunday, October 28, 2012 10:42 PM
Thanks Noel,
You certainly brought value for me with this answer.
Haters gonna hate. SMH
Craig
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Friday, May 10, 2013 4:33 PM
Hey Noel, thanks for your efforts. I have found that working in a domain environment the scheduled tasks don’t work.
if I export the task from my PC, import onto another PC, accounts that aren’t admin can’t call the shutdown.exe /l command. and therefore wont queue to start the task.
if i import it and run a different user with admin rights the task will show up, if no admin rights, no task in the queue.
The only work around I have come across was with people using the Scriptlogic Desktop authority. Their product has a service that runs in the background continuously that has system privileges, and that can call the shutdown.exe /l command.
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