Scheduled shutdown of all machines (even when logged out)
Novell Cool Solutions: Question & Answer
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Q:
I am trying to configure a scheduled shutdown for all of the workstations in our district. I am trying to schedule these shutdowns via scheduled actions in the workstation policy.
I found the Cool Solution called Scheduling a Automatic Shutdown without Blindsiding Users. This article describes how to use Poweroff to schedule shutdowns. By following the tips in that article, I have been successful in getting workstations that are logged in to shutdown, reboot,etc. The problem I have is with those workstations that are logged out. The scheduled action policy just doesn't seem to be working with those machines.
A:
Look around for a good freeware tool, like PsShutdown , that will let you remotely shutdown a machine after logout.PCs won't shutdown if sitting at the login dialog. Instead, they need to show 'Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to login' window (Users and Passwords control panel > Advanced, check 'Require users to press Ctrl-Alt-Del before logging on.').
The corresponding reg entry is:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"DisableCAD"=dword:00000000
To avoid CRT burn-in, some experts add a screen saver while sitting at the 'Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to login' dialog:
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"ScreenSaveActive"="1"
"ScreenSaverIsSecure"="0"
"ScreenSaveTimeOut"="120"
"SCRNSAVE.EXE"="logon.scr"
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