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Windows 7 Not Logging Off

Open the Start menu. This can be achieved by clicking the multicolored Windows 7 Start orb at the bottom-left of your screen. You can also press the ⊞ Win key on your keyboard. Press the button labeled as Log off (or the ⯈ arrow if you don't see that button). If Log off is displayed, press it and you'll log off. Sessions not fully logging off. The user logs off as they normally would, but the session shows disconnected in the Director. When looking on the server it does not show the username but shows as (4) - Disconnected. Attempts to log off the session via the Director, Studio, or the server directly do not work.

Hey Fred Gotthardt,

Thanks for posting in Microsoft answers!

Windows 7 Not Logging Off

a. Since when have you had this issue?
b. Any changes made to the computer recently?

Follow the below methods and check if your issue gets fixed.

Method 1:

Boot into safe mode and check if the issue exists.

To boot into safe mode, follow the below steps:

1. Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then restart your computer.
Click the Start button, click the arrow next to the Lock button, and then click Restart.

2. Do one of the following:

• If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you will need to try again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting down and restarting your computer.

• If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to start in safe mode, and then press F8.

3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the safe mode option you want, and then press ENTER. For more information about options, see Advanced startup options (including safe mode).

4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.

When your computer is in safe mode, you'll see the words Safe Mode in the corners of the display. To exit safe mode, restart your computer and let Windows start normally.

Refer the below links for more details:

Start your computer in safe mode
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

What is safe mode?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-safe-mode

If the issue does not occur in safe mode, it indicates that one of the services or startup items may be corrupted and maybe causing the issue.

To troubleshoot the issue, you may have to put your system in clean boot.

Check the below link for more details on clean boot:

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Method 2:

Once you’ve logged into safe mode, you may do a System File Checker (SFC) scan on your computer. SFC tool scans system files and replaces incorrect versions of the system files by using the correct versions.

To run the System File Checker tool, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.
2. Right-click cmd in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password or click Continue

3. At the command prompt, the following line, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannow

Check the below link for details:

How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

Hope this helps!
Gokul – Microsoft Support

A client of mine recently had a strange problem in Windows 7 where he could not switch between users using the normal procedure. By default, if you click Start, then click on the little arrow next to shutdown, you can choose Switch User as shown below:

If this option is disabled or greyed out on your Windows 7 system, there are a couple of things you can do to fix it. If you are on a domain and want to be able to use fast user switching, you can, but you have to edit Group Policy. Depending on your company, you may or may not be able to do that.

Also note that you cannot edit this fast user switching option via the GUI anymore in Windows 7. In Windows XP, there was an option, but not in Windows 7 for some reason. So you have to edit the registry or group policy to get it to work. I’ve also mentioned a small utility you can use in case you don’t like editing the registry.

Method 1 – Registry Hack

You can re-enable the Switch User option by navigating to the following registry key:

You should see a value called HideFastUserSwitching with a value of 1. A value of 1 means that user switching is disabled. To enable it, change that value to 0. Note that if you don’t have the HideFastUserSwitching key at all, you can create one by right-clicking in the empty space on the right pane and choose New – DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Set it to 0 and then exit the registry. You will have to log off and then log back on for the changes to take effect. When you click on the arrow next to shutdown now, it should be enabled.

Method 2 – Edit Group Policy

If you are on a domain, you will have to edit the local security policy. You can do this by clicking on Start and typing in gpedit.msc to open the Group Policy Editor. Once open, navigate to the following section:

Windows 7 Not Logging Off Computer

Here you will see an option called Hide entry points for Fast User Switching. You want to make sure that is Disabled in order for fast user switching to work.

Restart the computer and see if you are able to switch users now. If you see that the group policy setting automatically changed back to what it was before, that means your IT department has set it up and you won’t be able to change the setting yourself. Or you can try disconnecting your computer from the network before you restart. That way, the policies from your company can’t be applied to your computer on bootup if it’s coming from a server.

Windows 7 Not Logging Off Windows 10

Method 3 – Download Switch User Tool

Windows 7 Not Logging Official Site

Update: This tool is no longer avaiable from the developer and has been removed from their site.

A Microsoft MVP has created a small little tool that simply switches users whenever it is run. You can download it here:

http://www.itknowledge24.com/downloads/switch-user-tool.php

Once you extract it, just copy the file to some location on your hard drive and then create a shortcut on your desktop or wherever you like. Then just run the shortcut and it’ll automatically bring you to the switch user screen where you can click on the account you want to log into.

So that should be everything you need to get user switching enabled on a Windows 7 machine. If you are having problems, post a comment here and I’ll try to help! Enjoy!