Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Following my previous article about how to change the “Shutdown” button, I have had some PC’s on our network, that are shared by many users, that needed to have all options except “Log-off” removed.

In my previous article I explained how to change the function of the “Shutdown” button to “Log off”. Now I’ll show you how to remove the other options you see on the little side-menu when you hover over the arrow next to the “Log off” button.

This is a two part process, one part using the Group Policy Editor en one part using the Registry Editor.

Click on the start orb and type “gpedit.msc” and press enter.

Then goto User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start Menu and Taskbar

Double click on “Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate commands”, click on the “Enabled” option, and choose the appropriate action.

Click on “Apply” and then “OK”.

Then do the same again, but this time goto Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Logon

Double click on “Hide entry points for Fast User Switching” and enable it

This takes care of most of the entries in the menu. You should be left with one option, namely; “Lock”.

Now, click on the start orb and type “regedit” and press enter.

Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Click on System, then right-click in the right hand pane and choose “New DWORD” (choose a 32-BIT or  a 64 BIT DWORG Value depending on your system).

Create a new DWORD called “DisableLockWorkStation”.

Then right-click the newly created DWORD and choose “Modify” and then change the value to 1.

Click OK, and close regedit. (You may need to restart your pc.) There should now be no options left for the menu and it should look like this.

Now, all users can only log-off. No-one can lock the workstation or shut it down by mistake and inconvenience other less-experienced users.

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