Windows 8: How to disable "lock computer" on local guest account.

[Jason210]

Hi

I need to able to disable lock computer on Windows 8, as we have a couple of PCs that are being used with a single guest account for a large number of users just for checking currency and timetables on the Internet etc. The PCs have been configured to Force log off users after 2 minutes of inactivity, but the ability to lock the system is not desirable - as the next "guest" can unlock it with the same password. Therefore locking it could lead people to have a false sense of security.

I tried loading the guest hive in registry as admin but even this did not give me access to the policy key I needed to change.

Can anyone help?

 

[Yevrag35]

You can disable showing the lock option from the CTRL+ALT+DEL page by editing the local group policy, but then it's disabled for all users.

Why are they guests, curiously? You may be able to do what you want if they were just normal local users on the machine (not admins-just normal users instead of guests).

 

[Jason210]

You can disable showing the lock option from the CTRL+ALT+DEL page by editing the local group policy, but then it's disabled for all users.

Thanks. Which policy is that please?

Why are they guests, curiously? You may be able to do what you want if they were just normal local users on the machine (not admins-just normal users instead of guests).

They are guests because we don't want to use the domain or create lots of separate accounts just for this simple purpose. According to the information I have, guest accounts don't save user settings, which is desirable. We don't want people logging on and finding the last users password and user name for their webmail is cached.

But I'm open to suggestions as to how to do this better.

 

[Yevrag35]

Thanks. Which policy is that please?

I should start first by making sure you're using at least Win8-Professional, right?

If you do:
At the start screen, type "group policy", then in the settings category, choose "Edit Group Policy". Under the Local Computer Policy, expand the tree to the following path:

User Configuration\System\Ctrl+Alt+Del Options
​

When you see Ctrl+Alt+Del Options, left click on it. In the right-hand pane you should now see a variety of settings. Double-click on the Remove Lock Computer setting and its properties screen will open. Select the Enabled radio button and then click on the Apply button. Finally click on the OK button and close the Group Policy Editor. Windows 8 will no longer show the lock option when that user uses the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keyboard combination.

 

[Jason210]

Yes it's Windows 8 professional! And thanks!!

The solution you suggested solves the question of users actively applying a lock, but it still leaves the possibility that a computer can lock itself after a certain period of inactivity. In practice, the screensaver I am can be set to kick in and force log the user out before the system locks the PC; but it just would have been nice to know how to disable locking completely.

 

[Yevrag35]

Unfortunately, to completely disable locking the computer you'd have to set two policies. I gave you the first one, here's the second one:

In the "edit group policy", go to Computer Configuration=>Admin Templates=>System=>Power Management=>Sleep Settings

There should be two policy settings about requiring a password on wake-up. Disable both rules and after the computer wakes or whatever, they'll be taken right back to the desktop.

Does that solve the issue then?

 

[Jason210]

Yes, it should do. Thanks!!

 

[Jason210]

Hi

I tried this today and the policies I activated under user configuration were not applied to the Guest account, including the all important one - disable the lock option.

Is there any other way to disable it?

 

[Joe C]

Set up a generic log on for all users? Can you have one guest account for multiple users, and enable a log-off option (users must log off before they leave) instead of disabling an auto log on.

See if this might be something you can look at?
How to prevent Windows 8 from automatically logging in the last user | Winaero

 

[Jason210]

Hi Joe

Thanks for your reply. This is what I have - one guest acount for multiple users. Everything is working ok, with reasonable security, but I don't want users locking it. It gives a false sense of security.

There's no way you can make users log off before they leave except by telling them to do so. There is an automatic log off screensaver that logs users off after certain period of inactivity (set to two minutes).

If I can find a way to remove "Lock" from CTRL+ALT+DEL menu then I'm happy, but so far I can only see how this can be down as a User Configuration, and User Configurations don't seem to work on the Guest Account.

The workstation in question is not on a domain.