Solved Time usage control

Good day.

I'm looking for a way to control how much time a logged on user can have during one session. To be more specific, I have two daughters who constantly bicker and fight over how much time the other one has been on the computer. I know Vista has built in time usage controls, but they are not in depth enough for what I'm wanting to do. What I want to do is this: One of my daughters logs on and at that moment, a counter begins counting down so that after one-and-one-half hours of continuous use, her session automatically logs off. If she happens to log off within the time frame, then the counter would reset until the next time she logs back on.

Does Vista (Home Premium 64-bit) have the capability to do this or does anyone know of any (preferably free) 3rd party software to enable this?

Thanks.

You could try Scheduled Tasks to cause a System Shutdown/Restart with a delay of 60 mins (or whatever time you choose) when it detects that your daughter has logged in. I think that you can also have a task that will abort this if she logs off prior to her time expiring.

I'll try and work something out and get back to you.

Thanks.

Someone on another board suggested this program... it's not freeware but has a 15 day trial:

Download Ez Internet Timer 5.7.0 Free Trial - A handy internet access scheduler - Softpedia

@MilesAhead: All that I read of that program refers to the internet usage. I'm looking for something that would actually log the user off, or shutdown the computer.

This is the only other thread that seems like it may apply. But it sounds like Vista built-in which you've already looked at:

Use Parental Controls To Limit Time Kids Spend On The Computer - Mysticgeek’s Realm

Hi Marvin,

Sorry for the delay.

I've been looking at ways of implementing a delayed logoff that is triggered upon logging in using the shutdown command, but unfortunately there is no way to do that as the command switch /l (for logoff) doesn't support the /t modifier (for time delay). Instead, you have 2 options, either the /r (restart) or /s (shutdown) as both can be used with the /t modifier.

I was thinking of using the Task Scheduler, but this may be a better solution. It involves editing the Registry.

Log onto the account(s) that you wish to create time restrictions for and open the Registry Editor. Next, browse to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

In the right-hand panel, right- click and choose New > String Value. Name it AutoLogOff (or whatever you want, this doesn't matter but it is helpful to have meaningful names). Next, right-click on the new entry and choose Modify... (alternatively, double-click it). Enter the following code (remember to include the spaces):

C:\Windows\system32\shutdown.exe /r /t 3630

This will cause the computer to restart after 1 hour (I have added an extra 30 seconds to this so that the session isn't foreshortened by delayed start-up items). To change it so that the computer shuts down, simply change the /r switch to /s. The /t switch is the time delay in seconds, change this value to whatever you want, although I wouldn't recommend a value of less than 60 (1 minute). Note that you should avoid entering too low a value here (stick to my recommended minimum) as it is possible to potentially lockout the account altogether.

You can set this independently on each account, with different time delays and actions, either shutdown or restart.

You can, of course, abandon the countdown by opening a command prompt and entering the following command:

shutdown /a

Wow! Thanks for the reply and no worries about the time it took . I will try this later this evening.

Thank you.

(I'll reply as soon as I can to let you know how it went.)
-Marvin

You're welcome.

Thanks Dwarf! Worked like a champ.

Now I have a question to add to this...

But first, after creating the registry keys, I checked it out to see if it would work--which it did. I also opened a command prompt to use the shutdown /a command you mentioned--which worked too. So, I thought that I could just make a shortcut to enable this, which I used C:\Windows\system32\shutdown /a in a text file, saved it as Cancel Autologoff.bat and saved it to the desktop. The problem that arises from that is now whoever is logged on can just double click the batch file to cancel the auto shutdown. Is there a way to save the batch file so that when the file is double clicked it automatically requires administrative elevation?

Hi Marvin,

I'm glad that it works for you.

As regards the batch file you created, I don't think that there is a way to make it require administrative credentials in order for it to execute. Besides, it is so simple anyway. In fact, I tested it on my system with a time delay of 20 seconds and I still had time to manually open a command prompt and issue the abort command. This is why I recommended 60 seconds as a minimum - to give you ample time to issue the abort command. I would therefore delete this file from the desktop, and also delete it from the recycle bin. Do this on all accounts that you have created this file on.

Hope this helps. Any more questions, please ask.

Again, thanks for your reply.

Yeah, as far as the time delay, when I first added the registry key, I put in a time delay of 60 seconds--yep, 1 minute. I had more than enough time to open the command prompt and execute the command.

Thanks for your help in this.

It was exactly what I was looking to do.

You're welcome.

Hi Marvin,

If you wish, you can always add a comment to the code I've given you. Using the example that I've used, this will be as follows:

C:\Windows\system32\shutdown.exe /r /t 3630 /c "This computer will restart in 1 hour. Please ensure that all documents are saved before your time expires. Unsaved documents will not be recoverable."

On my Windows 7 system, this gives the following warning at the bottom right of the screen. Vista should give a similar warning.



Obviously, if shutting down instead of restarting, the appropriate word will need changing. Likewise, the time element will need changing to suit.

I think it will be a good idea to include this - that way they will not be able to come back to you and say that the system just threw them off without giving them chance to save their work. At least this way they will know how long they've got.

Good keeps getting better :D! Thanks for this bit of info.

Hi Marvin,

How's it doing? Is it working OK for you?

Dwarf said:

Hi Marvin,

How's it doing? Is it working OK for you?

Click to expand...

Yes, thanks. All is working as I would like it.

Excellent.

You might also like to have a look at this thread along similar lines: Parental Control Help; make an account be logged on for only 2.5 hours - Windows 7 Forums