I'm running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1, IBM OEM edition, on two different IBM Thinkpad laptops. On one of the them, the first item from the bottom on the Start menu says "Turn Off Computer...". On the other, the first item says "Log Off...". There are numerous other small differences, such as the dialog which comes up when the "Turn Off.." or "Log Off..." menu item is picked. I've been unable to find any user-controlled setting which affects this or any difference between the two OS's.
I will donate $US10 to a charity selected by the first person who posts a comment which can explain this issue.
Posted by mitch@osafoundation.org at August 20, 2003 01:55 PMDoes the machine without the "Log off" option only have one user account on it?
Posted by: Morgen at August 20, 2003 02:28 PM
These differences can be caused by whether Fast User Switching is enabled on Windows, which is dependent on the number of users you have, whether you're logged into a domain, and whether FUS is enabled.
Posted by: Anil at August 20, 2003 02:45 PM
Well, I haven't used XP much, but I bet I can point you in the right direction. In Win95, Windows behaves differently if you happen to have Microsoft Network or Novell Network software configured. I once restored Win95 to single-user mode by uninstalling the Microsoft Network client software in the Networking control panel. I didn't need it anyway.
Posted by: Shane Hathaway at August 20, 2003 06:26 PM
On Windows 2000, that's controlled in the advanced part of the Taskbar properties (right click on the task-bar, choose properties, switch to the advanced tab, check "display logoff").
Posted by: Simon Boyle at August 20, 2003 06:50 PM
First, I apologize. I mis-stated the problem slightly. Above comments are useful, but none of them hit paydirt.
Computer #1's first start menu item is "Turn Off
Computer #2's first start menu item is "Shut Down"
In both cases, the second menu item will be "Log off..." if that is enabled in the Advanced properties of "customize start menu"
"Turn off" and "shut down" both bring up distinct dialogs with similar but not identical choices.
So the question is -- why this difference?
Both machines have one user, which I defined when I set up the machine.
Both machines are joined to the same workgroup, although at one point machine #2 was joined to a domain.
Anil: How is Fast User Switching enabled or disabled. What's the UI?
Posted by: Mitch Kapor at August 20, 2003 07:17 PM
Wierd. I don't have XP on any of my Test Virtual PC rigouts.
Turn Off vs. Shut Down sounds like the sort of arbitrary difference you'd find between Pro and Home, or a US vs. International English, or Full vs. Simplified interface.
2000's shutdown options change according to what services you have installed and the choices in the Power control panel (where Hibernate has to be switched on, and sufficient disk available for it to appear). Terminal Server's presence disables all sleep/suspend options.
Are they identical ThinkPads? Does one have full power management (and can be turned off in software) but the other drops you into the "It's safe to switch off your computer now" screen?
Posted by: Simon Boyle at August 20, 2003 10:25 PM
Machines that log in to domains lose the ability to have fast user switching.
Go to control panels.
Make sure you are in category view
Go to "user accounts" control panel click “user accounts in the lower right, if you do not log into a domain you should see "change the way users log on or off," in the middle of the pane.
If you don't see the above, your machine may still be bound to the domain. To fix this, you will need to change the binding in the network id preferences.
WARNING: This can be messy. I believe changing unbinding from a domain affects the user profile. You could loose your domain profile. E-mail accounts and such can get lost, and since you are no longer bound to the domain I am not sure you can log back in. I am not a sys admin so I would find someone who cant tell you more….
XP's security policies are different between workgroup and domain\active directory. The ui for log on/off/shutdown/turn off seems to be tied into these policies.
Posted by: Kevin at August 21, 2003 11:34 AM
follow up:
the differece come from one machine using the "welcome" screen and one not. If you use the welcome screen to log in you will see "Turn of..."
If you must TYPE in a user name then you are not using the welcome screen. If you have turned on auto login you may not realise that the welcome and user UI's are different. To make both say "shut down" goto the contro panel and goto change the way users log in... then uncheck "use welcome screen."
Posted by: Kevin at August 21, 2003 11:41 AM
We have a winner! Buried inside the "User Accounts" control panel are the relevant settings. Kevin, I'll be in touch. Thank you!
Posted by: Mitch Kapor at August 21, 2003 12:43 PM
Kevin got the answer I was going to say, go into the control panel for User Accounts, and choose Change the way users log on or off. The Welcome screen is a great feature, but not compatible with domains.
Posted by: Anil at August 21, 2003 06:56 PM