Windows 10 - Shutdown, but user stays logged in

Anonymous
2017-10-26T11:43:26+00:00

When I shutdown Windows 10, (latest version, fully patched up to date 25-Oct-2017), I find that it shuts down without issue. However, when the PC is restarted, the last logged in user (who initiated the shut down) is still logged in. 

I noticed this when I shutdown as User 1, then restarted the PC and logged in as User 2. When viewing the 'profiles' button at the top of the Start Menu, (which shows your user picture), it showed me that User 1 was still logged in. Furthermore, when I went to shut the computer down as User 2, it warned me that other users were logged in to this computer. I had to log out as User 2 and login as User 1 to shut down the computer. 

The only way around this is to log out and then shut the PC down from the main login screen. All my users have complex passwords assigned and in all other aspects Windows 10 appears to be working correctly. 

I assume this is a feature, but is there a switch or a registry hack that allows the shut down process to log off the current user, like Windows 7 used to?

Please can someone advise? 

Many thanks 

Paul B.

[Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Security & privacy]

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Sleep and Power on, off

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-05-18T00:01:12+00:00

    The another user is logged in problem has not happened to me for a while now so maybe an update fixed it.

    Just to let people know though, ever since windows vista with its session zero isolation, you can have many, what used to be called terminal services, sessions logged in at a time.

    Windows home will only let you have one interactive login at a time and windows pro two but other sessions can remain active in the background.

    I think letting windows login automatically with a users credentials to finish an update or anything else is a silly idea.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-18T06:28:32+00:00

    !803 has added new wording to that setting at "START, Settings, Accounts, Sign-in Options"... 

    ...which possibly explains why it seems worse to you. But doesn't it work to just turn the whole thing off?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-05-18T08:12:23+00:00

    This is what I think is so silly. No it will not help because windows will just log a user back in again in the background, if it thinks it needs to finish something, the next time the PC is turned on. This includes reopening any apps they had open if they chose to shut down instead of logging off first.

    Like I said it hasn't happened to me for a while but I still get calls from people asking why " there is another instance of this program already running"  when they haven't opened one.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-05-18T08:26:29+00:00

    Well, definitely tell them of that setting, it may work for some of them anyhow. Glad you are not having the issue personally. I still have got only a single user account so am immune.

    Good luck, & keep us informed.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-05-20T00:08:35+00:00

    I'm having the same issue since the last patch of windows 10. I don't like it. Also, The last browser page that I had open before "signing out" always pops back into existence without me even clicking the icon. It slows down the start up and it's getting on my nerves. I want to log out, as in "I'm done here, please close everything out so the next person can use it," instead of running somewhere far in the background and eating up memory. 

    Agreed. Likewise the points made by  YvesVander Haeghen replied on   February 26, 2018

    I think the root cause of this is MS automatic updates with system initiated reboots, which of course in principle are good idea in making sure security holes get plugged automatically and promptly. However the resultant reboot has obviously irritated some users, so MS have implemented the switch

    to mitigate. This has the unforeseen side effect we all find so annoying .

    Microsoft efforts at improving the user experience seems to be at the expense of reduced user control and irritating existing users; to put it another way they're "dumbing down Windows" to suit the needs of new (inexperienced) users. That is an "epic fail" as windows is a mature OS and the number of new users in comparison with existing users is tiny (and always will be if Windows remains popular); moreover, being a "new user" is only a temporary condition, whereas being (or becoming) an existing user is enduring. Microsoft, time for a philosophical rethink; look after your existing users in their millions, not the minority of new users who remain "new" only for a few weeks.

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