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Hi all,

In the Windows 10 Pro desktop environment, is there a way to disable the Shutdown option, while retaining the Restart and Log Off buttons?

Basically, we don’t want users to shut down this particular computer. Restarting and logging off is ok. The gods-that-be have dictated that WoL is out of the question.

Before posting, I did some research and found many articles that refer to Windows 7. Being bored and with an looming holiday last week, I decided to give them a shot. Here’s one of the articles for reference sake: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/prevent-users-shutting-down-restarting-windows-computer

When I attempted the above fix, it removed the Shutdown / Restart options completely.

Any help and guidance you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

8 Spice ups
2

Same concept as Windows 10. Still use Group Policy (your article was local computer… Point it at a domain controller).

All you need is the Win10 ADMX template so you can administer the template to Win10 machines. Here ya go:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48257

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Unfortunately, I can’t bind it to the domain. I should have stated that earlier. Our desktop environment is 99% W7, and our conference room PCs are W10.

Thank you for the link though. I’ll definitely use this for our eventual move to W10!

1 Spice up
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Do a local group policy using MMC, then add the Group Policy snap-in.

5

sn0wcon3:

There is a way to do it…

Open Group Policy Editor (Local Computer Policy)

Navigate to Computer Configuration → Windows Settings → Security Settings → Local Policies → User Rights Management

Locate and open “Shut down the system”. Here, you can specify which users and/or groups are allowed to shut down the computer…

NOTE: You should setup non-administrator user account(s) and in the setting above, remove “Users” from the list of users/groups that can shut down the system. This will still allow an Administrator account to shutdown the computer for maintenance.

This worked in Windows 7 Pro and Enterprise, but I haven’t tried it in Windows 10 yet. However, I did check and this policy setting does exist in the Windows 10 Pro group policies.

Let me know if this works!

@alexlabrosse

2 Spice ups
6

Even easier then, still use GP, just use it locally to the workstation. Deploying dozens? Build it into your captured image if you’re using SCCM/WDS/MDT to build these images, in the future.

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Hi bbeckers,

Thank you for the suggestion. I removed “Users” from the list, but kept “Administrators”. Unfortunately, when I login to the local account and hit the power button in the start menu, a small blank box appears with no options. I checked the local Admin account too, and thankfully it still has options for Sleep/Shutdown/Restart.

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Hi Bbigford,

You read my mind - this is exactly what my game-plan is. I’m currently using WDS, but plan to transition to MDT this upcoming year.

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As I stated, I haven’t tested that method on Win 10, but it worked fine in Win 7, with all the other options appearing for the user.

I assume you rebooted before testing with the standard local user account?

Another option would be to create a batch file called Reboot.bat with the command “shutdown /r”. Place a shortcut to the batch file on the desktop. (Again, haven’t tested this either, so not 100% sure if UAC will want admin privileges to run it).

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No worries, I sincerely appreciate your suggestion and assistance.

I think that will be the next step - making the simple reboot batch file and plopping it onto the desktop. That brings another worry into focus - if a user accidentally deletes the files…I guess that’s where DeepFreeze comes in handy!

Thank you again everyone for your help!

1 Spice up
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That should be easy to take care of. Just change the permissions to the bat file to deny domain users delete privileges.