Originally posted by: ReelC00L
I actually think this got broken in a recent security update since I cannot switch users any more either.
I suppose that's possible, but I haven't heard anything of it. All my machines and all of the machines at my office have been kept up-to-date, and none of them have experienced the issue. (I don't usually allow Fast User Switching, but I turned it on to test all of the systems when I first joined this thread.)
I think I'm gonna go do a little research on this when I have time later today. I only tossed out the most obvious solution. The Welcome Screen can still be used without Fast User Switching being enabled, so I suggested checking the appropriate settings. Another thing I can think of off hand that would disable FUS would be if someone (with admin rights on the machine) had turned on Offline Files. But I think you get a warning when you do that, so you'd be aware of the fact that FUS had been disabled. Unless some third party application, perhaps, turns Offline Files on when it's installed or configured without the user being made aware of it??? I don't know...
Oh yes, I just remembered something else. Somebody down the street visited one of those "tweaking" sites and went through his own and his wife's computers turning off services willy-nilly. He turned off stuff that kept his Fast User Switching from running. I fixed it by looking for the service dependencies. I think it was Terminal Services that he turned off. If you're not running that, no Fast User Switching. Check your Services applet to see if TS is up and running. Probably worth a shot.
I have also seen people do strange things with the Guest account in Windows XP that sacked Fast User Switching. When Windows XP is NOT joined to a domain the Guest account is actually used as part of the network share and security paradigm. You can turn the Guest account OFF or ON, but you're NOT supposed to actually disable it! If you do so, that will cause problems with proper implementation of the operating system's ability to toggle Simple File Sharing. A lot of people toss around, rather carelessly, the idea of disabling the Guest account as a necessary security measure. It's neither necessary nor a good idea for a standalone or workgroup-only Windows XP installation.
Other things I've seen affect the ability to use Fast User Switching are the use of Docking Stations, the use of Windows Classic style, machines with inadequate memory (64 MB won't cut it.), and use of a third party NT graphical interface logon DLL (msgina.dll gets replaced by some people who are trying to customize their logon screens).
I'll be back if I can think of anything else.
- prosaic
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