Create a new User Account
1. In the Start menu click Run and type control userpasswords2. In the User Accounts window that comes up click Add, fill in the required fields and click Next.
2. Fill in a password twice and click Next. In the next screen select Standard User to create a limited account to work with (recommended), then click Finish to add the user!
3. If you selected Standard User as level of access, you have to give the user permission to shutdown the PC. To do this click Run in the menu Start, then type gpedit.msc and click OK. In the Local Group Policy Editor that opens, browse to: Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment. In the right pane scroll to Shut down the system.
4. Double click Shut down the system and click Add User or Group. Now enter the User name of the user you want to give permission to shut down, then click OK.
5. Finally click OK in the Shut down the system Properties window to save the changes you made to the list of users that are allowed to shutdown the computer!
Tags Server 2008 Workstation
March 9th, 2008 at 18:19
Might I suggest that adding a new user as an Administrator is not a good idea? Instead, I’d add new users as normal Users, then edit the access rights of that group. In particular, they need to be given the right to shut down the computer.
Admin: Thanks for your suggestion! In a security perspective using an Administrator account isn’t allowed, so I changed the tutorial in how to create a limited user with rights to shutdown the system!
July 16th, 2008 at 8:01
It’s easier to give shutdown rights to ‘INTERACTIVE’ so any logged-in user can do it. (It’s a group that iirc winlogin grants you permission for right after you log in.)
Also, in XP, if you give your group permission to change the system time, you can double click the taskbar clock without error. Maybe Aaron fixed that for Vista though.
Lastly, the security settings mmc was called ’secpol.msc’ IIRC. Might save a few clicks from finding it in gpedit.