Author: Admin 16 May 2009 Views: 77 Other

by : creativelivenew 16 May 2009 Views: 77 Software

Windows XP and Windows Vista have a Fast User Switching mode of operation that allows more than one user to be logged onto the computer at the same time. This is accomplished by creating a separate session for each user that logs on, however only one of these sessions is allowed to be active at any one time, whether that is sitting at the machine (termed the console) or via a remote connection. You can switch from one user session to another by using the hot key combination of WinKey+L (the Windows logo key and the ‘L’ key together) or by using the Switch User button on the log off dialog. Both of these methods disconnect the current session (rather than ending it) and present the welcome screen. At this point logging in as another user will either connect you with the previously disconnected session for that user or create a new session for that user. This process can be used to create multiple sessions and to switch between them.
The Direct User Switching Task (DUST) extends this functionality by providing the ability to switch directly to another user session, via a hot key, without going through the Windows XP/Vista welcome screen. This uses a popup menu of icons in a similar style to Alt+Tab task switching (including using the Shift key to reverse the selection direction). The benefits this task provides over standard Fast User Switching are as follows:

* Can switch directly to another user session via a hot key without going through the Windows XP/Vista welcome screen.
* An option to switch directly to another session via a menu off a notification area icon (useful for tablet computers).
* Can switch to a known user or the next/previous session via a command line tool for custom integration solutions.
* Allows user switching when the Windows XP welcome screen has been turned off for the classic logon prompt.
* Allows user switching when the Windows XP computer is a member of a domain.
* Can optionally save passwords and automatically logon on with them.

The default hot key is WinKey+S, but during installation a different key combination can be chosen. This can involve any combination of WinKey, Alt and Control (but not Shift) as the key (or keys) that need to be held down whilst another key is pressed to access the popup menu. The rest of this documentation refers to the chosen combination that needs to be held down as the DustKey. The Direct User Switching Task runs in every user session and provides the functionality to switch away from the current user. Hence immediately after installation the task will not be running in existing sessions until the user logs out and logs back in again (or the task is explicitly started from its installation directory).

The following screen shot shows the popup menu where repeated pressing of the hot key (whilst the DustKey is held down) causes the next item in the list to be selected. The first item will disconnect the current session and the last item will simply cancel the popup (as will DustKey+Esc). All intermediate items will have the picture for the appropriate user of that session (if available) and when selecting the item the session number and user name will be displayed.