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Home > Windows XP Common Issues > Controlling User Logon Hours
November 7, 2009

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Controlling User Logon Hours

In Windows XP Professional it is possible to set limits on the times a certain user account is able to logon to the computer.
To set this up go to Start > Run and Type cmd
When the command Window appears enter your requirements in one of the following 3 formats

net user Kirsty /time:M-F,08:00-17:00  Limits the user Kirsty to logon Monday- Friday between 8am and 5pm
net user Kirsty /time:M-F,8am-5pm  The same thing can also be expressed as above using the 12 hour clock
net user Kirsty /time:M,4am-5pm;T,1pm-3pm;W-F,8:00-17:00  This shows the easiest way of setting limits that differ on multiple days.
To express Saturday and Sunday use 'sa' and 'su'.

To remove time restrictions: Go to Start > Run and type in CMD
Then type the following into the command line replacing Kirsty with the name of your user

net user Kirsty /time:all

This will allow a user only to logon within the set time but will not force them to be logged off when the allocated time expires.

Logon hours will apply to all accounts but administrator level accounts have the power to change them using the net user command.
As part of a domain this process can be managed differently on the domain controller.

 
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