How can I limit users to log on to one computer at a time?

I want to limit users to log on to one computer at a time. In order to log on to another computer, I want them to log off the one they are already on. How can I do this?

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There's a sneaky and slightly unorthodox way to do this. Go to the server that manages your domain, and use Explorer to open the folder where the user's roaming profiles are stored (usually %SystemRoot%\Profiles\[username]). Select a user's folder, right-click on it, then select Properties | Sharing. Share out the folder, and under User Limit select "Allow this number of users:" and set the value to 1. Then click Permissions, remove access for all users, and then add access for only the user in question. This only allows one connection at a time to the profile folder, which means that a user cannot log on to the server twice. It's not a perfect solution, but it may do the trick.

This was first published in February 2005

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