XP - Log off or Shut Down?

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I work in an enterprise environment where all users have Windows XP and most
have roaming profiles (although most don't roam that often if ever). No one
can answer definitively whether you should log off or restart the PC at the
end of the day. Can someone please answer this question for us? Also, the
reasoning for why one vs. the other would be nice. Thanks for any help you
can provide!
Greg
 
You should shut down the PC at the end of the day. Aside from the
possibility of power failure (even with an uninterruptible power supply,
these generally aren't made to run for several hours at a time, they are
usually designed to give you time to shut the system down when power fails)
you are in an Enterprise environment. An unattended PC is wide open to
access for anyone else who enters the office, be they maintenance workers or
unsavory individuals seeking data or just those snooping around.

If you value your data and its security, you'll shut the systems down at the
end of the day.

--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
 
Thanks for the response Michael! Security is certainly reason enough to
follow your advice. Users here must use complex passwords that change
monthly. That said, is there a system reason why it's better to restart
(among other reasons, systems have to be turned on here or shared printers
will be inaccessible to some users)? Back when we had NT 4.0, we would
restart because NT had issues with memory. I guess I'm looking for a
compelling reason like that, from an operating systems standpoint, to further
the argument one way or the other.
Thanks again,
Greg
 
You're welcome.

First, let me just say this about passwords, they only protect if you have
no human error, ever! In other words, if a person forgets to log off and
they leave with the system turned on, the system is not protected. Also,
this leaves it open to the possibility that a disgruntled employee might
purposely leave the system without logging off on purpose. If the system
has to be shut down, this helps ensure against that, especially if IT or
whoever is responsible makes sure all systems are shut down at night.

There is no system related reason that I can think of. XP is very good
about managing memory and clearing memory though some applications may not
be as good about it as they should and that might require a reboot to clear
it. This can happen even with many well written applications which for one
reason or another simply refuse to release. Outlook component of MS-Office
is notorious for this and while the system can usually go on running, I'd
say it's wise to make sure Outlook and any other such apps are no longer
resident in order to ensure you start fresh every day.

I'm not saying this is absolutely necessary. If it's being caused by some
conflict, usually a good tech department can run it down and resolve it. I
am saying, this helps ensure you have no such issues that may not
immediately cause a problem but over an extended period of time might cause
the system to hang or crash.

Also, if this system is open to the outside by way of the telephone or other
means, unless there's some reason to keep it running 24/7, again, my advice
from a security point of view is to shut it down as this is just another
potential unauthorized access point. And remember, if someone can directly
access in this way, they will bypass some of your system's first line of
defense such as routers that might help block viruses or other possible
intrusion attempts which this type of access might bypass.

--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
 
GregBausman said:
I work in an enterprise environment where all users have Windows XP and most
have roaming profiles (although most don't roam that often if ever). No one
can answer definitively whether you should log off or restart the PC at the
end of the day. Can someone please answer this question for us? Also, the
reasoning for why one vs. the other would be nice. Thanks for any help you
can provide!
Greg
Click to expand...



In my particular environment, computer users are directed to perform a
Shutdown and Restart at the end of the duty day. This allows the OS to
reclaim system memory leaked by some of the legacy applications, and
still leave the system ready to accept SMS pushes. In fact, those who
do turn their machines off are apt to find that the machine is no longer
able to log into the domain the next day, if the patch being pushed is
critical or time sensitive, and we don't want an unpatched workstation
on the network. Further, Users who make the mistake of leaving their
workstations logged in and locked may even find their machine to be
unbootable the next day, as SMS doesn't always respond well to this
situation.


It boils down to: Follow whatever procedures your IT department has
developed. In many enterprise environments, the IT department uses the
night shift, when there are few or no workers to disturb, to schedule
routine maintenance, such as defragmentation, backups, and the
deployment of patches/upgrades.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
 
Hi,

Where I work, there are roughly ~3K WinXP pc's now, we only log off.
Maintenance is done remotely by admin folk during non-use hours, machines
are only rebooted occasionally by the end users if they bugger up (it
happens). All systems are set to autolock after a time-out in case someone
goes home without logging off (but the doors would be locked in those cases
anyways).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Very unlikely, but no one watches 24/7. Use of the systems is always logged
by userid. One would have to break into the building and get past motion
sensors (which are monitored), then get into the domain with a valid
username/password combo - neither of which are simple. Could it be done?
Sure if one was determined (and smart) enough, but it's unlikely.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Nonetheless, the situation you describe is different from the one about
which I was warning. You have IT on premises in off hours and various other
security protocols in place. Even in a same/same situation, I still think
the point is worthy of considering if a user is asking whether or not they
should shut down or simply log off. I would have been remiss in not
pointing out the possible security issue.

--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
 
GregBausman said:
Thanks for the response Michael! Security is certainly reason enough to
follow your advice. Users here must use complex passwords that change
monthly. That said, is there a system reason why it's better to restart
(among other reasons, systems have to be turned on here or shared printers
will be inaccessible to some users)? ...
Click to expand...

If there are shared disk drives, then it May be better to shut down so
that active drives are discovered, or not!
 
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