Changing the default power button action to Disconnect in a remote desktop session
I am remoting into my work computer from my computer at home. At home I have Windows 7 Ultimate while at work I have Windows 7 Professional, both 64-bit and with admin privileges.
I would like to change the default action for the power button to Disconnect
instead of Log Off
but can't seem to do so. That way I won't have to do an extra click on the arrow to disconnect from the session.
I know that I can change the power button action locally by going to the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties
dialog and changing the Power Button action
in the Start Menu
tab but it is disabled.
I was hoping I could change it from the local group policy editor:
User Configuration
Administrative Templates
Start Menu and Taskbar
Change Start Menu Power Button
but it looks like it only makes changes for when connected locally. I don't know where to look in the registry.
Is this button configurable for remote desktop sessions at all? Is there a policy/setting that I have to enable to be able to change this?
I would rather not have to use separate scripts just to disconnect if at all possible.
I previously was on Windows XP at work but at least then, the power button defaulted to Disconnect
(instead of Shut Down
) with the Log Off
button right next to it so that was fine with me. I noticed that it is also disabled when remoting to my laptop (also Windows 7 Ultimate). There's a question on E-E asking about the same thing but on Windows Server 2008 and has a single response, doesn't look like it's resolved there though and I'm not going to register for that...
Instead of changing the Start menu which might also not be feasible, you could define a desktop icon that does the disconnection.
Use the tsdiscon command to disconnect the current session :
tsdiscon
The above article is for Windows 2000 Terminal Services (!), but the tsdiscon command still exists and I suppose that it still works. When I tried it, it logged me out but left all my programs still running.
Check this key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
In the right pane of Advanced
, double click on PowerButtonAction
to modify it.
If PowerButtonAction
doesn't exist, then right click on an empty area in the right pane of Explorer, click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value
, type PowerButtonAction
, and press Enter.
Type in the Hexadecimal Value
data number below for the Power Button option that you want, and click on OK.
For...
Log Off: 1
Lock: 200
Restart: 4
Sleep: 10
Hibernate: 40
Shutdown: 2
The Hibernate option will not be available unless you enable hibernate and have turned off the Hybrid sleep option in the Power Plan Settings. If you are using Hybrid sleep, then you would select Sleep from below.
See if this work?
Local Computer Policy > User Configuration > Adminstrative Templates > Start Menu and TaskBar > Remove Logoff on the Start Menu > Enabled
Also,
Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Window Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Remote Session Environment > Remove "Disconnect" Option from Shutdown Dialog > Disabled
Finally, remove your user account to connect to the server right's to shutdown the computer.
Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings ? Security Options ? Shutdown: Allow system to be shutdown without have to logon > Disabled.
And
Local Computer Policy> User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and TaskBar > Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep and Hibernate Command > Enabled
Then the only remaining option should be disconnect.
Use shutdown -i
from an remote machine with Admin account if you need to shutdown or reboot it.