Log off or Disconnect User Sessions

MultiPoint Services users can log on and log off of their desktop sessions as they would with any Windows session. Users can also disconnect or suspend their session so that the MultiPoint Services station is not being used, but their session remains active in the MultiPoint Services system’s computer memory.

In addition, administrative users can end a user’s session if the user has stepped away from their MultiPoint Services session or has forgotten to log off of the system.

Logging off or disconnecting a session

The following table describes the different options that you or any user can use to log off, suspend, or end a session.

Action	Effect
Click Start, click Settings, click the user name (top-right corner), and then click Sign out.	The session ends and the station is available for log on by any user.
Click Start, click Settings, click Power, and then click Disconnect.	Your session is disconnected and your session is preserved in computer memory. The station becomes available for log on by the same user or a different user.
Click Start, click Settings, click the user name (top-right corner), and then click Lock	The station is locked and your session is preserved in computer memory.

Suspending or ending a user’s session

The following table describes the different options that you, as an administrative user, can use to disconnect or end a user’s session.

Disconnecting / logging out from Windows network share without restarting Workstation service

I have a file server running (SMB) that I connected to in Explorer (Windows 7 Professional) by visiting \\1.2.3.4 directly. I logged in as one user, without saving credentials, and now wish to log out (actually I want to change to a different user, but being able to log out in general would be useful).

I have searched around for ways to do this and found a bunch of info that suggests using some form of net use \\1.2.3.4 /del :

However, none of these actually seemed to work for me. I run net use * /del , then use net use to verify that the list is empty, and yet the share mysteriously remains in explorer, unaffected, accessible, and still using the previous login.

Another thing I tried, which also failed, was doing e.g. net use \\1.2.3.4 /user:newusername to switch the credentials. However, even when net use showed an empty connection list, this still produced an error stating that multiple connections to the same resource with different users were not allowed — why there were connections that didn’t show up in net use ‘s list is a mystery to me.

I then found this article How to logout from shared folder (microsoft.com), which recommends:

1. net use * /del (or whatever server).
2. Clear credentials from Credential Manager.
3. Restart the Workstation service.

This procedure worked for me. There was nothing of interest in the Credential Manager, as I did not save credentials, however restarting the Workstation service after clearing the connections with net was the key (I did have to close all explorer windows to get the service to restart).

My question is: This is not very convenient at all, especially when I have to explain it to less tech-savvy users. While I could certainly create e.g. a batch script to automate the whole thing, is there an actual, proper, consistent way to do this that doesn’t involve restarting services (and possibly doesn’t involve the command line, although personally I don’t mind)?

Also, a sub-question: It is weird to me that the vast majority of resources I found on this matter didn’t suggest restarting Workstation, and the suggested process of using net use alone seemed to work at least for the other people who posted comments on those posts. Is the Workstation restart unique to me and indicative of some other issue on my machine, or was it just left out of all the instructions for some reason? Only the microsoft.com support post had instructions that recommended this step, which is what finally got it working for me.

Logging out of a share seems like it would be a common enough use case to justify some simple way to do it, so I am baffled by how difficult it was for me to figure this out.

Log off or Disconnect User Sessions

MultiPoint Services users can log on and log off of their desktop sessions as they would with any Windows session. Users can also disconnect or suspend their session so that the MultiPoint Services station is not being used, but their session remains active in the MultiPoint Services system’s computer memory.

In addition, administrative users can end a user’s session if the user has stepped away from their MultiPoint Services session or has forgotten to log off of the system.

Logging off or disconnecting a session

The following table describes the different options that you or any user can use to log off, suspend, or end a session.

Action	Effect
Click Start, click Settings, click the user name (top-right corner), and then click Sign out.	The session ends and the station is available for log on by any user.
Click Start, click Settings, click Power, and then click Disconnect.	Your session is disconnected and your session is preserved in computer memory. The station becomes available for log on by the same user or a different user.
Click Start, click Settings, click the user name (top-right corner), and then click Lock	The station is locked and your session is preserved in computer memory.

Suspending or ending a user’s session

The following table describes the different options that you, as an administrative user, can use to disconnect or end a user’s session.

File sharing over a network in Windows 10

In Windows 10, some features of file and folder sharing over a network have changed, including the removal of HomeGroup. Read on for answers to common questions about other changes to file and folder sharing in Windows 10.

To share a file or folder in File Explorer, do one of the following:

Right-click or press a file, select Give access to > Specific people.

Select a file, select the Share tab at the top of File Explorer, and then in the Share with section select Specific people.

If you select multiple files at once, you can share them all in the same way. It works for folders, too—share a folder, and all files in it will be shared.

To stop sharing in File Explorer, do one of the following:

Right-click or press a file or folder, then select Give access to > Remove access.

Select a file or folder, select the Share tab at the top of File Explorer, and then in the Share with section select Remove access.

File Explorer shows the «Remove access» option («Stop sharing» in older versions of Windows 10) for all files, even those that aren’t being shared over a network.

Open File Explorer, then type \\localhost into the address bar.

Note: When you’ve shared a file from a folder in your user profile and you go to \\localhost, you’ll see your user profile and all its files there. This doesn’t mean that all of your files are shared—just that you have access to all your own files.

If you open File Explorer, go to Network, and see an error message («Network discovery is turned off….»), you’ll need to turn on Network discovery to see devices on the network that are sharing files. To turn it on, select the Network discovery is turned off banner, then select Turn on network discovery and file sharing.

To troubleshoot problems with sharing files or folders, follow the steps below on all computers from which you’re trying to share.

Make sure the computers are on the same network. For example, if your computers connect to the internet through a wireless router, make sure they all connect through the same wireless router.

If you’re on a Wi-Fi network, set it to Private. To find out how, read Make a Wi-Fi network public or private in Windows 10.

Turn on network discovery and file and printer sharing, and turn off password protected sharing.

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Network & Internet , and on the right side, select Sharing options.

Under Private, select Turn on Network discovery and Turn on file and printer sharing.

Under All Networks, select Turn off password protected sharing.

Make sharing services start automatically.

Press the Windows logo key + R.

In the Run dialog box, type services.msc, and then select OK.

Right-click each of the following services, select Properties, if they’re not running, select Start, and next to Startup type, select Automatic:

Net use

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8

Connects a computer to or disconnects a computer from a shared resource, or displays information about computer connections. The command also controls persistent net connections. Used without parameters, net use retrieves a list of network connections.

For examples of how this command can be used, see Examples.

Syntax

Parameters

Assigns a name to connect to the resource or specifies the device to be disconnected. There are two kinds of device names: disk drives (that is, D: through Z:) and printers (that is, LPT1: through LPT3:). Type an asterisk (*) instead of a specific device name to assign the next available device name.

Specifies the name of the server and the shared resource. If ComputerName contains spaces, use quotation marks around the entire computer name from the double backslash (\\) to the end of the computer name (for example, «\\ComputerВ Name\ShareВ Name»). The computer name can be from 1 to 15 characters long.

Specifies a NetWare volume on the server. You must have Client Service for NetWare or Gateway Service for Netware (Windows Server) installed and running to connect to NetWare servers.

Specifies the password needed to access the shared resource. Type an asterisk (*) to produce a prompt for the password. The password is not displayed when you type it at the password prompt.

Specifies a different user name with which the connection is made.

Specifies another domain. If you omit DomainName, net use uses the current logged on domain.

Specifies the user name with which to log on.

Specifies the fully qualified domain name for the domain where the user account exists.

Stores the provided credentials for reuse.

Specifies the network connection is to use the credentials on a smart card. If multiple smart cards are available, you are asked to specify the credential.

Cancels the specified network connection. If you specify the connection with an asterisk (*), all network connections are canceled.

Controls the use of persistent network connections. The default is the setting used last. Deviceless connections are not persistent. Yes saves all connections as they are made, and restores them at next logon. No does not save the connection being made or subsequent connections. Existing connections are restored at the next logon. Use /delete to remove persistent connections.

Connects a user to the home directory.

Displays help for the specified net command.

Remarks

Connecting and disconnecting from a network resource

Use net use to connect to and disconnect from a network resource, and to view your current connections to network resources. You cannot disconnect from a shared directory if you use it as your current drive or an active process is using it.

Viewing connection information

To view information about a connection, you can do either of the following:

Type net useВ DeviceName to get information about a specific connection.

Type net use to get a list of all the computer’s connections.

Using deviceless connections

Deviceless connections are not persistent.

Connecting to NetWare servers

After you install and run Client Service for NetWare, you can connect to a NetWare server on a Novell network. Use the same syntax that you use to connect to a Windows Networking server, except you must include the volume you to which you want to connect.

Using quotation marks

If the ServerName that you supply contains spaces, use quotation marks around the text (that is, «ServerВ Name«). If you omit quotation marks, an error message appears.

Examples

To assign the disk-drive device name E: to the Letters shared directory on the \\Financial server, type:

To assign (map) the disk-drive device name M: to the directory User2 within the Letters volume on the \\Financial server, type:

To connect the user identifier User1 as if the connection were made from the Accounts domain, type:

To disconnect from the \\Financial\Public directory, type:

To connect to the resource memos shared on the \\Financial 2 server, type:

To restore the current connections at each logon, regardless of future changes, type: