Locking/Unlocking Windows 7 Workstations Remotely - PowerShellCommunity.org - Windows PowerShell Discussion Forums - Using PowerShell

Locking/Unlocking Windows 7 Workstations Remotely

Last Post 25 Oct 2012 05:25 PM by TJ. 3 Replies.

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CoryG

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18 Jun 2012 05:10 PM
Here's my issue: I have 9 computers at my desk, mixed between POSIX and windows - I'm also an admin - so when someone pulls me up from my desk I have to lock all the open stations and then unlock them when I get back (typically one at a time as needed). I've managed to automate the screen locks on all the POSIX boxes with an ssh command and some bash scripts, but I can't figure out how to lock/unlock the windows workstations remotely (they are already logged in, though logging in remotely as a console session would be nice, I don't hold my hopes up for this). Is this possible to do through PowerShell or any method short of me writing a c# program that runs constantly on the child machines listening for a command to lock/unlock? It is only for a single user account, the same user account is being used on the parent machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated - thank you for reading :)

RiffyRiot

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18 Jun 2012 07:04 PM
Hi, The trick is executing this command "rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation" I tested on Windows 7 Pro and Windows XP Pro. If you have Remoting configured and working you can use this... invoke-command -computer $computer -scriptblock {start-process 'C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe' -ArgumentList 'user32.dll,LockWorkStation'} Or, you can go the WMI way... $newProc=([WMICLASS]"\\$computer\root\cimv2:win32_Process").Create("C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation") As far as unlocking goes, You could use an RDP session with your credentials saved? As an admin myself, I don't log into the computer I'm using with my admin credentials. I only use them when required. Hope this helps.

Rule #1: You should only use Format-Table as the final command in the pipeline and only when you're not using the output for anything else

Dexter34925 User is Offline

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18 Jun 2012 11:34 PM
Perfectly explained by RiffyRiot. Thanks for sharing

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25 Oct 2012 05:25 PM
Reboot a computer: (gwmi win32_operatingsystem -ComputerName $strComputer).Win32Shutdown(6) Shutdown a computer: (gwmi win32_operatingsystem -ComputerName $strComputer).Win32Shutdown(12) Logoff or Unlock a computer: (gwmi win32_operatingsystem -ComputerName $strComputer).Win32Shutdown(0)

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