Whatever Happened To ... Fast User Switching?

1. What's Fast User Switching?

Fast User Switching, or FUS for short, was (and still is!) a Windows feature that allowed users to quickly switch between logons without having to log out and back in again.  This was something Microsoft developed for Windows to make it easier for people to share a computer without having to have one person log out completely and then have the other person log in.

In Windows XP, the option to enable or disable Fast User Switching was one of the most prominent options in the Users section of the Control Panel.

In Windows Vista, the option has vanished.

2. What Happened to Fast User Switching?

To be precise, nothing has happened to FUS.  It's not gone anywhere -- it's just that it's now enabled by default.  The mechanism used to enable FUS is now so much a part of the way Windows works, there's no real point in allowing someone to turn it off anymore.

Some other things have disappeared as a result of this.  For one, the Fast User Switching Compatibility Service has also vanished, since the changes to the underlying architecture now obviate any need for it.

3. What's To Be Done?

Is it possible to disable Fast User Switching, then?  Not in the sense that you can disable its underlying mechanisms, but you can disable the user presentation for it by editing the Local Security Policy.

1. From Start | Run, launch gpedit.msc as Administrator.

2. In Local Computer Policy | Administrative Templates | System | Logon, select Hide entry points for fast user switching and set it to Enabled.  "By enabling the policy, Administrators hide the Switch user button in the Logon UI, the Start menu and the Task Manager."

3. Click OK.

4. Log off and back on again to make the policy change take effect.

(You can also set the option Always use classic logon to Enabled if you want to bring up the original type-the-name-and-password logon screen, although this only works when the computer is not joined to a domain.)