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Is there a way to programmatically add a logon or logoff script in Windows? I don't want to use any graphical programs, everything's supposed to happen without the user noticing anything.

Also, I want to run the scripts only when a certain user logs in/out. It shouldn't trigger for every user on the system.

Attempted solutions:

  1. Adding the command to the registry, as per this answer. It seems that adding the command to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System\Scripts\Logoff\0\0 isn't enough. I found I also need to add the same command at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy\State\S-1-5-21-57470242-2825662697-3518406308-1003\Scripts\Logoff\0\0 , and possibly also modify %WINDIR%\System32\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\scripts.ini, otherwise the command simply isn't executed.

    I've stopped pursuing this solution because I don't know what the registry key S-1-5-21-57470242-2825662697-3518406308-1003 is. Is this a random sequence of digits? Is it always the same text? Will it work if I use this on a different PC?

  2. Modifying %WINDIR%\System32\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\scripts.ini as per this answer. Something very odd is happening here. I can see this file in explorer. It exists. I can open it, and, with admin privileges, can use notepad to modify it. But when I try to access it from within a python script, I get a FileNotFoundError, even if given admin privileges. (Traceback: FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:\\Windows\\System32\\GroupPolicy\\User\\Scripts\\scripts.ini' P.S.: I'm not using double backslashes, python just displays them like that)

  3. Creating a startup task using SCHTASKS. I gave up on this because it looks like SCHTASKS only supports logon tasks, but not logoff tasks.

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  • `schtasks` will handle logoff. Link the task to event id 4647 - User initiated logoff or 4634 - An account was logged off – DavidPostill Aug 30 '16 at 22:04
  • @DavidPostill I've created a task with `SCHTASKS /create /tn test /tr "C:\Python34\python.exe 'D:\test.py'" /ec SYSTEM /sc ONEVENT /mo "*[System/EventID=4634]"`, but for some reason it's not being executed when I log out. It runs successfully if I do `SCHTASKS /run /tn test` though. What am I doing wrong? – Aran-Fey Aug 30 '16 at 22:36
  • No idea. Does it work with 4647? It could be a timing thing - can't run it because user is already logged off? – DavidPostill Aug 30 '16 at 22:39
  • @DavidPostill That doesn't work either, unfortunately. I've looked at `schtasks /query /v /tn test /fo list` and everything looks ok, but I noticed that the `last run time` doesn't change when I log out. I guess there must be something wrong with the xpath `*[System/EventID=4634]`. – Aran-Fey Aug 31 '16 at 07:33
  • Try creating the task with the GUI ... – DavidPostill Aug 31 '16 at 07:48
  • Relevant: [windows 7 task scheduler logoff](https://stackoverflow.com/a/34045164) and [How to schedule a task to run when shutting down windows](https://stackoverflow.com/a/27327480) – DavidPostill Aug 31 '16 at 07:56
  • @DavidPostill Created a task with the GUI, with two triggers: 1) on event 4634 2) on disconnect from user session, still doesn't run... Also, modifying `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE` doesn't help me, because I want to execute the scripts only when a certain user logs in or out, but `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE` would trigger for all users, wouldn't it? Sorry if that wasn't clear from my question, I've edited it now. – Aran-Fey Aug 31 '16 at 08:28

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