Using the Fast User Switching Feature of Windows XP

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Fast user switching is a feature of Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional that allows you to switch between users without logging off from the computer. Multiple users can share a computer, switching back and forth among users without closing the programs each user is running. The users are all local to the computer, not logged in via a network. Only one user at a time can use the computer interactively.

(The Pervasive.SQL Server engine is not supported on Windows XP Professional or Home Edition. This support will be available when Windows XP Server is released. )

As of this release of Pervasive.SQL, the following Microsoft restrictions apply when fast user switching is turned on. These are restrictions of the operating system.

• The computer cannot be logged on to a network domain.
• The Microsoft Client for Netware cannot be installed.
• The Novell Client for Netware cannot be installed.
• The Serial Keys accessibility feature will not work.
• Offline files, such as Windows XP Offline Documentation, must be disabled.

Fast user switching allows only two types of users, classified as administrators or limited. Only administrators can turn on or turn off fast user switching.

Windows XP Professional allows two modes of operation, local and remote desktop. Remote desktop uses an XP client to access an XP machine from a remote computer. In many respects, the remote desktop feature is similar to terminal services under Windows NT or Windows 2000.

(You may also use a Pervasive.SQL client on an XP machine to communicate with a Pervasive.SQL Server engine across a network. The client functions the same as it does on any other Windows platform supported by Pervasive.SQL.)

Fast User Switching in Local Mode with Pervasive.SQL

The following conditions apply when you use a Pervasive.SQL client and Workgroup engine in local mode. Local mode refers to a local client communicating with a local engine.

• Only one instance of the engine may be run at a time. You cannot run separate copies of the engine within separate user sessions. If you attempt to start the engine that has already been started by another user, the engine will not restart. No error message appears and no tray icon appears.
  • If started by a user, the engine runs in the session of the first user to start the engine. The operating system rights of the first user to start the engine determine access rights to the database files. For example, a "limited" user can start the Pervasive.SQL engine but cannot create a new database.
  • If the Pervasive.SQL Workgroup engine is started as a service, the operating system rights of the System Account determine access rights to the database files. See Running the Workgroup Engine as a Service in Getting Started with Pervasive.SQL (Workgroup edition).
• Changes made to a database in one session are available to users of the database in other sessions. For example, User A adds a record to Database 1. User B fast user switches to her session. User B sees the record in Database 1 added by User A.
• A database accessed by one user's session can lock the database from other users' sessions. For example, User A has Database 1 open in the PCC. User B fast user switches to her session and attempts to add security to Database 1. User B is prevented from adding security to the database.

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Caution
If you run the Workgroup engine as a console application, the first user to start the engine should not stop the engine if other users are accessing the engine. In addition, the first user must not log off because this causes the engine to terminate.

As an alternative to running the engine as a console application, you may run the engine as a service. See "Running the Workgroup Engine as a Service" in Getting Started with Pervasive.SQL (Workgroup edition).

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