Can't Log Out of Windows Server 2008

Question

I'm currently logged into my Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64) server, using Remote Desktop. As soon as I clicked on Start -> Log Out, this message popped up:

The message says: "Waiting for all snap-ins to complete..."

There's a second dialog box in the background that says:

MMC cannot initialize the snap-in.

Now I can't log out and I can't bring up task manager. I can hit ctrl-alt-del and then click Task Manager, I can right-click the task bar and click Start Task Manager, and I can click the start menu and click Log Out, but none of those do anything. I also can't click the OK button that is shown in the screenshot.

This is a live web server, so I don't want to try restarting the server.

I can just disconnect from Remote Desktop, but these dialog boxes are still shown when I log back in later.

Any ideas? Do I just need to wait until the middle of the night and restart the server?

Answer 1

When I originally posted this question, I had completely forgotten that I have PCMonitor installed on the server and one of the options it gives me is to use my phone to see logged in users and to log them out.

As soon as I sent the command to log out my user, my Remote Desktop session ended, and then when I logged back in the MMC dialog boxes were finally gone.

Sorry it's not a better answer for anyone that doesn't have an app like that installed.

Answer 2

Try from the command prompt shutdown /l

C:\Users\User>shutdown /?
Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e] [/f]
    [/m \\computer][/t xxx][/d [p|u:]xx:yy [/c "comment"]]

    No args    Display help. This is the same as typing /?.
    /?         Display help. This is the same as not typing any options.
    /i         Display the graphical user interface (GUI).
               This must be the first option.
    /l         Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options.
    /s         Shutdown the computer.
    /r         Shutdown and restart the computer.
    /g         Shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is
               rebooted, restart any registered applications.
    /a         Abort a system shutdown.
               This can only be used during the time-out period.
    /p         Turn off the local computer with no time-out or warning.
               Can be used with /d and /f options.
    /h         Hibernate the local computer.
               Can be used with the /f option.
    /e         Document the reason for an unexpected shutdown of a computer.
    /m \\computer Specify the target computer.
    /t xxx     Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds.
               The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30.
               If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is
               implied.
    /c "comment" Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown.
               Maximum of 512 characters allowed.
    /f         Force running applications to close without forewarning users.
               The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0 is
               specified for the /t parameter.
    /d [p|u:]xx:yy  Provide the reason for the restart or shutdown.
               p indicates that the restart or shutdown is planned.
               u indicates that the reason is user defined.
               If neither p nor u is specified the restart or shutdown is
               unplanned.
               xx is the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).
               yy is the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).

Answer 3

I know this is an old question but I ran into the same issue today. Following on from CrazyDart's comment...

On the server (no need to remote to another server on the network) go to Administrator Tools -> Remote Desktop -> Remote Desktop Services Manager, select the server, right click your user name from the list and select log-off.

I was also unable to open Task Manager or Command Prompt (unless I ran as administrator, in which the shutdown /l command simply did nothing).

Thanks to CrazyDart for this one. I'd up vote you, but I can't seem to do it for comments...