I can't find a "Switch user" function on my Windows 7 netbook. Perhaps it is because only the Starter version of Windows 7 is installed?

There are tips on how to enable Fast User Switching here: http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-enable-disable-fast-user-switching-in-windows-xp-and-windows-vista/ I'm sure you don't have a Group Policy Editor on Windows Starter Edition. I'm not sure whether it would provide the functionality if you tweaked the registry entry, as Fast User Switching is advertised as a feature that Windows 7 Home Basic/Premium Editions adds over Starter Edition. You'd have to try it to find out. http://hubpages.com/hub/Windows-7-Features-Offered-on-each-Edition-of-Windows-7 -Noel

Thanks for your reply.

Hi, GPEDIT.MSC is not available in Windows 7 Starter. I would like to suggest you modify the registry to enable Fast User Switching. 1. Click Start, type regedit.exe in the search box and press Enter 2. Navigate to the following branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System 3. Delete the Value named HideFastUserSwitching in the right panel. 4. Quit the Registry Editor and restart the computer. Regards, Arthur Li - MSFT

Thanks for your reply, but HideFastUserSwitching isn't listed in that branch on my system. By the way, I have the forum option "Alert me when someone responds to this post" ticked, but I don't seem to receive any alerts.

The first link I provided shows you where to create that value. Did you try that (and setting it to 0)? It may just be that the edition you have simply won't provide that feature, no matter what's tweaked. Microsoft does put some effort into differentiating their various (differently priced) versions. I never get any alerts either, by the way. I happen to prefer that, but I have heard others say it doesn't work. -Noel

Hi, According to the link Noel provided, Windows 7 Starter does not support Fast User Switching. Regards,Arthur Li - MSFT

The first link I provided shows you where to create that value. Did you try that (and setting it to 0)? It may just be that the edition you have simply won't provide that feature, no matter what's tweaked. Microsoft does put some effort into differentiating their various (differently priced) versions. I never get any alerts either, by the way. I happen to prefer that, but I have heard others say it doesn't work. -Noel Hi Noel Thanks for your further reply. I think I have come to the conclusion that it is in fact probably more convenient for my wife and I to share the same account on this netbook computer. As for alerts, they appear to have started coming in now. Perhaps it took a little while for the forum database to be updated (I've seen similar delays in Yahoo Groups). Regards Herbert

The first link I provided shows you where to create that value. Did you try that (and setting it to 0)? It may just be that the edition you have simply won't provide that feature, no matter what's tweaked. Microsoft does put some effort into differentiating their various (differently priced) versions. I never get any alerts either, by the way. I happen to prefer that, but I have heard others say it doesn't work. -Noel Hi Noel, I tried to do what you said but still i dont have "switch user"; do u have another solution for this?

What edition of Windows do you have? Did you see the comments that Windows Starter Edition doesn't support that feature? Did you set the policy to Disabled specifically, or if you used the registry method did you spell the DWORD registry value exactly as shown? And set it to 0 (which unhides the FastUserSwitching features). -Noel Detailed how-to in my eBooks: Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options