Solution to 'Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively'

by Jason "Hiner MCSE, CCNA" | Aug 20, 2004 7:00:00 AM

Tags: Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Jason Hiner MCSE, CCNA, error message, terminal services, administrator

Takeaway: Learn three methods for overcoming the error message "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively."

Problem

A user tries to log on to a Windows machine and receives the error message "The local policy of this system does not permit you to log on interactively." This can happen in a number of scenarios, and the way to resolve the issue depends on the cause of the problem.

Solution A

If the Local Security Policy is set to disallow local logons to Everyone, then the error message will pop up for any user who tries to log on, including an administrator. This can be fixed in a couple of ways:

1. You can use the resource kit tool, Ntrights.exe, to change the local logon rights. For example, you could run this command: ntrights -m \\ProblemComputer -u Administrator +r SeInteractiveLogonRight.
2. You can open a command prompt from another computer on the same network, issue the command Net use x: \\ProblemComputer\C$ <Password> /u:Administrator, and then change to the directory %SystemRoot%\Security\Database. Rename Secedit.sdb to Secedit.old_sdb and copy a working version of a Secedit.sdb file from another computer running the same operating system (for example, Windows 2000 Professional).

Solution B

In Active Directory, if a Group Policy is set to Deny Logon Locally, users will encounter this error. In order to mitigate the problem, an administrator will need to change the policy, as explained in this tip.

Solution C

If this error message pops up while a user is trying to connect via Remote Desktop or a Terminal Services connection, the administrator will need to take a different set of actions. For a Remote Desktop connection, Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 289289 explains how to overcome this error.

For Terminal Services clients, this error message could be caused by Terminal Services being installed on a domain controller; this tip explains what needs to be done in that case. For Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, there could be a different problem, and Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 186529 shows what can be done to resolve the issue.

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Submit solutions to other Windows error messages Jason Hiner | 08/26/04

How to run ntrights from a CD or a diskette sal@... | 08/20/05

In the same situation deshtrip2004@... | 09/16/06

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" onlinehere@... | 03/29/08

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" anand.narine@... | 05/22/08

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" okoronkwoea@... | 06/17/08

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" phani_medisetty@... | 08/19/08

Thanks ghauri1@... | 11/16/08

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" zlatkobojanovic | 09/27/08

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" yaskas_su@... | 03/19/09

Would be Perfect Solution yaskas_su@... | 03/19/09

RE: Solution to "Local policy does not permit you to log on interactively" kris_jusup | 04/01/09