Microsof t ® Windows ® XP Fe atures 147What Happens When a Fast User Switch Occurs?When a fast user switch occurs, the original user is not logged off thecomputer as previously happened on other Microsoft operating systems. OnWindows XP, the user's logon remains active, but is replaced by the newuser. Users can switch between login IDs as often as they want.However, user applications active during a user switch remain active andrunning in the background while the new user is working; this can result in aslower computer until the process finishes. For example, if one user isdownloading a large file from the Internet and another user logs on to thecomputer, the file download continues in the background until it iscomplete.While most applications continue to run in the background during a fastuser switch, multimedia applications do not. Because multimediaapplications use resources that cannot easily be shared between differentusers on a single computer, those applications terminate during the userswitch, allowing the new user to take full advantage of the multimediacapabilities.Special Considerations With Fast User SwitchingConsiderations when using Fast User Switching include:• Some older Windows games may not operate with a fast user switch.• Multimedia games may shut down on a fast user switch.• DVD software shuts down and requires a restart when the user comesback.• Computers with low memory configurations can experience problems.The computer uses memory to keep the first user's programs runningin the background while the second user is logged on. On computerswith limited memory, this can cause the entire computer to run slowly.Fast User Switching is off by default on computers with less than128 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM).Fast User Switching is unavailable if the computer has Windows XPProfessional installed and is a member of a computer domain.
