How can I display a User Agreement (EULA or AUP) before using the computer?
Using Message Manager Deluxe to display a license agreement when the computer starts up or when the user begins using the system is very simple. First you want to create the message to display this agreement.
- Create a new message within Message Manager Deluxe.
- You should use the Load Text option to load an external file that contains the EULA you want to display. We suggest loading this from the network share that you are going to display the message from.
- You can add 2 buttons, YES and NO...or I AGREE and I DISAGREE
- For the YES/AGREE button you can choose the option to write the cookie file (if you only want to show the message once). You can also choose the Close The Message option.
- For the NO/DISAGREE button you can have it not write the cookie (so they see the message until they respond YES). You can also choose to have the computer logoff, shutdown or restart. You can even have it run any program you want.
- To lockdown the computer from being used until a user has responded to the message you can use the Option tab. Select the option to Disable moving the message, Stay on Top and Keep All Focus on the Message. These options will prevent the user from interacting with the computer until they have responded to the message. Additionally you can hide the Windows Desktop and Taskbar. On Windows 95/98/ME you can disable the CTRL-ALT-DEL and ALT-TAB functionas as well.
- For accurate logging purposes you can have a log generated of which button the user clicked on. This log can contain the username, computer, date/time, and which message displayed.
- Depending on your need, you can have this message appear once (using the cookie) or on a set schedule such as Every Monday.
The Cookie option allows you to set a unique string key that will identify the message you have created. Once the user see the message and clicks on a button that would write the cookie file, the user will never see a message with that unique cookie string again.
- The Splash Screen option allows for you to display any image file just before the message is displayed. This is great for adding your company logo or a warning image before users see your message.
After you have created your message you have to determine how you want to load this message for your users. There are several options:
- If you have a login script that users log into before gaining access to the computers you can add our loadmsg.exe application as one of the lines in this login script execution.
- Another option for displaying your message is to use the Windows Startup, detailed instructions are here. This allows for each individual computer to have its own setup.
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Another option is to have the Windows Scheduler display the message based on the scheduled settings you choose. For example you could have a message appear at 11am once every month. The possibilities are endless. Click here to find out how.
An example of the loagmsg syntax to load your message file is as follows:
\\servername\pathname\loadmsg.exe \\servername\pathname\the_message.dat
