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I am on a Windows Server 2008 R2. Is it possible to limit the number of concurrent instances of a program/an executable file for a user?

An example: I would like to prevent the users from starting paint.exe if another paint.exe is still running.

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I'm pretty sure the program would need to have this sort of checking built inside itself for this to work. Or then you need to build a custom program launcher script or similar which checks the process list before starting the program.

AppLocker comes close, but even with AppLocker policies you can't do quite what you're after.

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I already looked at AppLocker, but you are right, it does not work with it. Maybe I could write a simple service with C# that checks frequently for a user that has multuple instances running. –  Heinrich Nov 30 '11 at 14:02
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up vote 1 down vote accepted

I ended up writing a windows service in C# that frequently checks for multiple opened instances and terminates the latter started.

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Sounds like a useful open-source project in the making. –  Skyhawk Dec 6 '11 at 15:55
You are right. I need to check with our MD if its possible to make it OS. I will post the link here. –  Heinrich Dec 6 '11 at 15:56
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No, it is not possible and it rarely makes sense to star with. I have such a program here (turbo floorplan) sucks - like hell when I try to replicate a bnuilding plan. Can not open 2 diocuments at the same time.

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