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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
May 3, 2009
Q.
I have to leave my computer for short
periods during the day but do not want
others to use it while I'm away. How can I
prevent others from using it without signing
off?
A.
One way is to activate a screen saver that
requires a password to resume. However,
setting it to activate quickly as would be
desired when you leave it could prove to be
more of an aggravation for you during your
normal working. To get around this,
we'll create a shortcut on the desktop that
is called with a hot key press to start the
screen saver whenever you want. Then when
you leave the computer, a simple key press
will activate the screensaver and a password
will be needed before the computer can be
accessed again.
Screen
savers were originally intended to prevent
monitor burn-in, which could occur if a
single image was displayed on the screen for
an extended period of time. That image would
essentially become etched into the display,
making the image always visible and the
monitor harder to use. Monitor technology
has greatly improved over the years, and
image burning in has all but been
eliminated. This has relegated screen savers
to be more a form of entertainment than a
necessity to avoid burn-in.
The
process to create a desktop shortcut that
will activate the screen saver with a
password is different in XP and Vista. In
Windows 7 it will be still different from
either, but that is for a later time. In any
case, the screen saver restore password is
the same as the one used to log on to
Windows so a there must be a user password
set to make this technique effective.
For
XP;
Right click the desktop, select
Properties, then the Screen saver tab. Chose
the screen saver you what to use and set the
time. For this example I'll use Mystify and
10 minutes. Check the box in front of "On
resume, password protect" and click OK. This
sets up the screen saver, and now to create
the shortcut.
Click the
Start button, and then click Search. In the
Search Results window, click All files and
folders. In the All or part of the file name
box, type *.scr. Then, click Search. You
will see a list of screen savers in the
search results. Pick the screen saver you
want. In this example it will be called "ssmyst.scr".
To be sure it is the one you want, you can
preview it by double-clicking it. To add a
shortcut to your desktop, right-click the
file, click Send To, and then click on
Desktop (Create shortcut).
For
Vista;
Right click the desktop, choose Personalize,
then the Screen saver item. Choose the
screen saver you want to use, set the time
and click the box in front of "On resume,
display the welcome screen" and click OK.
Searching
methods for the screen saver file in Vista
may differ depending on how the search has
been set up. However, this should work in
all configurations. Click the Start orb,
then Computer, then the C drive, then the
Windows folder, then the System 32 folder.
In the search box in the top right corner,
enter *.scr. The file name here will be
Mystify.scr. Right click on it and choose
Create Shortcut. You will get a message that
it cannot be created here and asked if you
want to create it on the desktop. You do so
click Yes.
For XP
and Vista;
Go to your desktop and locate this new
shortcut. Right click on it and choose
Properties. Click after the word none in the
Shortcut Key space and then hold down the
CTRL and SHIFT keys and press the F12 key.
Release them and click OK. You can choose to
use any other shortcut key press combination
you like. Also, you can right click this
desktop icon and rename it to something
better like Start Screen Saver if you
desire.
Now,
whenever you need to leave the computer you
can press the CTRL+SHIFT+F12 keypress and
the screen saver will start immediately.
Entering your password will be required
before use of the computer can be restored.
Note
here. Once this short key has been set,
the desktop icons do not have to be
displayed for the short key press to work.
It will work even if you are in the middle
of an application like a Word document
providing the shortcut key press you have
selected is not used in that application. My
choice of CTRL+SHIFT+F12 usually works OK. |
