Locking Computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jesse
  • Start date Start date
J

Jesse

When I press CTRL-ALT-DEL There is no option to lock the
computer. How do I correct this?
 
If your User Account has a Password: Set your screen saver to: On Resume Password
Protect. Put a shortcut on your desktop for your favorite screen saver (the file will
have an .scr extension). When you want to lock your system, double click that screen
saver icon on your desktop, and no one can get into your profile unless they can type in
your password. If your User Account doesn't have a password, go to Control Panel/User
Accounts/ select your User Account, then click Add Password.
 
Greetings --

There at least 4 ways to lock a WinXP (Home or Pro) workstation:

1) Use the Windows Key + L hotkey.

2) You can press CTRL+ALT+DEL and then <ENTER>, once you've turned
off the Welcome Screen and Fast User Switching. (This is the default
in a domain environment, as FUS is contrary to the domain security
paradigm.)

3) You can create a desktop shortcut with
"%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation" in the
target field. (It is case-sensitive, BTW.) You can then assign a
keyboard shortcut.

4) Set a password protected screensaver, and wait the allotted time
without touching the mouse or keyboard.


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH
 
Jesse said:
When I press CTRL-ALT-DEL There is no option to lock the
computer. How do I correct this?
Click to expand...

Should be in the Shutdown menu there. (or hit Winkey and L)
If this is Pro, run gpedit.msc and explore - there will probably be a
setting to restrict users from ability to use it
 
Hi -

I do not have a Windows key (I have a laptop!). Any suggestions?

I also do not understand your #2 or #3 options.

Thanks.

TL

t.cruise said:
If your User Account has a Password: Set your screen saver to: On Resume Password
Protect. Put a shortcut on your desktop for your favorite screen saver (the file will
have an .scr extension). When you want to lock your system, double click that screen
saver icon on your desktop, and no one can get into your profile unless they can type in
your password. If your User Account doesn't have a password, go to Control Panel/User
Accounts/ select your User Account, then click Add Password.
--

T.C.
t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
Remove [NoSpam] to reply


Jesse said:
When I press CTRL-ALT-DEL There is no option to lock the
computer. How do I correct this?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
tmoney said:
I do not have a Windows key (I have a laptop!). Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Hi

You can lock your computer with this command (it does the same as
WindowsKey+L):

%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation


The most elegant is just to create a shortcut that contains
the command line above. To get a more "elegant" icon,
select properties on the shortcut file and then select
"Change Icon...". In the "Look for icons in this file", fill
in %windir%\System32\shell32.dll. You will e.g. find a
suitable padlock icon inside it.

Below is a VBScript that creates two shortcuts named Lock
Workstation, one on the quick launch tray for the current user,
and one in the All Users Desktop folder. It also configures
the shortcut to have the padlock icon.

Put the following in a .vbs file and double click on it:

'--------------------8<----------------------
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

sWinSysDir = oShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%SystemRoot%\System32")

' Create shortcut in the Quick Launch tray
sCurrUsrPath = oShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%UserProfile%")
Set oShortCut = oShell.CreateShortcut(sCurrUsrPath _
& "\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\" _
& "Quick Launch\Lock Workstation.lnk")

oShortCut.TargetPath = sWinSysDir & "\Rundll32.exe"
oShortCut.Arguments = "User32.dll,LockWorkStation"
oShortCut.IconLocation = sWinSysDir & "\Shell32.dll,47"
oShortCut.Save

' Create shortcut in the All Users Desktop folder
sAllUsersDesktopPath = oShell.SpecialFolders("AllUsersDesktop")
Set oShortCut = oShell.CreateShortcut( _
sAllUsersDesktopPath & "\Lock Workstation.lnk")

oShortCut.TargetPath = sWinSysDir & "\Rundll32.exe"
oShortCut.Arguments = "User32.dll,LockWorkStation"
oShortCut.IconLocation = sWinSysDir & "\Shell32.dll,47"
oShortCut.Save

MsgBox "Lock Workstation shortcuts are now created.", _
vbInformation + vbSystemModal, "Create shortcuts"

'--------------------8<----------------------
 
See link:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326904

Andre Da Costa
tmoney said:
Hi -

I do not have a Windows key (I have a laptop!). Any suggestions?

I also do not understand your #2 or #3 options.

Thanks.

TL

t.cruise said:
If your User Account has a Password: Set your screen saver to: On Resume Password
Protect. Put a shortcut on your desktop for your favorite screen saver (the file will
have an .scr extension). When you want to lock your system, double click that screen
saver icon on your desktop, and no one can get into your profile unless they can type in
your password. If your User Account doesn't have a password, go to Control Panel/User
Accounts/ select your User Account, then click Add Password.
--

T.C.
t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
Remove [NoSpam] to reply


Jesse said:
When I press CTRL-ALT-DEL There is no option to lock the
computer. How do I correct this?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
tmoney100 said:
Torgeir:

Thanks a mil! Your instructions on a "elegant" desktop shortcut worked
beautifully. However, I have 3 questions:

1) why does the shortcut lock (back to the blue XP login screen) look
differently from the usual screensaver password prompt?
Click to expand...

I don't know.

2) What is rundll32.exe and how is it the command is able to lock the
workstation?
Click to expand...

rundll32.exe can be used to access some "public" API calls in some
dll files.

3) If I have now configured the desktop shortcut, what should I do with the
VBScript instructions you provided? What is a VBscript? why is it setting
the command for the current user and all users?
Click to expand...

VBScript is an easy-to-use scripting language that enables you to
automate tasks on a Windows system.

If you have created the shortcut manually, you don't need to use the
VBScript. The script would have created two shortcuts for you, one
on the All Users desktop (available for all users of the computer),
and one in the Quick Launch Tray (will be seen only for the user
that runs the script)


Here are some Windows Script Host (WSH)/VBScript Web introductions:

See "VBScript Primer" here:

Scripting Concepts and Technologies for System Administration
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/scrguide/sas_pt1_overview.asp

WSH
http://cis.stvincent.edu/wsh/index.html

Introduction to Windows Scripting
http://www.winguides.com/article.php?id=2

NT Gains Scripting Muscle
An introduction to Windows Script Host by Bob Wells.
http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=3026

Scripting 101
A 4 part series on how to create and structure WSH scripts by Bob Wells
http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=5410
http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=5505
http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=5683
http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=7112

VBScript Primer
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/maintain/optimize/script/netvbscr.asp


WSH 5.6 documentation (local help file) can be downloaded from here
if you haven't got it already:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/list/webdev.asp
 
Back
Top