Password Protect Screensaver

[drdgrsnwhr]

Windows XP Pro, home user, cable internet. When using 'On resume, password
protect', [control panel, display, screen saver tab] after X amount of
minutes. When screensaver activates does that mean the PC would require a
password from anyone on the WAN side to get in?

 

[Bob Harris]

For the average user, or child under 5, maybe.

However, if security is a real issue, be aware that it is posible to get at
the contents of a hard drive by rebooting the PC and bypassing XP entirely,
such as booting from a floppy or a CD with its own operating system. (Such
floppies and CDs are freely available on the internet and are intended as
"rescue" programs, for cases where one can not boot XP, or has forgotten the
password. I have tried a few, and let me say that XP security is zero real
security.) Further, there are cheap (under $100) programs that will
automate this process of recovering files or resetting passwords.

Thus, a determined "spy" could probably get at the data within minutes, if
he has physical access to the PC. A determined "hacker" could probably get
at the data, if he has any access to the WAN, although that is harder than
if one has physical access to the PC itself.