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31

Friday, November 07, 2003

Icon for quick desktop lock in XP

Have there been times you wished you could do a one click lockdown in XP? A single button you could click and the system would go back to the login screen but keep all your programs running? Want to keep your roommate or little sister/brother off your system while you go out but can't shut down because you're downloading?

Well there's a very easy way to do it. I'll show you how to make an icon that you can click on and locks your system.

You can put this icon anywhere you want. However, I find it most useful on the quick launch bar since with a single, fast click you can lock your system. Much faster than using the log off button in the start menu.

Step one:
Create a shortcut on your desktop. Just right click anywhere and select "new" then "shortcut"

step two:
Enter the following text for the location, minus the quotes:
"%windir%System32rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation"
then name the shortcut "LockDown"

step three:
Right click on the new shortcut and chose "properties". Click on the "Change Icon..." button. Change the Look for icons in this file to "%windir%System32shell32.dll". Select the Padlock icon (bottom row, 12 from the left).

Step four: drag and drop the new icon onto your quick launch bar.

Finally, click it and give it a try. It should cause the system to go to your login screen. However all your programs will still be running when you log back in.

How cool is that!

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