If you want to leave your computer running but don’t want others to be able to access it while you are away from your desk you have the ability to lock it. To unlock your computer you simple enter your password assuming you have one assigned to your user account.
To lock your computer you would normally press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and then have to click on Lock Workstation or click on Start and Log Off depending on how your computer is setup. There is a way to make a shortcut on your desktop or anywhere else that will allow you to lock your computer just by clicking on it.
To make this shortcut, right click on your desktop and click New and then Shortcut. In the box that says Type the location of the item you would enter rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation. Then click on Next and give the shortcut a name such as Lock Workstation and then click on Finish. Then all you need to do is double click it to lock your computer!
If you don’t want to go through all that hassle you can download the shortcut here.
This will work on Windows XP and Windows 2000.
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