• klseesea
• Nov 26,2008
• In: Software & Tools

Create a Shortcut Icon to Lock Your Computer Windows Desktop

Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screensaver.

To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:

1. Right-click the desktop.

2. Point to New, and then click Shortcut.

3. The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following:

    rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

4. Click Next.

5. Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like.

6. Click Finish.

You can also change the shortcut’s icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll).

To change the icon:

1. Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.

2. Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button.

3. In the Look for icons in this file text box, type:

      Shell32.dll.

4. Click OK.

5. Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK

You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

To add a shortcut keystroke:

1. Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.

2. Click on the Shortcut tab.

3. In the Shorcut key text box, type any key and Windows XP will convert it to a shortcut, usually in combination with the CRTL+ALT keys.

To lock your keyboard and display, double click the shortcut or use the Shortcut keys.

Related Article

• March 25, 2009 -- Greyed out buttons in "Display Properties Desktop" settings (0)
• February 17, 2009 -- Robocopy options for robust file copy tasks (0)
• January 21, 2009 -- There is not enough memory or disk space to complete the operation" error message when you open a file in MS Word (0)
• January 20, 2009 -- Sysprep get an unexpected error has occurred while changing your computer’s network identification (0)
• January 13, 2009 -- BDD 2007 faqs on Windows XP deployment (0)
• January 7, 2009 -- NTFS versus Fat32 (0)
• January 6, 2009 -- Versions of the .NET Framework (0)
• January 5, 2009 -- How to determine which versions of the .NET Framework (0)
• December 24, 2008 -- Screen Saver Tab Missing from Display Properties (0)
• December 23, 2008 -- Prevent automatic hyperlinks creation in Excel 2000 / 2002 (0)