Create a Shortcut to a Screensaver and Password Protect It

• Ever have the kids walk in when you were kneedeep in a website not appropriate for their young eyes?

• Ever been surfing the web at work and the boss walks by?

• Ever been involved in the "Young Babes Looking for Married Men" chatroom and the wife comes home early from grocery shopping? (tsk. tsk.)

(I made a free screensaver if anyone wants a copy.  Click here to see a demo. Click here to download your own FREE copy.)

Here's a way to instantly launch your screensaver and lock it with a password so no one but you can turn it off.

** These screen captures are from Windows 98.  Dialog boxes may appear slightly different in Windows 95, ME, and 2000, but, basically, the process is the same.  However, in Windows XP, this works differently.  If you put a check in the box that says "On resume, display Welcome screen and your user profile for XP uses a password, people will need to enter your password to get past the screensaver.  However this doesn't seem to work with a desktop shortcut. Sorry.** 

1. First, go to your Start button and choose "Settings", then "Control Panel", then "Display".

2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click on the Screensaver tab at the top, then choose the screensaver of your choice from the Screensaver dropdown list.  Also, put a check beside "Password Protected" and click on the Change button to create a password:

3. Note the name of the screensaver you have chosen (and memorize that password!!!), then click "Apply", then "OK".

4. Now, go back to the Start button and select "Find", then "Files or Folders" and when the Find Files dialog box comes up, make sure it is looking in your C: drive and "Include subfolders" has a checkmark beside it.  Type in the name of your screensaver and click on the "Find Now" button.  Note the location of your <screensaver>.scr file (you need to remember this location to setup a shortcut to launch the screensaver):

5. Now, close or minimize all open programs and windows so you are back at your Windows Desktop.  Right click on any blank area of the desktop and you will get a menu.  Choose "New", then "Shortcut".

6. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, click on the Browse button. In the Browse dialog box, be sure the "Files of Type" box at the bottom displays "All Files", then browse to locate your <screensaver name>.scr file, click on it to select it, then click on "Open".  Select "Next" all the way through this Wizard, and, finally, select "Finish".

7. You now have a shortcut to your screensaver on your desktop, which will launch your screensaver when you doubleclick on it.  You will also see that, after your screensaver is launched, when you move your mouse or hit a key on your keyboard, your are prompted for a password to deactivate the screensaver.

8. Unfortunately, when we need this screensaver most, we are not on our Windows Desktop, so doubleclicking an icon is not convenient nor "instant", so we need to assign a hotkey combo to this shortcut.

9. Rightclick your new shortcut icon on your desktop and select "Properties" from the menu. Select the "Shortcut" tab at the top of this dialog box and put your cursor in the box next to "Shortcut key" where it now says "none" and hit the letter of your choice on your keyboard (in this example I chose "S" for screensaver, but you can use any letter or character on your keyboard). Notice, this box now displays "Ctrl+Alt+<whatever character you chose>"  This is the hotkey combo that will launch your screensaver instantly.

10. Click on "Apply" then "OK".

11. Now, go into any program or any website and hit your new hotkey combo.  Your screensaver will instantly launch and it is password protected!!

Background Processes
Clean Desktop
Fight SPAM
GeekSpeak
HowTo Search
IE - OE
Interface
Passwords
Registry
Screensaver
Security
Shutdown/Restart
Sounds
Spyware
Temp Files
Virus or Hoax?
Virus News
Wingdings