If you use your computer in an area where others may have access to it, and there are things on your system you would rather have kept confidential, locking your desktop when you leave the computer is an essential task. Here’s a recipe for a desktop shortcut that will lock your computer in two easy clicks:
Right click on an empty area of the desktop and choose new then shortcut. The create shortcut wizard will open; in the first text box, type ‘%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation’ and then give your shortcut an appropriate name on the next page, and hit finish.
You will notice that the shortcut you created has a blank icon. To select a more appropriate one, right click on the shortcut and hit properties. In the shortcut tab, click the change icon button.
In the ‘look for icons in this file’ box, type ‘%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll’ then click ok to see a range of icons for your new shortcut. Choose an appropriate icon. Your desktop locking shortcut is now ready for use.
Right click on an empty area of the desktop and choose new then shortcut. The create shortcut wizard will open; in the first text box, type ‘%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation’ and then give your shortcut an appropriate name on the next page, and hit finish.
You will notice that the shortcut you created has a blank icon. To select a more appropriate one, right click on the shortcut and hit properties. In the shortcut tab, click the change icon button.
In the ‘look for icons in this file’ box, type ‘%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll’ then click ok to see a range of icons for your new shortcut. Choose an appropriate icon. Your desktop locking shortcut is now ready for use.
Try it out.
