Re: No password option for screen saver

Joe M. wrote:
Upon inactivity I would like to activate a password protected
screensaver. However my screensaver settings in the display
properties does not have a password option. I've heard that if your
user account has a password then the screen saver will also, but
this isn't the case. When my screen saver runs there's no password
prompt. Can anyone help?

VanguardLH wrote:
You mean an option to enter the password, or an option to *enable*
password protection when the screen saver activates?There is an "on
resume" option to enable password protection. There is no input
field to specify the password as the same one gets reused that you
used to login to your Windows account. Are you saying that somehow
the dialog window shown at
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_stop_windows_xp_screensaver_asking_for_my_password.html
no longer shows the "on resume" password protect option (even if
grayed out) shown in the red circle in the picture?

Are you using the screen savers included in Windows or from a 3rd
party product?

Do you use auto-logging to automatically log into your Windows
account when you boot the computer?

Joe M. wrote:
In answer to your questions:

- There is no option to enable password protection.
- It is not grayed out, it doesn't appear at all.
- I do not use automatic logging. We have 3 user accounts and you
must log on in the welcome screen.
- These are with the Windows XP screensavers

VanguardLH wrote:
Are you logged in under an admin-level account when you check the
screensaver settings?

Is(are) the host(s) in a domain? If so, group policy can dictate
that users cannot modify screensaver settings. That includes
preventing the users from changing the time to wait before
activating the screensaver and disabling password protection.
Group policies are recorded in the registry so it is also possible
to enforce the same behavior using a local security policy. I
don't know what is the registry setting. However, my recollection
when using a group/local policy to disable the password protect
option (usually to force it enabled) is that the option is greyed
out to show that changing it is disabled, not that it disappears
completely from that dialog.

If you pick no screensaver (i.e., "(None)"), do the Wait and "On
Resume" option appear (but greyed out)? Do they appear (whether
greyed out or not) if you pick a different screensaver?

Joe M. wrote:
- This is a home pc so there is no domain.
- My account is the administrator.
- The "wait" and "on resume" are visible regardless if a
screensaver i sselected or not.
- The wait for _minutes is visible. The only option to chose is
"return to Welcome screen".
- If I select a screensaver then it will appear after the wait time
specified. However there is no password prompt it just returns to
the desktop.

Okay - so what I see here is that you have an account that is of an
administrative level. When you turn off and turn on the power to said
computer - you have to click on the user account name on the Welcome Screen
and enter a password (not blank) to logon to utilize the computer.

You select a screensaver (like "Blank" or "Windows XP") and you do not see
"On Resume, display Welcome Screen" or "On resume, password protect" - or do
you and they are greyed out? I am confused here - having read through it
all a couple of times. heh

Control Panel --> User Accounts --> Change the way users logon
What are the settings there?

How long do you wait before de-activating the screensaver to see if it
returned to the logon prompt/welcome screen? I'd suggest installing TweakUI
and checking what the settings are for the "Grace Period".

Have you seen this?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328000

Checked the registry value?
http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1189/

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


.

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