What does a red icon in XP's "Unlock Computer" dialog mean?

0

A user was working from home and had a colleague turn on her computer so she could remote desktop to it. All worked fine, but when she came into the office and used her computer for a while then locked it the computer icon had a red screen, instead of blue. Like in the following mockup:

Shocking
Mockup of red computer screen.

It didn't cause any problems and it went away when she rebooted, but I was intrigued to find out whether there was something that caused it or if it was just a windows oddity. I believe she just closed the remote desktop session (without really logging off) from home and then disconnected from the VPN before coming to the office. Any ideas?

wikiti

Posted 2009-11-10T14:38:49.283

Reputation: 628

@Arjan: O.O JPEG for a screenshot with extremely high compression. – Hello71 – 2010-08-17T00:37:33.367

@Hello71, it was not my screenshot, but all other images I could find were JPEGs as well. But you're very right: it is a horrible screenshot. (I'm on a Mac, and just added the red and the arrow, and saved as PNG which I guess makes you happy!) – Arjan – 2010-09-01T11:28:38.813

3

more details please ... “So…it’s blue, and blue…on the thing?” :) http://notalwaysright.com/de-ting-de-ting/308

– None – 2009-11-10T14:53:58.620

1

is that like this screen :http://www.techgalaxy.net/blog/RSOD.JPG

– joe – 2009-11-10T15:56:07.707

Like a red background on the tiny computer screen icon in this image? http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/5092239/lockedscreen-main_Full.jpg And did it actually cause any problems? If so, did she actually log off at home, or just disconnect?

– Arjan – 2009-11-10T15:56:47.317

3well, Joe, aren't you the engineer? ... (ENGINEER) PROBLEM ALMOST RECREATED. THING RED. :) – None – 2009-11-10T16:00:49.913

Arjan: yes, in the unlock dialogue the screen on the computer icon to the left with the padlock through it was red rather than blue. I believe she just closed the remote desktop session from home and then disconnected from the vpn. very curious :) It didn't cause any problems, it just baffled her (and me!). – wikiti – 2009-11-10T17:12:25.977

Hmmm, hardly a real question then? – Arjan – 2009-11-10T17:56:49.150

Heh, I've never seen that before. – AdminAlive – 2009-11-10T18:11:51.990

Answers

1

I have found that the act of using Remote Desktop Connection to connect to a Windows XP machine changes the color of certain application icons. For instance, the file manager I use has an orange application icon. When I connect to a machine that has this app running, the icon turns blue. When I eventually get back in front of that machine, and log in directly, the icon is still blue and stays that way until I restart the app.

Perhaps this is a similar issue? Just another display artifact introduced by Remote Desktop Connection. FYI, I have been remote connecting to more Windows 7 machines than XP machines lately and have seen no such anomalies.

raven

Posted 2009-11-10T14:38:49.283

Reputation: 5 135

Asked: 2009-11-10T14:38:49.283

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Active: 2011-09-22T03:27:27.983