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On Windows 7, when I leave my station unattended, the screensaver starts. After a certain time -- although not exactly with starting the screensaver -- as soon as I leave the screensaver, the station will be locked. Of course this is the result of a group policy.
Why does the lock only occur AFTER the screensaver is stopped by the user (i.e. moving the mouse, using the keyboard, etc)? Why is the machine not locked independently from the screensaver? Upon first glance, it appears that the screensaver calls the lock-procedure upon exit, but this seems an odd way to handle the problem. I'd think, intuitively, that a second background timer would be a less fragile way of implementing it. For example, I recall -- from 10 years ago or so -- that it was possible to delete the screensaver program from windows via script by exploiting the auto-start function that CD-Roms used to have. Is this still the same design? Or is the machine actually locked, but shows a short locking screen as feedback to the user?
zuiqo
Posted 2014-08-22T10:03:50.407
Reputation: 676
How do you determine that? – user1686 – 2014-08-22T10:07:04.030
This happens because the computer has been configured to do this likely with a group policy. What setting handles this is well documented. – Ramhound – 2014-08-22T10:39:23.790
Thanks for your comments - I see I did not explain my question properly and updated it. – zuiqo – 2014-08-22T11:21:50.257
2I've observed this too, on my personal boxes (Vista and 7 -- moreso on 7). When one has been gone long enough for the lock to kick in, when you move the mouse to clear the screensaver for an instant you can often see the desktop before it's hidden by the login screen. I assume that the box is indeed "locked", but the login screen has simply not been displayed. It is a theoretical security hazard, but pretty far down on the list. – Daniel R Hicks – 2014-08-22T11:41:45.033
How is this a question asking for an opinion? "What are the reasons for ...?" "The reasons are a, b, c" doesn't really strike me as opinion... – zuiqo – 2014-09-01T08:03:53.313