Password access to my desktop
 

I've never done this before and I'm sick of other people in the house using my machine when I tell them NOT to. Somebody said I need to set this up through BIOS. Is there a way to do it in Windows? I want password entry to be required upon boot up and after getting rid of the screen saver.

Just create an user account with a password. Soblem Provled.

Usually to get into your BIOS you have to press the 'delete' key while the computer is starting up and loads up that BIOS screen. If it's not the delete key then the screen will usually say what button to press to get into there. There will be an option in there to set up a password there.

To set up a password on Windows XP click onto the Start Menu and click on the account at the top. It should bring you to a page where you can click onto your account and set a password. If you are worried about other people getting into your files and all that then disable the Guest account, then no one but you can get onto the computer.

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/8881/1xi7.png
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/4522/2su0.png
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2981/3rn1.png

To make the password prompt appear after the screen saver has been turned off, you have to assign your account a password. Then go to your desktop and right click on it and scroll down to properties. Go to the screensaver tab and click the box that says, 'On resume, password protect.'

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/20/4lb7.png

Alternatively there are other programs out there that can password protect your files and folders if you absolutely have to share your computer. Some of the programs I saw in a recent PC World magazine was like DES Lock or something like that. If you search PC World for password protecting programs I'm sure you'll find that article.

A bit off-topic, but hey. Maico got all your bases covered.

I've found that sometimes the best way to hide stuff is to hide them in plain sight. The more I've tried to password-protect stuff, the more curious people become :p

You can just make any files you don't want to be shared hidden and in the folder options to not show hidden files. Essentialy Zergrinch's idea. But yes, Inside Windows will allow you to put a password on the user account, even if you only have 1. It will be the same password for both your Windows Boot as well as your Screen saver return.

One other thing you should do to protect your Windows 2000/XP password is to put a password on the BIOS Configuration and change the boot order, as there is a way to run a program off CD and kill a Windows 2000/XP password.

Of course, granted there are ways around the BIOS password thing too, but all this depends on how smart the other people are and how worried you are about your data and such.

One thing about Windows "hidden" folders is that people can log onto other accounts and still access your folders and files only if they know the exact path to them. Like if My Documents were stored in the path "C:\Documents and Settings\Computers\My Documents\Maico\Hidden Stuff" and someone logged onto another account, they wouldn't be able to see my folders when they open up the hard drive folders from My Computer or My Documents, but they could go into the run prompt and type exactly "C:\Documents and Settings\Computers\My Documents\Maico\Hidden Stuff" to bring up that folder and access the files.

Quick tip if you've put a password on your account, are truly paranoid and don't want to wait around for ten minutes or however long for the screensaver to appear: If you hold the "Windows" key on your keyboard, then press "L", you can lock you PC. I'm not sure if it's a widely known shortcut, but it's one I certainly find useful.