Auto Screen Lock Button

G

Glen Bowers

Registered
Here's a way to make a screen locking button in OSX. First of all use Mike Elston's Screen Locker app to enable the built in screen saver password option:
http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=9047

Set the auto screen saver timeout activation to something normal like 30 minutes, or whatever you want.

Then make an alias on the desktop or the dock to the actual screen saver app:
/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app

Now you have a screen locking button that you can invoke whenever you want. 8)
 
Actually do not set a screen saver activation timeout period! If you open an alias to the screen saver app, then the screen is locked for 30 minutes, and the screen saver control panel will open another screen saver and you'll have two running and I can only ever get out of one. So that's bad, unless you're keen on remotely killing processes from another machine via telnet/ssh.
I recommend setting the time to never, and being vigilant with using your new 'lock button'.
 
Has away around multiple screen savers running at once been worked out in the year since this was originally published?

I have been using a screen lock key through Keyboard Maestro, and was wondering why sometimes I had to enter my password twice, until I discovered the multiple screen saver processes today.

My corporate security policy requires that I have the time set to 10 minutes or less, and I'm also required to manually lock my screen if I walk away (not that anyone remembers all of the time).
 
I simply activate the screensaver when my house is in the lower right corner, turn on password, and just throw my cursor into that corner when I leave my machine. Of course- it's not that big a deal... but still...
 
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