Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes
As an advocate of open source, I normally search for nifty pieces of software that I believe people can make use of without having to spend a single penny.
Open source software being free does fulfill the job but finding a genuine useful tool is also a challenge.
I’ve done today’s call to share with you winKeyLock, an open source utility that allows users to quickly disable computer access by setting up hot keys on the software’s menu.
The hot key combination can be as follows:
Ctrl + (A-Z) or (0-8)
Ctrl + Shift + (A-Z) or (0-8)
Alt + (A-Z) or (0-8)
If winKeyLock is activated, settings such as keyboard, mouse buttons, mouse wheel, and mouse movement are locked depending on your preference.
winKeyLock options
Disabling screen saver is something that you might not care about using because even if you enable it and you activate the lock, the screen saver will just disappear. So, it doesn’t serve much purpose.
Whenever the lock is activated, a tray icon can be seen like the one below.
winKeyLock tray icon
These icons are changeable via the icon tab options in the menu. If you double click the lock icon, the software or lock is activated which means you have to unlock it using the hot key that you’ve set in the beginning.
Remember your hot keys and set it first before doing anything else if you don’t want to lock yourself out from your own computer.
Normally, you will see the word “None” as default on the hot key fields. Simply press the Backspace button on your keyboard to change the hot key values.
The General tab menu options however is something that you cannot setup at the moment for auto launching the software at Windows startup. I believe that it’s something that has not been improved but overall, winKeyLock is operational and useful.
You may download winKeyLock and get support from here. I’ll entertain questions as well on the comments section.
Update: The salient feature that is not out-rightly showcased on this post is the ability of this program to lock the screen without having to make the screen blank compared to using the usual Windows locking procedure that brings you back to Windows welcome page.
In other words, using this locking software allows you to lock any screen interruptions that maybe caused by keyboard or mouse presses and clicks, respectively while keeping what’s on the screen like an open webpage, media player or while watching an online video.
You literally keep what’s on the screen uninterrupted once the lock is activated even with kids around your computer that can simply sneak-in pressing keys and touching your mouse.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Windows does have an option to Lock your screen. Why does anybody need a separate software for the same
John Samuel´s last blog ..How to give Credit to the Top Commentators of your Blog?
It would be ridiculous not to think that there are users that would prefer other workarounds or tools that would work for them. If Windows per se is solely designed to alienate programs or applications not supported by Microsoft, it’s unthinkable that commercial software, open source and freeware would have been created if end users aren’t locked up with fewer options that could be improved.
I wouldn’t be blogging on WordPress either if blogging with Windows Live or Blogger is way better or I wouldn’t be using Google if I believe Live search outperforms Google in terms of relevant search results or I wouldn’t be using open source software if using Firefox is a stupid thing than using the built-in IE on Windows OS, don’t you think?
Software developers aren’t stupid to think that Windows does have some functionality similar above which they believe aren’t enough. If users don’t find it useful, they won’t force it anyway. People with an open mind and are willing to try other ways and methods is what matters to them and for the open source community.
Hi Mathdelane, it is always good to have many options. But seemed strange to have a software for a simple function like locking
John Samuel´s last blog ..How to give Credit to the Top Commentators of your Blog?
Blogging about software is difficult because some readers may have tendencies to make assumptions and utterly react without even showcasing concrete evidence or supportive facts either by virtue of challenging opinions and/or experiences which is very much of a conversation starter. I’m not against good conversations, I love it.
Great to see your instant replies. But after reading the post, I was wondering about the need for a software for such a small purpose. And that’s the comment. Anyway it was good to see the conversation moving
John Samuel´s last blog ..How to give Credit to the Top Commentators of your Blog?
Note: This post has been updated to showcase some salient features of the software not mentioned prior to publishing the comments above.
This software made functional to me. I need to use other locking utility since my administrator password is known to all my office mates. My pc is being used for administrations so I need a same password with rest of the client pc.