Locking the screen with limited rights and universal password

[Ehtyar]

Hi all.
I'm having some problems at college. As for the background: My college is astoundingly stupid, in that there are per-computer logon accounts, instead of per-user logon accounts. Leaving out the security risks and plethora of other negative points, the accounts, while unique for each machine all use the same password. The following problem has got me beat: how can i lock my screen.
I have done some googling, but no glory. What I'm thinking is, if i were to install a low level mouse and keyboard hook, could i just eat all the keyboard and mouse messages until the user took an action to disable them (type a password etc)?. I realise that ctrl+alt+delete cannot be caught (short of replacing the keyboard driver), but if the user cannot use the mouse or other keyboard keys, invoking the task manager/windows security panel dosnt help them a lot. As a bonus perhaps i could use ogl or whatever to black the screen (keeping it on top of the task manager/preventing task manager from minimizing it might be a problem).
Anyway, let me know your thoughts/problems/criticism, and who knows one day my college computer will be safe from those nasty little peers of mine.

Thanks, Ehtyar.

[lanux128]

Skrommel's ToddlerTrap can do stuff like that, locking keyboard & mouse but you need passwords to lock the screen so another option is Toddler Keys.

[Ehtyar]

Thanks for the quick reply lanux, even though i wasn't here to see it. Toddler Keys is no good simply because of the way it uses the registry. I found ToddlerTrap during my searches, but without a password it is no use. I have trouble so much as understanding ahk, so editing it myself is out of the question. I assume the hotkey control is a necessary part of ToddlerTrap's operation, thus adding password capabilities to it is out of the question. If anyone is able to add a password to ToddlerTrap, or has another suggestion, I'd be very much obliged. Thanks again lanux.

Ehtyar.

[lanux128]

yes, unfortunately Toddler Keys not only writes into the registry but it also looks for the keys when moved to a new pc.. anyway, there is another Skrommel app that you may want to try..

WinLock - Lock individual windows with a password.
Features:
- One password for all windows.
- Only light protection.

[PhilB66]

Lock Windows Desktop

     

[PhilB66]

LockIt

[mlawhorn]

Black Screen

http://www.rjlsoftwa...ware/security/black/

Says it will only work on Win95, Win98, ME... but I use it on XPsp2 with no problems.

Can be defeated by power-off.

-------
This security application will lock your desktop from unwanted users. There are several display options you can choose from, a totally black screen, capture the desktop, or display a specified bitmap. There is a setup screen where you can define the password, display type, mouse options, and more! There is no installation required, just click on Black Screen and the first time it is launched it will configure your system. Perfect program to secure you desktop with no hassles.

[relequestual]

crap! some1 beat me to saying about black screen by RJL! i thought id have it covered! 
lol oh well
Donationcoder is amazing! my blog has kicked off now! appaholic.co.uk if anyone is interested

[Ehtyar]

Well, thank you all for your replies, sorry it took me so long to get back here.
I tried them all, and so far I've come to the following conclusions:
Black has too many holes; you can view the start menu, the keyboard still functions even if you can't see what's being typed, and you can use alt+tab.
LockIt appears to be a 200k taskbar icon shell for LockWorkStation, which is unsuitable for several reasons (see first post).
Lock Windows Desktop, however is excellent if i were to "roll my own" as it were (which i have been doing). Thank you very much for that recommendation PhilB66, it will come in most useful.

Ehtyar.

[TucknDar]

hey, Ehtyar, I remember you had some troubles with the infamous Ctrl+Alt+Del and Task Manager. I stumbled upon a thread on the AutoHotkey Forum discussing the issue with a few solutions. Maybe it helps?