Lock

If your main tool to earn a living is the computer, and you’re using it in an environment where you’re surrounded by multiple individuals, it’s best to secure your desktop so you’re not the subject of pranks, or others to steal important files. This can be done through default Windows features, or dedicated applications like Lock.

The way in which the application helps you protect your workspace is through a password, and there’s no default one configured. As such, it’s best to pay a visit to the configurations panel in order to set one up, and manage several visual tweaks as well. It’s also the place from which you can quit the program, with an alternative being to kill its corresponding process.

Accessing the configuration panel asks for the administrator password, so it can’t be accessed by everyone. There’s the possibility to change it every time you access the configuration panel, but you need to make sure you remember it, just so you don’t get locked out of your own desktop. When not used, the application stays hidden in the system tray, and interacting with the icon is the only way you can lock your station.

Unfortunately, there’s no possibility to set a hotkey command to quickly lock the computer. When locked, a black veil is brought up on your screen, with a small panel with a text field where the password goes. Sadly, there’s no penalty to set for wrong attempts, so your password better be strong.

However, the level of security provided by the application is a lot less even than the default Windows lock screen. For starters, the lock veil doesn’t cover your whole screen, and you can still interact with the desktop in the free sections. Although the application can’t be closed from the tray icon, and the veil stays on top of every other window, the Task Manager can still be reached, thus only delaying access to your files.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Lock isn’t quite the modern, and customizable new lock screen you expected to find for your PC. Even though visual tweaks are not the main attraction, it’s still better than the amount of security the application manages to provide, since it can be easily bypassed.