14 DAY TRIAL // Keeping your computer out of the reach of the others may be the best protection you can get for your computer. Leaving your computer unattended you run the risk others to mess with your work. A software to lock your machine in your absence can be of great use especially if you have nosy colleagues or kids. During your leave they have unrestricted access you the workstations and who knows where they can wander on the Internet and catch some viruses just for you to have something to do the rest of the day.
It is useless to protect the screensaver with a password because restarting the computer will give unrestricted access. And if you have a password account, it can be bypassed by entering Safe Mode and changing the accounts and administrator rights. Pretty easy and achievable by the average user.
If you have inquisitive co-worker or a snoopy wife then you'd better get yourself an application that will lock your screen and more.
Access Controller is more then a screen locker and can also store messages from the others while you are "Gone Fishing". Besides these two functions Access Controller can also monitor the activity on your computer and store it into a log file. The price is $29 and the trial version has only a 30 days use period, no feature or option being restricted.
The interface is very easy to negotiate with as there is nothing complicated about it. Judging by the looks of the application one can say that it is a pretty straightforward program and its functionality is the best feature. While Access Controller is activated there is no way to access the computer as the protection is applied upon the boot of the operating system and Safe Mode can be disabled as well as a series of other Windows applications.
The Options menu has four tabs which cover the most important security related options. The first tab is dedicated to defining the lock mode (Lock Screen or Watch), the style of the screen (LED Clock displays a clock or Black Screen), setting the number of days the messages should be saved and defining the Lock and Watch Hot Keys.
Moving to Security the user finds the options for enabling encrypted log files, deactivation to be made only by the administrator, allowing blank password, enabling locking after booting, disable Safe Mode (these two options should always be checked). Equally important are enabling the software to ignore case when entering a password and logging a time of incorrect rebooting.
Access Controller is not one user access only software and allows adding more then one user to handle the software. This can be done only by the administrator and only s/he can add more users an give them recipient rights. The users can be added from Windows accounts or customized. Only the administrator has the right to configure or uninstall the software from the computer.
As expressed before, Access Controller can function in two modes: Lock and Watch. Lock Screen mode will lock your computer by a screen saver. In order to activate this mode all you have to do is double click on the system tray icon. Watch on the other hand is a way to test how many times your computer is accessed in your absence. The screen will not be covered by the screensaver and look normal, but nobody will have access to the files.
Everyone trying to use your computer in your absence will bump into the password screen and have only two alternatives: either leave a message for you to red when you return or step away from the computer. If Safe Mode is disabled and the "Lock after booting" is checked then there is no easy way to gain access to your machine.
Well, if you are in a LAN (Local Area Network) and have files shared and the right to modify them is enabled then there is nothing you can do as Access Controller cannot protect you against this.
The Good
Very useful application in an office environment with snoopy co-workers. The interface is very easy to handle. Very special is the Watch mode available and the message leaving option.
The Bad
I do not know what came to me to test if it works in a LAN. I was expecting failure but I had to test it anyway. And if you come to think of it, it would be nice to stop the file sharing while you are gone.
The price is the only issue in my opinion. It is a bit too high. There are softwares that provide similar options and more that are $10 cheaper (true that the interface is nowhere near Access Controller, but what loses in looks gains in functionality).
The Truth
All I can say is try it for the trial period, snoop the Internet for alternatives and decide. My opinion is that its protection does not come cheap at all.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
