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In Windows 7, when logged in as a specific user, you can adjust the screen saver settings so that when the screen saver activates subsequent interaction displays the login screen. More specifically, this is labeled in the settings UI as, "On resume, display welcome screen".

The result is that if the computer is left unattended, someone else attempting to use the computer will be required to login (provided there was sufficient idle time for the screen saver to activate).

1) This is a per-user setting based on the user currently logged in and so has to be set for every user 2) It can easily be disabled in the screen saver settings

Can anyone recommend a way to globally set, for all users, this sort of preference? Is there a global setting (system policy, registry setting) or a tool which can help here? The idea would be to cause a certain period of inactivity to lock the screen (require user login on subsequent interaction) regardless of which user is logged in.

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    check this: howtogeek.com/howto/16929/… Jun 14, 2014 at 17:52
  • @FrankThomas Thats a great link, and will prevent changes to the setting, but you'd still have to go set it (the screen lock thing) for each user. Once you've done that the link you shared will prevent changes. I'm looking for a global setting or tool which will, for all users, cause the screen to lock after a period of inactivity.
    – Nerdtron
    Jun 16, 2014 at 13:05
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    are you looking at the GPO instructions, or the Reg hack? the GPO should be system scoped, whereas you are correct, since the keys are in hkcu, the settings are user specific. Jun 16, 2014 at 14:32
  • @FrankThomas, yes, the GPO is system scoped, but the part that is system scoped is just the part preventing you from changing the setting. You still have to go set the setting for every user account. Once you've done that, the setting will prevent it from changing. I was trying to avoid having to do something on each account and even with the GPO I would still have to.
    – Nerdtron
    Jun 16, 2014 at 15:10

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From a related thread,

Locking a session (either local or remote) is done using the screen saver settings. User Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization: Enable screen saver - Enabled Force specific screen saver - Enabled Password protect screen saver - Enabled Screen saver timeout - Enabled

Most of these GPs should also prevent the setting from being changed locally.

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