In Windows NT 4 or 2000, pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del followed by Enter will lock the computer to keep other people from accessing your system. Strangely, Windows XP does not use the same keystrokes.

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait around for the password-protected screen saver to kick in; you can simply press the key combination Windows-L. In case your system lacks a Windows key (as many laptops do), there’s another solution. Right-click on the desktop and choose New | Shortcut from the pop-up menu. When prompted to type the location of the item, instead enter this command line: %windir%\\System32\\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation. Launch this shortcut to lock the computer.

Note that when Fast User Switching is enabled, the shortcut will simply return you to the welcome screen, leaving you logged on.

Merry Christmas, everybody!