Keyboard keep-alive program

[joe14580]

I'm running XP-Pro on a PC that my employer provides. I work from home. The computer requires that a Windows password be input every 5 minutes in there's no keyboard activity. This might be necessary while at a workplace with people milling about, but is un-necessary at home. The IS dept. can't/won't disable this "feature".

Is there a proggie out there that can can send an innnocuous character every x minutes to keep this annoying windows PW screen from popping up ? I do have admin rights so I can install proggies. I tried one of thos AOL keep-alive proggies that are used to keep the aol internet connection up, but it didn't solve the problem.

Thanks.

 

[Smilin]

There are a lot of IT guys around here so you are likely to catch flak rather than advice on how to circumvent your company's policy.

I do agree that such circumstances would be annoying.

Get in cool with someone from IT and see if they'll help you out. Work with them, not against them if at all possible. Installing something on your machine that circumvents a security mechanism is asking for trouble. Never piss off: HR, Payroll, or IT.

If someone in IT can't hook you up then I suggest another shot at talking with your IT folks but do it like so: Use official channels so that responses must also come through official channels. Keep it polite and constructive. Explain what you would like and why. If a truly reasonable request like that is denied the IT guys will either have a very good reason, or you'll be armed with their weak reason in their official response that you can then move up the management chain. It just takes the right manager (IT or otherwise) to see a reasonable request with a stupid denial and the problem will get fixed.


If all else fails get one of those 70's era glass sculpture - paritally fluid filled birds that slowly tilt forward and back. Set it next to the keyboard and let it peck the spacebar.

Good Luck!

 

[joe14580]

I did speak with IT. They agreed it's un-necessary for a home-based worker but they couldn't change the parameter as all pc's are built from the same load. It was them that suggested a 3-rd party proggie since I do have admin rights on the pc. That's why I'm here. I'm not going against IT. I'm taking their suggestion, they just didn't know the names of any such programs.

Can someone help ?

 

[SunnyD]

I can see this being true the other way around - at home there is no monitor over whether you're actually doing work or not, ie: your manager can't just swing by and say "hello".

Which begs the question... IF you're actually doing your work, then why would you have to worry about your computer going to the screensaver? I mean really... if your work involves a computer, you'll likely have keyboard activity on it.

 

[joe14580]

Hey look. I'm not bagging groceries here. I'm an electrical engineer. You know, you print things out, you anlayze them at your desk, you go back to the computer and voila', it's snoozing, for the 50th time that day. It gets old real fast. Same for my schoolteacher wife who uses the computer at night.

Help instead of debate please ?

 

[phisrow]

I've not dealt with this problem in some years(ages ago, my family used Netzero, so I had to do a bit of scrambling for scripted keep-alive setups. Those weren't the days.); but this google answers thread looks promising:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=474403

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: joe14580
I did speak with IT. They agreed it's un-necessary for a home-based worker but they couldn't change the parameter as all pc's are built from the same load. It was them that suggested a 3-rd party proggie since I do have admin rights on the pc. That's why I'm here. I'm not going against IT. I'm taking their suggestion, they just didn't know the names of any such programs.

Can someone help ?

Ok, give us more details about what is prompting for creds.

Is it your VPN software, your policy enforced screensaver, what?

 

[uberman]

This might help you. It is a hotkey program that I've used for years. You can setup sequences and develop macros. I believe you can set up events to be triggered every five minutes. It's a free download for 30 days.
[http://www.startly.com/download/demo-qkw.html]