Many people lock their Windows desktop while they are away from their computer for a few minutes. In Windows 7 you can do this by pressing Windows Key + L. However, what if you frequently lock the desktop and would like a one-click shortcut directly from the taskbar?

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and choose "New" - "Shortcut".

2. The "Create Shortcut" dialog box appears. Underneath "Type the location of the item", type in:

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

3. Click "Next" to continue.

4. Underneath "Type a name for this shortcut", enter your desired description text. For this example we'll use the following:

Lock the Desktop

5. Click "Finish" to make your shortcut.

6. We're not done yet. Right-click your new Desktop shortcut and click "Properties".

7. The "Lock the Desktop Properties" multi-tabbed dialog box appears. Click the "Change Icon" button.

8. The "Change Icon" dialog box appears. Underneath "Look for icons in this file" type in the following and press Enter:

shell32.dll

9. Now scroll through the list of icons and you should see a nice lock icon. Double-click it.

10. Click "OK" on the "Lock the Desktop Properties" dialog box to close it.


11. Now drag the icon to the taskbar. Click and hold the left mouse button on the icon, then drag the icon to the taskbar until "Pin to Taskbar" appears and then release the mouse button.

12. If you don't want to keep the shortcut on the Desktop, you can click on the "Lock the Desktop" icon and press Del to remove it.

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