Openetic ScreenKey

There are several ways through which you can keep the desktop personal space to yourself, and one of them is provided by Windows. Locking down the whole desktop with a password is simply done by pressing a combination of buttons. On the other hand, you can enforce this method with different kinds of applications like Openetic ScreenKey.

Considering its purpose, we can say that portability is a neat advantage, so you can lock any computer you work on, and even carry the application on a USB flash drive. Another perk of portability is that the target PC’s health status remains intact, because registries don’t need to be modified, but you do need to make sure .NET Framework is a part of Windows.

Sadly, the application needs to be launched every time you need to lock the computer, and unlike the Windows corresponding feature, the password you use can’t be saved, and needs to be written down each time. However, you can simplify access by attributing a hotkey to the application shortcut.

Openetic ScreenKey uses two lock methods, one that gives you the possibility to further use some desktop applications, while the other locks down the entire screen. There’s a transparency drop-down menu with up to 90 percent, and it targets the password prompt in order to make it difficult to identify by others.

Unfortunately, the way the application locks down your desktop is by closing File Explorer, so it’s best to save your work when testing it out. Since it hasn’t been updated in quite some time, there’s a high chance File Explorer remains closed even when unlocking the desktop, forcing you to manually open it again via the Run tool.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Openetic ScreenKey comes with good intentions, but it doesn’t differ much from what Windows is already capable of. What’s more, File Explorer is the main target here, and you risk getting it stuck in the process, while just locking the screen can take some time because the password can’t be saved.