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I don't know why or when it started. I just noticed that the laptop where I have Windows 8 has an absurdly short timeout to lock the screen. The screen that is shown is the picture of the current user prompting for password.

I have tried many things in an attempt to get rid of it. Note that this version of Windows 8 is not Pro or Enterprise and It does not have the gpedit.msc tool:

  • In the screen options, in screensaver, no screen saver is set, but the timeout field steel controls when the screen will be locked or turned off, so I set value 0 there, and it changes to the string "(Never)". Also I unchecked "prompt for password". But screen steel locks.

  • Googling I found that there is a policy, editable in gpedit (no available in this edition of Windows), to set the timeout to lock the screen. Then I looked for the registry key that sets that policy and changed it (but it seems that it has no effect at all, screen still locks with a timeout of 1 min approx). The key I edited is "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\InactivityTimeoutSecs". I didn't existed, so I created It as DWORD with a large value.

Machine is SAMSUNG ATIV Book 2, in case somebody knows of any software that comes by default that may be causing this. I uninstalled the trial security software and I'm using Windows alone with Windows Defender and my common sense.

Hatoru Hansou
  • 133

2 Answers2

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  1. Go to "Run".
  2. Type "regedit"
  3. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
  4. Create a new key - name it Personalization.
  5. In the Personalization key, choose New again and add a DWORD (32-bit Value) named NoLockScreen.
  6. Change the value from 0 to 1.
  7. Enjoy a timout-free life.

Sourced from fixedbyvonnie

qedk
  • 245
0

This worked for me:

Start/Search and type gpedit.msc, Right click the gpedit results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Group Policy Editor, on the Left Panel, go to User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Control Panel/Personalization/Enable Screen Saver and enable the Policy.
Once you have enabled that policy, go down and also enable Screen Saver Timeout. Note that in the Screen Saver Timeout policy there's an option to set the number of second for the timeout with the default being 900 seconds or 15 minutes.

Once you've enabled both policies and set the timeout if different from the default, exit the group policy editor. If you now go the screen saver settings in Control Panel you will notice that the wait period will match the minutes you entered in the group policy editor but it will be grayed out preventing you from changing the value unless you go back into the group policy editor and change it there.

Iain
  • 4,748