There was lengthy discussion about this a couple of years back on XDA Developers, but no satisfactory answer was ever given. So I'll ask the knowledgeable bunch here!

Anyone know of a way to force the Prompt For Password screen (PromptForPasswd system call) on a Windows Mobile 6 device to kick in?

I already know the following:

• You can set this under Settings > Personal > Lock, giving a value for "Prompt if deviced unusued for..."

• Setting the above value to 0 causes the prompt to appear after every Suspend or device reboot.

The problem is, using the automatic prompt is terribly inconvenient. I often have to leave my phone on my desk, connected to the computer, and my office is not a secured spot. If I set the timeout low, I find myself constantly unlocking it while getting things done. If I set it too high, I can't leave it unattended for fear that someone will get hold of it before the timeout kicks in. (No, I don't trust my coworkers.) If set to 0, then it interferes with things like ActiveSync sessions and data transfer.

I'd much rather be able to forego the automatic locking, and be able to lock it whenever I wanted to, preferably via a shortcut item on the Start menu. Unfortunately, my reading tells me that the lock is actually applied in two locations, the registry and in memory. Creating a registry key to change that value would be easy enough, but I'm not savvy enough with my programming to tinker with the latter.

I wouldn't be against using a third party program to trigger it, provided that's all it does. Have heard way too many horror stories of people being locked out of their phones by third party software, so very wary there.

Any suggestions?

[maze1980]

Hi,

I didn't try the software yet:

---quote begin---
pin lock your device
For somebody who develop “Stay Unlock” utility, it’s quite an ironical that I badly need a software that could initiate a pin lock (or device lock) on demand. Pin Lock is a small utility (just one liner code to be honest) that does that, and now I feel much safer …

you can download here
--- quote end ---

URL:
http://journal.zenyee.com/2008/10/16/pi ... ur-device/

I opened your thread cuz I'm looking for exact the same...thus I'll try that tool this weekend. First on the Device Emulator, and if it works I'll try it on my phone. And if it's ok I'll do another ppcw freeware release, maybe.

EDIT: It does what it's supposed to do. I set a button to call the program ("Pin Lock").
It doesn't turn the device or backlight off automatically, you have to wait or do that manually.

EDIT:
Released here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=64889

maze

Thanks for the response, Maze. Actually, came across the Pin Lock post before I found your reply.

Was somewhat leery of Pin Lock, since nobody here had said much about it. But I got brave after reading the author's description, and gave it a shot. And it's EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Threw a shortcut to it on my Start menu, and turned the system timeout up to 12 hours. Works like a charm--now I can lock it when I feel like it, and I don't have the system constantly locking it and annoying me.

Love it!