how can i get around this stupid IT policy?

[joecool]

ok, so the geniuses at my employer just came up with the brilliant idea that our pc's aren't secure enough (never mind that we all have to badge in three times just to get to our cubes, there still must be spies sneaking around just waiting to pounce on an unlocked, unused pc to steal all of our incredibly valuable corporate secrets!). so they "fixed" everyone's pc so that the screen saver kicks in after 10 minutes and locks the pc. they also took away all of our cool screen savers in favor of the windows logo, and somehow locked the screen saver so you can't change it. now, having to relogin every 10 minutes to check my email is just a major hassle, plus i really liked my old screen saver, which showed a slide show of pix of my kids. so, here's the question:

1) how can i get around having my screen locked every 10 minutes?

2) how can i get my old screen saver back.

any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

joe

 

[n0cmonkey]

Ask IT to change the policy.

This is a stupid question, please go away. I will not help you circumvent corporate or security policies.

 

[Geckotek]

1) You can't

2) You can't

If your admins have done their jobs correctly, you will not be able to get around this. The only way is for the admins to lift the policy or change your membership to a group that does not apply that policy.

And I mirror n0cmonkey's feelings on the subject.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Ask IT to change the policy. This is a stupid question, please go away. I will not help you circumvent corporate or security policies.

hmmm ... you must be the manager of the IT group here.

IT nazi's .... no computing for you!

you know, what pisses me off the most about IT types is that they labor under the misapprehension that they are the most important group within the corporation, that they know what's best for everybody else, and that the rest of us should just do what they say. what they seem to fail to comprehend is that they are a SERVICE organization and, as such, they work for the people in the company who actually produce products and revenue!

 

[arsbanned]

Speak with an admin personally, treat them well, and maybe they'll cut you some slack. Probably not though since it's company policy. What's it take, about a second to log in?
Ignore the screen saver. You can aloways turn the monitor off.

 

[Sunner]

ad·min·is·tra·tor ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-mn-strtr)
n.

1. One who administers, especially one who works as a manager in a business, government agency, or school.
2. Law. One appointed to administer an estate.

Aside from the fact that you might very well get punished for violating a corporate policy, there may be good reasons behind this scheme.
We have a similar policy where I work, while we don't care what screensavers people use, auto screen lock kicks in after 10 minutes, this in turn is because of demands from one of major partners.

Besides, if you did manage to circumvent the policy, what do you think the admin(s) are gonna think about it when they find out?
Assuming you don't get any kind of punishment, they'll probably be quite pissed at you anyway, speaking from my own experience, there are few things as annoying as users who think they're allowed to do whatever they feel like because it's "their" computer.

 

[stash]

1) how can i get around having my screen locked every 10 minutes?

Dont let the computer be idle for more than 10 minutes?

2) how can i get my old screen saver back

Run it on your computer at home. The computer at work is not yours. If your IT people decide to restrict these settings, then thats the way it is. If you do not agree with the settings, ask them if they can be changed. Circumventing computer policies at work is grounds for dismissal at many places.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Ask IT to change the policy. This is a stupid question, please go away. I will not help you circumvent corporate or security policies.

hmmm ... you must be the manager of the IT group here.

IT nazi's .... no computing for you!

you know, what pisses me off the most about IT types is that they labor under the misapprehension that they are the most important group within the corporation, that they know what's best for everybody else, and that the rest of us should just do what they say. what they seem to fail to comprehend is that they are a SERVICE organization and, as such, they work for the people in the company who actually produce products and revenue!

Didn't see this one when I wrote my reply.

I don't know about the people in your company, but working in an Operations department, my work description is basically "Keep things working", and that includes preventing users from doing stupid things.
Sometimes users feel that we're babying them, and in some cases, the users are right, they're given less liberties than they could handle.
But the reason is the old "lowest denominator" rule, there are some users who would screw up their computers in all kinds of ways if they could do what they wanted with them, hence they can't, and since they can't, noone can, cause if some could, the ones who couldn't would whine to no end.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Ask IT to change the policy. This is a stupid question, please go away. I will not help you circumvent corporate or security policies.

hmmm ... you must be the manager of the IT group here.

IT nazi's .... no computing for you!

If little people could offend me, I'd take offence at that. But uh, I take pride in security, and I'm not Jewish.

you know, what pisses me off the most about IT types is that they labor under the misapprehension that they are the most important group within the corporation, that they know what's best for everybody else, and that the rest of us should just do what they say. what they seem to fail to comprehend is that they are a SERVICE organization and, as such, they work for the people in the company who actually produce products and revenue!

You sound like a whiner. I'd give you a different screen saver. But you'd probably whine about having a butt travel across your screen every time you stopped working for more than 10 minutes. If the screen saver is kicking in that often, maybe you aren't working out in that company....

Really, STFU and WORK.

At the location I work at it is policy to NEVER leave your workstation unlocked when you are not right there. I wouldn't anyways because I know many of the tricks people play on each other

EDIT: I forgot to mention, there is a reason why the lower case L is used as the flag for USERNAME...

 

[Geckotek]

Originally posted by: joecool
you know, what pisses me off the most about IT types is that they labor under the misapprehension that they are the most important group within the corporation, that they know what's best for everybody else, and that the rest of us should just do what they say. what they seem to fail to comprehend is that they are a SERVICE organization and, as such, they work for the people in the company who actually produce products and revenue!

You know what pisses me off about users is that they assume us IT types just decided on a whim one day to just take control of their PC because we felt like it. Most policies, like the one you are currently subject to, get handed down from somewhere in the upper ranks of the company. Don't you think you're CEO would like his own screen saver? Don't you think the CTO discussed this with them in some meeting and it was agreed that the policy would be put in place? If this didn't happen, I expect some upper execs in your company would be yelling about now.

So get a clue....yes, IT is there to service, but they service the needs of the company, not what your money wasting butt desires. If you wanna produce some revenue, stop surfing the web and whining about your stupid screen saver on company time and get back to work.

 

[n0cmonkey]

A whiner probably caused this rule to be put in place.

<whiney voice -Think George's mom from Seinfeld>Someone replaced all my pictures and my desktop thingy with a picture of my screensaver and hid that little bar thingy at the bottom! waaaaaaaah</whiney voice>

<another whiney voice> But I don't work enough to keep this ugly screen saver from popping up!</another whiney voice>

 

[joecool]

dipsh*ts.

any real engineer knows you can't do any real work on a pc. i do all my work on a unix workstation. the pc is just there 'cause my it dept. is too stupid to figure out how to forward email to my unix account so it has to go to my pc. anyway, who the hell cares if i only check email once a day - most of it worthless crap from it anyway!

 

[chsh1ca]

10 whole minutes? Damn, I had mine (meaning my personal box and the entire network) set to 2. So what's the problem with 10? Really, this whole idea of being an employee/student and trying to circumnavigate company/school policies is ridiculous. No respectable admin will help you guys out, and in all likelihood, the 'respectable admin' crowd has the answers on how to do it. This is really something you should be taking up with your IT department. I mean, rather than bitch and moan on a forum, get off your ass and go ask someone if they can reset your screensaver for you. If they say no, too bad. It IS THEIR HARDWARE after all.

 

[Geckotek]

Originally posted by: joecool
dipsh*ts.

A very compelling arguement. You've won me over!

 

[Flatline]

There has been a policy like this one at every company I have worked for. The lockout policy is a good policy, since most users do not lock their machines when they go to lunch/home, etc. The restriction of the type of screensaver you can run is also (for the most part) a good thing, because many users install 3rd party screensavers which often come bundled with spyware or malware.

My suggestion to you is that if you feel it is important enough to have your old screensaver back, you should ask your IT staff whether it would be possible to allow your use of another screensaver. However, I don't think you'll have much luck because of two things:

1. This type of security policy is usually administered at a relatively high level in the Active Directory, and it would be more work than it would be worth to do something this banal.

2. You strike me as a person who really doesn't like IT staffers (your comments were pretty explicit on that point), and you probably don't make a big show of hiding it. Why would your IT department do you a favor (and that's exactly what even considering this would be) when they probably hear you bad-mouthing them on a regular basis?

 

[Flatline]

my it dept. is too stupid to figure out how to forward email to my unix account

I doubt that they're too stupid. Why do any extra work for someone who despises you? I very much doubt that you would do anything to make their lives easier.

 

[spyordie007]

wow this is some serious hostility you have against guys like me; *yawn*

Seriously though the IT department is a service; however it's a service to the needs of the organization and not the individual. The HR management is in charge of making the best possible decision for the organization when it comes to managing things like benefits and the IT management is in charge of making the best possible decision for the organization when it comes to managing things like network resources.

Just be happy that the IT department hasnt gone to the HR department and had you fired for trying to circumvent their network policies yet.

EDIT: Fixed spelling

 

[Cheetah8799]

I agree with the other IT folks in here. The company put those features on there for a reason. To keep the employees working, rather than installing screensavers of their favorite swimsuit calendar chicks. If you circumvent their effors, you could be fired, or repremanded.

If you feel that the extra few seconds it takes to log back is causing you to lose precious work time, then you need to talk to your manager about it. Good luck proving that the time you could spend installing your own screensavers is valuable to the company though...

 

[LarryS]

Sit something on a key.. something heavy enough to hold it down. The computer won't idle. We had this same issue at work.

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: LarryS
Sit something on a key.. something heavy enough to hold it down. The computer won't idle. We had this same issue at work.

This is akin to security setting a policy that doors must remain locked at all times and you sticking a rock in the door to prop it open because you're to lazy to pull out the key they have assigned you when you want to go through.

If I cought someone doing this to circumvent the security policy I would fire them.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: spyordie007

Originally posted by: LarryS
Sit something on a key.. something heavy enough to hold it down. The computer won't idle. We had this same issue at work.

This is akin to security setting a policy that doors must remain locked at all times and you sticking a rock in the door to prop it open because you're to lazy to pull out the key they have assigned you when you want to go through.

If I cought someone doing this to circumvent the security policy I would fire them.

It's always true what they say about technical solutions to social problems, so indeed, disciplinary punishment of some kind would be fitting in that case.

It's funny how some people think they should have all kinds of rights and liberties at work.
If you don't like, complain and tell them why you think it's a bad idea, if they won't listen, chances are you're either stuck with people who don't wanna listen(asshats), or your argument sucks(you're too lazy to spend a few seconds unlocking your computer.

Happens to me all the time at work, I do 95% of my work on a Linux workstation, but once in a while I have to turn to my Win2K box, and I can't say that unlocking it a couple of times per day bothers me.
Maybe someone here needs a new job?

 

[sharq]

The security is there for a reason. Maybe you don't think anyone wants the data, or that it's not important, but maybe they've had an incidence or two where all these precautions were necessary. IT is also more than likely only following what management told them to do. They don't live to make your life hell. Plus, like it was pointed out, it's your office, your place of work. If your employer decides that you can't have any personal items on your desk, or otherwise, then what's the big deal? You go their to work, do your work, then go home and spend time with your loved ones. You're going to whine about having to login and a screensaver? How about you have the computer "BEEP" when you get new mail. You can get the builtin computer speaker to beep if you disable all sounds in windows, and your email client can be told to make a sound. Maybe you won't have to waste time whining or getting stressed out over the screensaver.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I'd bet that this mandate didn't come from the IT dept at all, and actually came from higher up. the 10 minute thing makes sense coming from an IT dept (kinda), but the standardized screen saver reeks of management.

Anyways, if you only have to unlock it once per day, PLEASE quit whining.

 

[Abzstrak]

Originally posted by: joecool
ok, so the geniuses at my employer just came up with the brilliant idea that our pc's aren't secure enough (never mind that we all have to badge in three times just to get to our cubes, there still must be spies sneaking around just waiting to pounce on an unlocked, unused pc to steal all of our incredibly valuable corporate secrets!). so they "fixed" everyone's pc so that the screen saver kicks in after 10 minutes and locks the pc. they also took away all of our cool screen savers in favor of the windows logo, and somehow locked the screen saver so you can't change it. now, having to relogin every 10 minutes to check my email is just a major hassle, plus i really liked my old screen saver, which showed a slide show of pix of my kids. so, here's the question:

1) how can i get around having my screen locked every 10 minutes?

2) how can i get my old screen saver back.

any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

joe

Where do U work?

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I'd bet that this mandate didn't come from the IT dept at all, and actually came from higher up. the 10 minute thing makes sense coming from an IT dept (kinda), but the standardized screen saver reeks of management.

Anyways, if you only have to unlock it once per day, PLEASE quit whining.

I agree about the standards screensaver part.

Some people thought they were really smart when they decided everyone at work should use the same wallpaper, a rather nasty one featuring our logo.
Didn't go too well, everyone hated it and started screaming, except for a few people who got a little creative and edited in some flames and stuff to make it a bit more lively