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CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA
Logging Off
The counterpart to logging on is logging off. When you log off, Windows closes all the programs and
files you’ve been using. If the files contain unsaved changes, Windows prompts you to save them.
To log off, click the Start button, click the right-arrow button to the right of the Lock icon (the
padlock icon), and then choose Log Off from the pop-up menu, as shown in Figure 1.2.
If you leave your computer unattended for a while, the screen saver usually starts running—
unless you have something open that prevents the screen saver from starting (or you’ve disabled the
screen saver). For example, a dialog box open on screen usually prevents the screen saver from start-
ing. The default setting is for the screen saver to start after 10 minutes and to display the Welcome
screen when you interrupt the screen saver. The screen saver gives you some protection against pry-
ing eyes (particularly if you’re using passwords for logging on), but it also makes it harder to see
who’s doing what on the computer. Chapter 3 discusses how to choose screen saver settings.
Figure 1.2
When you’ve
finished using
Windows, log off.
Making Windows Log You On Automatically
Usually, forcing each user to log on before they can use Windows is a good idea, because it helps to keep
your computer secure. However, you may sometimes need to set up a computer so that Windows auto-
matically logs in a particular user account. See the section “Implementing and Preventing Automatic
Logons” in Chapter 8 for instructions.
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