Locking the language bar in Xp?

Is there any way to do this. MY computer is used by someone who tends to turn the language into Spanish, thus my keyboard goes to pot. I'm sick of it and want to lock them out. Is there any way of doing this. passwords or anything? Weird thing is, it still shows up as UK English yet when I try to type £ it ends up as #........

Only thing I've found that sorts it is system restore, then I have to re-download vanti virus software etc. I'm still on dial up too so it really is a pain.

Any help appreciated!

thanks.

 

Password your account by going into Control Panel > Users. Then set the screen saver to ask for a password by checking the 'Display welcome screen' or 'On resume, password protect' box in the screen saver properties. If you lower the screen saver time to like 1 or 2 minutes, there'll only be a small window of time where someone else could get in and start messing with things without using your password.
This may not be foolproof, but it's quick and easy. I'm sure someone else can post a more secure way to do what you need to do. The method I posted will stop many people; it depends on their PC experience and knowledge.

hopperdave2000

 

Their pc experience and knowledge isn't good. Worse than mine in fact. Thanks for the reply. Will give it a go!

 

Also, assuming you're running 2000 or XP, you can force the computer to be locked immediately by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then press the Enter key. (Press and hold the Ctrl and Alt keys, (either one first or both together) and then press the Del or Delete key, depending what your delete key is marked.) The password will be needed to unlock it again but everything that should be working (such as checking for updates, running virus scans, etc.) will still run despite the locking. To unlock the computer, wiggle the mouse or press a key on the keyboard and the password screen will come up.

If the person who is misusing your computer doesn't have a user account and doesn't know any of the passwords for your computer, they will no longer have access to muck around with your computer and a password protected screen saver with a very short time on it is an excellent back up for when you forget to lock your computer in the way I described.

A hint on password protected screen savers - if for any reason you're going to be sitting doing nothing, such as reading a long page, keep your hand on the mouse. A quick 'flick' of the mouse as the screen saver cuts in will often disable it again straight away without having to go through the password screen.