Your laptop will have a Fn (function) and you can use it to control several different settings for your system. This can save you time but can also be an irritation for you as it is possible for you to inadvertently use a function combination to change something that you don't want to happen.
Therefore, in this article, we will show you what you need to do to lock and unlock the function key for your laptop. It is certainly possible for you to disable your laptop function key to avoid using it by mistake.
What does the Function Key do?
The first thing that you need to do is to locate the location of your function key. With laptops, you will usually find the key on the bottom row of the keys on your keyboard in between the Ctrl key and the Windows key. You will usually find it abbreviated to Fn.
Each laptop model is likely to have a different combination required to change system settings. You will usually use a second key in conjunction with the Fn key to change settings. Here are some of the most common settings that you can change using combinations with the function key:
- Adjusting the brightness of your screen
- Turn your screen on or off
- Change the volume settings
- Enabling standby mode
- Deactivating the laptop touchpad
So now you know what the function key can do for you, it is time to see how you can unlock and lock it.
This way you won't enter the lock if done is true. The second check inside the lock is to cope with race conditions if two threads enter the first if at the same time. BTW, you shouldn't lock on this, because it can cause deadlocks. Lock on a private field instead (like private readonly object syncLock = new object). Among the many features of the Windows 10 Creators Update came a new and innovative way to lock and unlock your Windows 10 laptop or PC. This new feature, called Dynamic Lock, can automatically. How to sign-in Windows 10 using a local password? Available on all Windows versions, the most.
Unlocking and Locking the Function Key with Key Combinations
The function key on your laptop is likely to be in a state of permanent activation or permanently locked. If your function key is locked, you can use key combinations to unlock it. The problem here is that different laptop manufacturers are likely to have different ways to achieve the unlocking of your function key.
Here are some combinations that you can use to try and unlock your function key:
- Ctrl + Shift + Num
- Fn + Num
- Fn + F11
- Num + F11
- Fn + left Shift
- Fn + Esc
If any of these combinations work on your laptop to unlock the function key then you should be able to use them again to lock it. Usually, these combinations work on a toggle basis to change from one state to the other.
Not all laptops have the Num key and if yours does not have it then try using the Ins / Insert key instead with the combinations. If you do not have any success with the suggested key combinations then you may find that your laptop manufacturer provides the correct combinations on their website.
Unlocking and Locking the Function Key on your Laptop using BIOS
Your laptop has a BIOS (basic input-output system) program that the CPU uses to start your machine. With some BIOS programs, you will be able to change the settings for your function key to lock it or unlock it.
If your laptop is turned on then use the shutdown function to turn it off. Turn your computer on and then press the F10 (sometimes F2) key so that you bring up the BIOS program for your laptop.
You will need to navigate with the arrow keys on your keyboard while you are in BIOS. Find the system configuration page. http://strvyla.xtgem.com/Blog/__xtblog_entry/19204942-autocad-font-shx-ttf-free#xt_blog. Look for settings for 'Action Keys' and when you find this for your function key you will probably have to use the enter key on your keyboard to display the enable and disable options.
Choose to either enable or disable your function key, then save, and exit the BIOS program. The BIOS program in your laptop is very powerful and you do not want to mess around with the various setting here if you don't know what you are doing. It can cause your computer to stop working altogether.
Conclusion
We have shown you two ways that you can enable or disable your laptop function key. There is a free application that you can download and install called 'SharpKeys' where you can change the functionality of keys on your keyboard. It is possible to use this to lock or unlock your function key as well. You can download the latest version of SharpKeys from here. If you are facing any problem locking or unlocking the function key, please leave a comment below.
3 ways to lock and unlock user accounts in Linux
There could be a number of reasons why you would want to disable a user in your multi-user Linux environment. Perhaps an employee left the organization and instead of deleting the user altogether, lock the account for archival purpose.
In this tutorial, I'll show you three ways to lock a user in Linux command line. I'll also discuss how to unlock the user.
Please note that to do these changes, you need to either root or have root access via sudo. How to play android games on pc online.
Method 1: Lock and unlock users with passwd command
The passwd command in Linux deals with passwords of a user account. You can also use this command to lock a user account.
The command basically works on the /etc/passwd file. You may manually modify this file but I advise against it.
To lock a user with the passwd command, you can use the option -l or –lock in this manner:
Unlock Computer
Verify the status of a user with passwd command
You can learn whether a user is locked or unlocked using the option -S or –status of passwd command.
passwd -S user_name
Look at the second field in the output. Here's what it means:
– P or PS: password is set (user is unlocked)
– L or LK: User is locked
– N or NP: No password is needed by the user
Here's a sample output of the passwd command:
standard P 10/14/2019 0 99999 7 -1
To unlock the user with passwd command, you can use the option -u or –unlock:
On Ubuntu, you'll see an output like this for both locking and unlocking the user:
What about login via SSH?
There is a major problem with locking users this way. Since it only works with the /etc/passwd file, the locked user will still be able to log in via SSH keys (if login via SSH key is set). I'll show you how to deal with it in the next section.
Method 2: Lock and unlock users with usermod command
You can also use the usermod command. The command is primarily used for modifying user accounts in Linux. You can also modify the state of a user by locking or unlocking with usermod.
To lock the user, you can use the -L option in this manner:
To unlock the user, you can use the -U option:
Here are some combinations that you can use to try and unlock your function key:
- Ctrl + Shift + Num
- Fn + Num
- Fn + F11
- Num + F11
- Fn + left Shift
- Fn + Esc
If any of these combinations work on your laptop to unlock the function key then you should be able to use them again to lock it. Usually, these combinations work on a toggle basis to change from one state to the other.
Not all laptops have the Num key and if yours does not have it then try using the Ins / Insert key instead with the combinations. If you do not have any success with the suggested key combinations then you may find that your laptop manufacturer provides the correct combinations on their website.
Unlocking and Locking the Function Key on your Laptop using BIOS
Your laptop has a BIOS (basic input-output system) program that the CPU uses to start your machine. With some BIOS programs, you will be able to change the settings for your function key to lock it or unlock it.
If your laptop is turned on then use the shutdown function to turn it off. Turn your computer on and then press the F10 (sometimes F2) key so that you bring up the BIOS program for your laptop.
You will need to navigate with the arrow keys on your keyboard while you are in BIOS. Find the system configuration page. http://strvyla.xtgem.com/Blog/__xtblog_entry/19204942-autocad-font-shx-ttf-free#xt_blog. Look for settings for 'Action Keys' and when you find this for your function key you will probably have to use the enter key on your keyboard to display the enable and disable options.
Choose to either enable or disable your function key, then save, and exit the BIOS program. The BIOS program in your laptop is very powerful and you do not want to mess around with the various setting here if you don't know what you are doing. It can cause your computer to stop working altogether.
Conclusion
We have shown you two ways that you can enable or disable your laptop function key. There is a free application that you can download and install called 'SharpKeys' where you can change the functionality of keys on your keyboard. It is possible to use this to lock or unlock your function key as well. You can download the latest version of SharpKeys from here. If you are facing any problem locking or unlocking the function key, please leave a comment below.
3 ways to lock and unlock user accounts in Linux
There could be a number of reasons why you would want to disable a user in your multi-user Linux environment. Perhaps an employee left the organization and instead of deleting the user altogether, lock the account for archival purpose.
In this tutorial, I'll show you three ways to lock a user in Linux command line. I'll also discuss how to unlock the user.
Please note that to do these changes, you need to either root or have root access via sudo. How to play android games on pc online.
Method 1: Lock and unlock users with passwd command
The passwd command in Linux deals with passwords of a user account. You can also use this command to lock a user account.
The command basically works on the /etc/passwd file. You may manually modify this file but I advise against it.
To lock a user with the passwd command, you can use the option -l or –lock in this manner:
Unlock Computer
Verify the status of a user with passwd command
You can learn whether a user is locked or unlocked using the option -S or –status of passwd command.
passwd -S user_name
Look at the second field in the output. Here's what it means:
– P or PS: password is set (user is unlocked)
– L or LK: User is locked
– N or NP: No password is needed by the user
Here's a sample output of the passwd command:
standard P 10/14/2019 0 99999 7 -1
To unlock the user with passwd command, you can use the option -u or –unlock:
On Ubuntu, you'll see an output like this for both locking and unlocking the user:
What about login via SSH?
There is a major problem with locking users this way. Since it only works with the /etc/passwd file, the locked user will still be able to log in via SSH keys (if login via SSH key is set). I'll show you how to deal with it in the next section.
Method 2: Lock and unlock users with usermod command
You can also use the usermod command. The command is primarily used for modifying user accounts in Linux. You can also modify the state of a user by locking or unlocking with usermod.
To lock the user, you can use the -L option in this manner:
To unlock the user, you can use the -U option:
How Do I Unlock My Computer
Dragonvale breeding cheats. How do you verify if the user is locked or not? The usermod command also works on the /etc/passwd file so you can use the passwd -S user_name command to check the status of the user.
But usermod also works with the /etc/passwd file so this means the locked user could still be able to login via SSH keys, right? That's right. But there are ways to overcome this problem.
For example, you can change the shell of the user to nologin and this will not allow the user to login to a shell.
Another method is to lock the user and provide an expired date in the past. What it does is that it disables the account on a past date and then locks it.
Make sure that the past date is between 1970-01-02 and the current date.
You can reverse it with this command:
There is a similar way to lock the user in Linux with chage command. Let's see it in the next section.
Method 3: Lock and unlock users with chage command
The chage command is used for changing the user password expiry information. It can be used to automatically lock an inactive user after certain number of days of inactivity.
Basically what you did with the usermod command in the previous section can be achieved with chage command like this:
Basically, you have set the expired date to 1970-01-02. You can see the details like this:
You can remove the expiry date and thus unlock the user in this manner:
In the end…
As always, there are various ways to accomplish a task in Linux command line. I have shown here three methods to lock and unlock users in Linux. Do you know a better way or do you have some best practices suggestion for locking users? Do share it in the comment section.
Become a Member for FREEJoin the conversation.
