Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!
Will locking my computer prevent scheduled and autorun programs from running?
Macrium will run just fine as long as your computer is still turned on. Other automatic programs may have trouble, depending on their configuration.
Hi, Leo. Will autorun programs be prevented from running if I lock my computer so that it can only be opened with a password? Specifically, will Macrium’s scheduled backups be prevented from running if I lock my computer?
Macrium will run just fine. As for any autorun programs,… well, it depends.
Macrium uses the Windows Task Scheduler. It configures the task to run as long as the machine is running. But some confusion arises since you can configure tasks to run only if you’re logged in to your machine.
Macrium doesn’t require that. They actually set up their scheduled task so that the task will run whether you’re logged in or not.
Even then, I don’t think that would affect you.
Locking your machine
Locking your computer typically doesn’t mean you’re logged out of it. Sometimes, it does, but if you’re simply locking your computer, then you’re still logged in.
From Macrium’s perspective, the fundamental requirements are met: the computer is on and running. You also happen to be logged in. No matter how you configure them, Macrium’s scheduled tasks will run just fine.
On the other hand, if you lock your computer by logging out (which some people do), then yes, you are logged out. But, like I said, the Macrium scheduled task will run anyway.
How this works with autorun programs
Now, the term ‘autorun’ is also a little confusing. It usually refers to tasks that are automatically run when your machine boots up or when you log in. Locking doesn’t really have any effect on those because you’re not rebooting or logging in.
But as I said before, that is unless the way that you lock your machine is by actually logging out. In that case, those tasks that are supposed to automatically run will do so when you log back in.
Nonetheless, the bottom line is that as long as your computer’s turned on, Macrium should run just fine.
Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.
I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.
