Screen Saver Is Not Password Protected If Started Manually

When you select the Password Protected option for a screen saver, the password protection is used only if the screen saver starts automatically when the wait time has expired.

Password protection is not used if you start the screen saver manually from the Microsoft Office toolbar, by double-clicking the screen saver (.scr) file in Windows Explorer, or by clicking Preview on the Screen Saver tab in Display properties.

To use the password protection for your screen saver, allow the wait time to expire so the screen saver starts automatically.

This behavior is by design.

When you set a wait time for your screen saver and you select the Password Protected option, you are actually telling the Winlogon.exe process how long to wait before switching to the secure desktop, locking your workstation, and displaying the screen saver. When you start a screen saver manually, all you are actually doing is drawing on the non-secure user desktop. If you want to lock your workstation immediately, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Lock Workstation.