Q How can I lock the CD-ROM drive when Windows 95's screen saver is on? The screen saver's password protection keeps people off my desktop, but if someone inserts a CD into the drive, the autoplay feature can cause problems.

A It's amazing what we have to do to keep other people off our computers. A CD-ROM's autoplay won't override a screen saver's password protection, but it can launch a program behind the scenes.

The best solution is to turn off autoplay. Right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the Device Manager tab and then the + next to CDROM. Select your CD-ROM drive, click the Properties button at the bottom of the dialogue box, click the Settings tab, and uncheck Auto insert notification. Click OK twice, and then Yes.

The problem with this method is that after you reboot, neither CD-ROMs nor audio CDs will start automatically ù even when you put them in the drive. But you can create an icon to get back at least some of the lost convenience: double-click My Computer; right-click and drag the CD-ROM drive icon to either the desktop or the Start button, and select Create Shortcut(s) Here. Double-clicking this icon (or selecting it on the Start menu) will autoplay whatever CD is in the drive.