Vista Security Locks out Infrared Commands?

[Jason Dunn]

After living with Vista full time now for going on two months, I'm starting to see some ugly things that I don't like. None are complete deal breakers (I'm not going back to XP like Chris Pirillo did), but they're still a tad frustrating. Take, for instance, the way Vista deals with infrared commands. I have a standard IR box (the black one that comes with many Media Center remotes) connected to my computer running Vista Ultimate. I have it configured to go to a screen saver after 15 minutes, and to request a password to log back into the system. The problem is that while the system is in screen saver mode - or at the login screen - IR commands are blocked. This means that if I'm listening to music (my #1 usage scenario with the Media Center computer) and a phone call comes in, I can't just press pause on the remote. I have to move over to the machine, wiggle the mouse, log in, then press pause on the remote. It's a complete pain in the ass - it even drives my wife crazy when she walks into my office, wants to talk with me, and picks up the remote and presses pause. There's something very unintuitive about how Microsoft has set this up. I don't have an XP-based Media Center machine in front of me to test this, but I'm quite certain it didn't do the same thing.

Is IR a security risk that needs to be blocked when a system is locked? That must be the reason why they took this approach - unless it's completely a bug and is something that could be fixed. Makes me wonder...either way, for the moment I have to leave my MCE machine in a non-locked state because it's the only way I can guarantee I can control it with the remote. Not a great solution, is it?

[Leon]

Just pick up a multimedia keyboard and press the mute button. Not the ideal solution you are looking for but for the time being it saves you from wiggling the mouse and logging in.

[Neil Enns]

Why don't you just disable the password on the screensaver? The computer is in your house, right? Who are you worried about gaining access at the keyboard to the computer?

Neil

[Chris Gohlke]

This is the behavior I would expect. If the computer is locked, it should not accept any input until the user is authenticated. Any exceptions to that that create the potential for a security vulnerability. If it did not do it in XP, that was probably a problem that they consider now fixed.

Like Neil said, why don't you just set it to not password protect the computer at the screensaver?

[Jason Dunn]

Haha. Wow - an across the board smakdown. ;-) I guess I really am the only person that this bothers. ;-) To answer all the questions:

1) Pressing MUTE on the keyboard. That's possible, though it means rolling across to that PC when I'm usually at my main workstation PC. It would be faster than logging in though.

2) Disabling the password on the machine. Yup, that's an option, though removing security is never something I'm comfortable with. Yes, it's in my house, but I'm still not comfortable with a house guest or burglar having complete access to all my data and files. Keep in mind that because of FolderShare, every PC has every important document/photo/video on it.

3) Hitting mute on the speakers? That's a possibility, though again it requires me to move to the PC and nullifies the use of the remote control (which is kind of the whole point).

After some thought, I ended up just disabling the screen saver password entirely and now the remote works properly to mute/stop/start my music. It's still not ideal, but it works.

[Jason Dunn]

Provided your speakers remember their volume level after being turned off and back on again just connect your speakers to.....The Clapper(TM).

Haha...interesting idea. Let me look into that...maybe. ;-)

[ctmagnus]

Just no live music! ;)