dandvd wrote:

Martin, if you can make a small executable that tries to connect to microsoft.com:22 (using the WinSCP connection code), I can test if it prevents my system from locking.

Sorry, I do not have a time for this.

@dandvd: If your screen saver is disabled, then the fact that it locks is in the Power Settings area...

Right-Click on desktop and choose properties.
Choose the Screen Saver tab and make sure Screen Saver is set to NONE.
Then you should also see the POWER button down near the bottom of the screen.

Click Power and then the Power Schemes tab.

Under the PLUGGED IN settings column, set everything to NEVER and hit OK and see if that solves the problem.

I did some testing:

• If the hostname doesn't resolve, then WinSCP says "gethostbyname: unknown error" (that message could be more user-friendly, by the way – maybe the user made a typo in the domain name).
  
• if the host exists but the connection times out (for example, attempting to connect to microsoft.com:22), the "freeze" behavior happens: the WinSCP window doesn't get redrawn and the mouse cursor is the hourglass.
  

Martin, if you can make a small executable that tries to connect to microsoft.com:22 (using the WinSCP connection code), I can test if it prevents my system from locking.

OK, but I do not know what is it exactly that causes your system not to lock.

My WinXP SP3 work laptop locks itself (as if pressing Win+L) after about 15 minutes of inactivity. The irony is that I need to watch presentations that take more than 15 minutes, or I'm in online meetings where there's no need for mouse/keyboard and it pisses me off that the screen locks. I haven't found a freeware tool that would disable this bonehead security system (it's not just the screensaver, that is set to "(None") already), but:

If I have WinSCP connect to an unreachable host, it will enter some sort of hung state (the connection dialog doesn't repaint itself), and the damn screen lock doesn't activate! That is great.

Now, is there a way to extract this functionality into a tiny utility to prevent the screen from locking? This would be a really useful tool, as it doesn't fake any keyboard or mouse movement, and I've seen requests for such a utility on various forums (<invalid hyperlink removed by admin>).

Also, it might be a good idea to fix that behavior in WinSCP.