4 All Memory Blog

It’s that time of the year again when your co-workers have probably conspired to prank your workstation and/or your computer. Everyone who works in a cubicle across the United States knows that it’s almost part of the corporate tradition to play a trick or two on your co-workers as a way of celebrating April Fool’s Day. And even though most office pranks can be quite harmless, some of them can disturb your workflow and potentially expose sensitive information that is stored on your computer. Because of this, it’s always a good thing to know how to protect your computer from common office pranks. It’s not difficult and takes only a few moments out of your normal work day to implement.

The first thing you can do is to set administrator rights on your computer. The easiest way to explain what they are is to define them as permissions granted by you (to administrator) to another computer user to allow him or her to create, delete, and modify items and settings. For example, if someone tries to download a program onto your computer, he or she needs to have an administrator right to do so. If you do not know how to setup administrator rights for your computer, you’ll need to talk to your company’s IT technician.

The second thing you may do is to lock your computer with a password before you leave your workstation to take a break. This will allow you to keep open all of your programs and files, and yet they will be hidden away from the eyes of those who might be lurking around your cubicle. It takes only a moment of your time to do CTRL+ALT+Delete or Window key L to lock your computer. When you return from your break, all you have to do is unlock it by entering your username and password.

The third simple thing you may do is have a trusted co-worker make sure no one is tinkering with your computer while you’re gone. But then again, he or she is probably in cahoots with the rest of your co-workers in the prank scheme. The best way to defend yourself against April Fool’s Day computer pranks is to watch your own back and leave it to no one else to protect your valuables.