So my computer has picked up a new trick. Unless I interact with it on a constant basis, it locks itself automatically. Given that it only takes about 5 mins of idle to lock, this tends to get really frustrating when doing homework.

The problem shouldn't be related to the screensaver, as all of that is turned off, and set to never come on.

Does anyone know a way to force my computer to never lock itself?

Not sure about locking, but check in the power management preferences and see if it is going into hibernate mode.

go in and check your advanced power control settings,

control panel -> power otions -> either (display or sleeps) -> change advanced power settings
check all your settings

if you have done this or do this and it still acts up, it might be something deeper ive yet to run into... let me know

[Edit: Double Post]

Just double checked every power setting, and it's set to not require a password on wakeup, and even set to never go to sleep on the battery. There is no setting for a simple log off anywhere that i can find.

It's currently set to do nothing on lid close, sleep only when the sleep button is pressed, and all screensavers are disabled. Additionally, if the screen saver were to turn on, it still wouldn't ask for a password.

The only recent software installed was Windows Live Messenger. I'm thinking Vista has finally realized my computer is as easy to access as a $5 whore, and has decided to change that for it's own amusement.