oh, so i decided to see if i can boot into safe mode. i could, but the 'Control Lock' thingy was present - in safe mode.
as i did that, i realized i've to wait a while before the screen shows itself. doesn't mean i reach desktop, then the screen shows.
umm, where do i find "Fast Boot" in the bios/cmons? under which category[sp]?
thx.
^^

and oh, i didnt see yur EDIT until i posted... anyway
I didn't ask, but is there any third party parental/access control software running?

Also, does your monitor settings have a settings locking option?
what do you mean by 3rd party parental/access control software...?
and i'm not sure if my monitor settings have that option.