Auto-Lock: Secure Options.

The Windows OS determines if the PC is idle and for how long. As far as I remember, the operating system counts the time since the last user interaction (mouse move, keyboard action). There is also a system function to temporarily suspend this timer, usually used by media players who have long running tasks with intended no user interaction. Some games also suspend the idle timer while they run.

I'm curious: why set you an idle timeout to 1 minute? This seems excessive from my point of view - having to unlock some app or even the whole system after I did no user interaction within the last minute would kick in so often and interrupt my work that it would immediately get on my nerves. At home, if I am about to leave the PC, and there are people around, I'm just pressing WIN-L to explicitly lock the PC. At work, this is mandatory policy. An unattended PC must be locked, so even if I just go to the restroom, I press WIN-L. Timeout not even required.