What is a Kensington lock?

 

                              

A lot of times you get to hear of how a person's laptop was stolen within a blink of an eye. This happens in homes, hostels, cyber cafes or hotspots and even recreational places considering the fact that these devices are handy and could be moved about with ease.

So today I will be telling you about something that has been in existence for long and you probably haven't come across it. 

A Kensington lock is a special kind of lock made for securing expensive electronic equipment.

Though they are typically used to secure relatively small mobile equipment such as notebook computers and projectors, Kensington locks can also be used to secure desktop systems and monitors.

Most computer equipment features a Kensington lock slot. The slot, which is a small rectangular hole that’s usually located on the back of equipment, typically goes through both the plastic exterior of the chassis and through an inner metal panel to make it difficult to pull out. The end of a Kensington lock has a T-shaped protuberance that goes through the lock slot and is then turned 90 degrees and locked in place so that it can’t be removed without damaging the equipment. A cable attached to the lock is then used to secure the equipment to something immovable such as a pipe or a piece of furniture.

See also What is a Software from our previous post

The Difference Between a Kensington and Noble Lock Slot and Mechanism

• A Kensington lock slot is 3 mm x 7 mm and fits a T-bar lock mechanism. 
• A Noble lock slot is 3,2 mm x 4,5 mm and fits a wedge lock mechanism. 

The K-slot is more robust and used on many popular brands such as HP, while the Noble slot is featured on more compact laptops and notebooks, such is the case with Dell models.

To use the K- lock, follow these simple steps:

1. Take the end of the cord (the looped part) and pass it through a fixed object like a desk
2. Take the other end (the lock mechanism part) and put into the K- slot and shown in the image above.
3. Take the key (comes with the K- cord) and lock the mechanism just how you do with your random padlock.

To unlock your device, kind do the reverse of what you did earlier.

The Kensington cable is made of an engineered woven carbon steel and sheathed in a protective sleeve thereby making it difficult to cut for someone in a hurry.