XP and Screensaver. Mine has gone braindead

[Guest]

Call to all you XP gods and goddettes. Installed XP, all was well. Now for some unknown reason, my screensaver refuses to activate based on the timeout setting. The screensaver function still works, I can turn it on by running the .scr or hitting preview, but alas...it will not turn on by itself. This is a bummer for me as I tend to turn on the pc when I come home in the evening and it remains until I retire.I've done all the basic stuff. I've searched high and low on USENET looking for a similar problem. No luck in Technet either!Anyone have any insight?TIA,bt

[wsieffert 0]

Have you tried changing the Power setting from what it is now to something else, then OK, change the screen saver to NONE, reboot your computer, and set it back to Home/Office Desk (assuming here), then OK, change the screen saver to whatever, set the time for 1 min, reboot your computer and see if it works?How do you like that for a run-on sentence?

[Guest]

Thank you very much Mr. Sieffert for taking the time from your hectic schedule to answer my plaintiff wail in the wilderness because up till now, I've been stumped, but your kind efforts will provide me with a starting point, of course there is no guarantee that changing the screen saver to NONE, rebooting my computer, and setting it back to Home/office Desk (good assumption) would fix the problem after setting the time to 1 minute and rebooting, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, I always say, which reminds me of what my Uncle Chico used to say, "Braun", he'd say, don't throw the cat in the oven with the firewood...no strike that, that's stupid, no one would really say that!How's that for a run-on Thank You!bt

[wsieffert 0]

Yeah, I know but stranger things have happened. I remember a case at my previous work were the IS folks gave an employee a computer that was last used as a server. It had the Novell software on it. He would have the most strange occurances. In the box that selected the type of computer, it was set as a server. The IS folks told him that they didn't know what was wrong, maybe the unit was overheating, blah, blah, blah. I had him change it to a desktop on a hunch (couldn't hurt) and voila, his problems cleared. Just Luck, I guess! Or as we say in electronics, FM!!On another topic. We bought a Panasonic CRT HDTV about a year and one-half ago. Well, something happened to the blue drive. Since it is under warranty, the television shop has it. I called the other day and they says it has a "Unique Problem" and they are talking directly with Panasonic. The weird thing is when you use the setup, all the colors are present which would probably eliminate a bad picture tube unless the setup uses different input to the tube (doubtful). Just what I need, a blank wall to look at!!!

[Guest]

STBM...No soap. Any other ideas?As to the HDTV??? PFM, simply PFM! :)Cheers,bt

[brucek 38]

Hi Braun,I haven't been on the forums for a few days, so just saw this today.Let me know if you would like to check any settings with me on my system.Just a thought: Under Visual effects, the default is "Let Windows choose what's best for my computer." You might check that too. I believe there is a bunch of checked items in that location that may be disabled.I bought some books last week on XP, I'll check tonight and see if anything turns up. Bruce.PS. I wish we could get away from this smoke in the air around Denver, I've never seen it this bad.

[Guest]

Thanks Bruce. I'm leaving in an hour or so for 3 days training in Redmond WA. ( no...not a Bill's place! :) )I wont get a chance to check back until Friday or so, so if you come up with that "ultimate answer", I'm not ignoring you on purpose! LOLBest, and thanks...bt

[brucek 38]

Have fun in WA, Braun. I'll see what I can find.Bruce.

[brucek 38]

Hi Braun,In your screensaver issue- is the PC going to the login screen after the timeout set on desktop/properties?Also- I gather you have been to control_panel/power_options and made sure that the power mangaement function is not working to over-ride the screensaver function. Can you confirm that after the time-out that nothing occurs (none of the above)?Still looking through my XP book :)Bruce.

[Guest]

Exactly. No obvious reason. Probably something I installed. (said in my best "eeyore" voice.) :)Power schemes: Home/Office. Never, never, never. no checkno checkshutdownNo hibernateNo UPS. Must be something I've installed. I suspect a certain application, but I am loathe to delete it, even to test. Guess I'll need to "byte" the bullet and do the diligence. XP can be so sweet, and so rotten at the very same time LOL!TIA,bt

[Guest]

I'm bumpin this cuz:a. I can! :)b. Saw another thread on USENET doing google search. Stupid me, on testing a possible fix, I rebooted and lost (forgot) my search keys, and cant find the topic again. But the gist is this person had "exactly" same symptoms, and it was just recently. We need to talk!So hey everyone! If you're up to the challenge, and wish to try out your hopefully existing or learned google search skills, (group is for USENET) :) give peace a chance and help me help myself! I'm not asking you to find that particular thread, but I'm convinced its reproducible and fixable. I've done nothing that I recall that could have caused this. I have no other issues, except this dumb failure of my SS to activate. Best,bt (btw {by the way} bt means Braun Tacon. Its my "handwritten" signature over my signature block. You can call me Braun. Thanks.)

[brucek 38]

Hi Braun,You're right, read on:"OK I have upgraded from ME to XP home, but I have seemed to have lost the ability to get screensavers to start on their own! I can get them to preview and I can get them to work if I make a shortcut and click on it but I can't get them to come on on their own or to get power management to work. Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks Kiku66"(From the TweakXP forum).Searching deeper now.....Bruce.

[brucek 38]

Hi Braun,Firstly, there appears to be a common thread on some form of "bug" in XP when upgrading from ME, which affects amongst other issues- screensaver autoactivation. Just in case you came from ME.Here's another hint in another similar thread:"You didn't mention what screen saver app you're running, but if it's WebShots or similar try uninstalling it and then download & install a fresh copy. The logic here is that it might not have survived the upgrade or you need a version specifically for XP."I don't know if either apply to you. I've asked the original poster if he got it working again (see prior thread).I've been out of town, so haven't been looking for your posts.Bruce.

[Guest]

Hey Sherlock...I upgraded from ME to XP!Thanks!!!bt

[brucek 38]

Elementry, dear Watson (I wish it was :) ),I'll keep looking, Braun!Bruce.