Bill Detwiler: Unlike Windows XP and Vista, Windows 7 doesn't launch a screensaver if you leave the computer idle on the logon or Welcome screen. But, there is a way to change this behavior.
I'm Bill Detwiler, and during this episode of TR Dojo, I'll show you how to enable a Windows 7 logon screensaver with a quick registry hack.
If you leave a Windows XP or Vista machine sitting at the Logon or Welcome screen, eventually a screensaver will appear.
In Windows 7, Microsoft opted to forgo the logon screensaver in favor of the operating system's power management features. For example, if you've configured the OS to turn off the display after 10 minutes of inactivity, then that's what it will do, whether you're on the logon screen or not.
Now, this can be a handy way to conserve battery power on your laptop or reduce the power used by your desktop. But unless you're using a really short time limit, your computers will still be showing the Windows 7 logon screen for several minutes.
Luckily, a few registry edits and a quick Internet search is all that it takes to give Windows 7 a logon screensaver.
To start, you'll need to find a screensaver that will run without Direct3D support -- as this feature is not enabled until after you've logged on.
This means that you won't be able to use any of the built-in Windows 7 screensavers, such as Mystify or Bubbles.
Instead, you'll need to do a little Internet legwork and find a screensaver that doesn't require Direct3D. This may require a little trial and error -- downloading the screensaver, making the registry edits, and seeing if the combination works.
I downloaded this free screensaver from TechRepublic's software directory.
The download file is a self-extracting ZIP file that contains instructions, a configuration file, and the all important screensaver file.
To install the screensaver you simply copy the SCR file to the C:\Windows \System32 directory.
You're now ready to make the registry edits necessary to activate the screensaver on the logon screen.
So, open the Registry Editor and navigate to the key:
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
Once there, you'll need to create four new string values.
So from the toolbar, click Edit, New, and then String Value. When the New value appears, enter SCRNSAVE.EXE for the name and press Enter.
Then, double-click the new value and set the Value data field to the path for the screensaver SCR file that you placed in the \Windows\System32 directory. Click OK to save the new value.
There are three more String values to create.
So repeat the process I outlined above to create the value:
ScreenSaveActive - and set the value data to 1
ScreenSaverIsSecure - and set the value data to 1
And lastly,
ScreenSaveTimeOut - and set the value to the time (in seconds) you want the system to wait before activating the screensaver. I've used 60 in this example so that the screensaver will start if the logon screen is left idle for more than one minute.
Once you've made your edits, close the registry editor. You may have to reboot for the changes to take effect.
Now, whenever you leave you machine idle on the logon screen, the screen saver will appear to entertain you. Just remember that your machine's power management features will trump your screensaver. So if you set the screen to turn off the display after 1 minute of being idle and you set the screen saver to appear after 5 minutes of being idle, you'll never see the screen saver.
Lastly, for everyone who's still running Windows XP (and that's quite a few of you) you can use these save registry keys to modify the default logon screen saver. TechRepublic Windows blogger Greg Shultz outlined the process in a 2007 article. I'll link to it from the TR Dojo blog.
And as always, for more teachings on your path to becoming an IT Ninja, visit trdojo.techrepublic.com, or you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/billdetwiler.
Thanks for visiting the TR Dojo.
