Win XP - cannot get screen saver to come on?

S

Smudge

New Member
Hello:
I have a new machine with Win XP. I have been having lots of problems with the screen saver. I have the screen saver set to come on after 8 minutes of no activity. I have the monitor set to turn off after 20 minutes. Sometimes the screen saver will come on after 8 minutes followed by the monitor shutting off after 20 minutes, however sometimes (most of the time) the screen saver just will not come on. I feel as this should be so simple. Any suggestions? Thanks
 
Bad or missing "scr" files in the Windows directory. Scr is the three letter file extension. There are four ways to manually restore and/or replace the original files from the XP installation disk.

Method 1: Use Expand File in Msconfig.exe
loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand File in Msconfig.exe, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then click OK.3.On the General tab, click Expand File.4.In the File to restore box, type the name of the file you want to expand. Or, to locate the file you want to replace, click Browse File, and then click Open.5.In the Restore from box, type the path from which to restore the file. Or, to locate the source file you want to expand on your Windows XP installation disk, click Browse From, and then click Open.6.If the Save file in box is not already populated from step 4, type the path to which you want the file to be restored. Or, to locate the destination folder you want to expand the file into, click Browse To, and then click OK. 7.Click Expand.
Method 3: Use Expand.exe from the Run line

loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand.exe from the Run line, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, click Run, type expand source destination, where source is the path to the file that you want to expand on the Windows XP installation disk, and destination is the path to the location where you want to save the file, and then click OK.Method 3: Use Expand.exe from the Run line

loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand.exe from the Run line, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, click Run, type expand source destination, where source is the path to the file that you want to expand on the Windows XP installation disk, and destination is the path to the location where you want to save the file, and then click OK.Method 4: Use Expand.exe in the Recovery Console

loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand.exe in the Recovery Console, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Start the Recovery Console.

For additional information about how to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
3.At the command prompt, type expand source destination, where source is the path to the file that you want to expand on the Windows XP installation disk, and destination is the path to the location where you want to save the file, and then press ENTER.

Note If you have to verify the source and destination drive letters, type Map, and then press ENTER.http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;888017&spid=1173&sid=398

You also have the option to download other screen savers online. But these steps here are restoring the ones that come with XP.
 
PC eye said:
Bad or missing "scr" files in the Windows directory. Scr is the three letter file extension. There are four ways to manually restore and/or replace the original files from the XP installation disk.

Method 1: Use Expand File in Msconfig.exe
loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand File in Msconfig.exe, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then click OK.3.On the General tab, click Expand File.4.In the File to restore box, type the name of the file you want to expand. Or, to locate the file you want to replace, click Browse File, and then click Open.5.In the Restore from box, type the path from which to restore the file. Or, to locate the source file you want to expand on your Windows XP installation disk, click Browse From, and then click Open.6.If the Save file in box is not already populated from step 4, type the path to which you want the file to be restored. Or, to locate the destination folder you want to expand the file into, click Browse To, and then click OK. 7.Click Expand.
Method 3: Use Expand.exe from the Run line

loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand.exe from the Run line, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, click Run, type expand source destination, where source is the path to the file that you want to expand on the Windows XP installation disk, and destination is the path to the location where you want to save the file, and then click OK.Method 3: Use Expand.exe from the Run line

loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand.exe from the Run line, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, click Run, type expand source destination, where source is the path to the file that you want to expand on the Windows XP installation disk, and destination is the path to the location where you want to save the file, and then click OK.Method 4: Use Expand.exe in the Recovery Console

loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');To use Expand.exe in the Recovery Console, follow these steps: 1.Insert your Windows XP installation disk into your CD drive or DVD drive.2.Start the Recovery Console.

For additional information about how to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
3.At the command prompt, type expand source destination, where source is the path to the file that you want to expand on the Windows XP installation disk, and destination is the path to the location where you want to save the file, and then press ENTER.

Note If you have to verify the source and destination drive letters, type Map, and then press ENTER.http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;888017&spid=1173&sid=398

You also have the option to download other screen savers online. But these steps here are restoring the ones that come with XP.
Click to expand...


Ok - this is a brand new machine. Is this normal for a new computer. SOmetimes the screen saver will come on and stay on, but the monitor will not shut off.
 
The first thing as far as the monitor is concerned is to go into the power options menu and disable the hibernation mode. Make sure that is unchecked there. Then you can go to the power options section and choose the 20 minutes setting for shutting off the monitor. If the monitor has no problems with the standby mode you should see this correct that. With a screen saver active no monitor will go into a standby mode; not even an lcd. You can't have that both ways. If the monitor is already in standby mode the activation of a scheduled screen saver will only turn it back on full since there is now a new signal being sent. Assign the screen saver to none.
 
PC eye said:
The first thing as far as the monitor is concerned is to go into the power options menu and disable the hibernation mode. Make sure that is unchecked there. Then you can go to the power options section and choose the 20 minutes setting for shutting off the monitor. If the monitor has no problems with the standby mode you should see this correct that. With a screen saver active no monitor will go into a standby mode; not even an lcd. You can't have that both ways. If the monitor is already in standby mode the activation of a scheduled screen saver will only turn it back on full since there is now a new signal being sent. Assign the screen saver to none.
Click to expand...

This is weird but it "appears" as though I only have this problem with one screen saver (and it is one of the ones that comes pre loaded with XP, not one that I installed on my own). It is the aquarium screen saver. With other screen savers the screen saver appears to come on after 8 minutes (like it is set to do) and then the monitor shuts off after 20 minutes with all of the other screen savers that I have tested besides the Aquarium one. Any thoughts?
 
One immediate impression is that this one screen saver was either incompletely copied to the drive during the initial Windows installation or has been damaged/corrupted by something later. This was reason for the rec not to assign any screen savers. If you have a recovery disk that came with the system look for the "I386" folder on that. Otherwise you will need to have a regular XP installation disk axailable to manually expand a new copy of this problem file to the drive.

You will find both the Aquarium.scr and Aquarium.dll files in the "C:\Windows\System32\dllcache\" sub directory along with the other savers and other drivers for services and applications. If you simply delete those two files you remove that one screen saver. With the I386 even saved to a folder on the hard drive itself you can use manual commands to expand and overwrite that one.
 
Well, that is about as much of that as I can handle, Smudge. I can't let him do it to you anymore. He doesn't know what he's talking about, trust me. He relies on Google and when he can't find the answer there he fakes it. He's been leading you on a wild Google chase.

The Aquarium screensaver with XP is made by Serene Screen. It uses DirectX to function. The first thing to do is to check the status of your DirectX. Go to Start > Run and type in dxdiag. The first two tabs will tell you what you want to know. Also, download the latest DirectX.

The next step is to update your VGA drivers to the latest version.

ATi

nVIDIA

Matrox

If THAT doesn't work we'll have to dig deeper.. As in can you play any games? DirectX games to be precise.

This is all stuff to do if it never runs. If you can manually start it in your display properties and it will run until you move the mouse or press a key, that is a different problem.. Report back if that's the case.
 
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SirKenin said:
Well, that is about as much of that as I can handle, Smudge. I can't let him do it to you anymore. He doesn't know what he's talking about, trust me. He relies on Google and when he can't find the answer there he fakes it. He's been leading you on a wild Google chase.

The Aquarium screensaver with XP is made by Serene Screen. It uses DirectX to function. The first thing to do is to check the status of your DirectX. Go to Start > Run and type in dxdiag. The first two tabs will tell you what you want to know. Also, download the latest DirectX.

The next step is to update your VGA drivers to the latest version.

ATi

nVIDIA

Matrox

If THAT doesn't work we'll have to dig deeper.. As in can you play any games? DirectX games to be precise.

This is all stuff to do if it never runs. If you can manually start it in your display properties and it will run until you move the mouse or press a key, that is a different problem.. Report back if that's the case.
Click to expand...


Here is essentially what happens:

1. I set the screen saver to come on 8 minutes after no activity.
2. I set the monitor to turn off after 20 minutes.

When using the aquarium screen saver (I would just switch to another screen saver, however my kids really like the aquarium one) it will USUALLY come on after 8 minutes, however it shuts off about 15 - 20 minutes later and gets stuck on the last screen I viewed on my monitor. The screen saver will then not come on leaving the screen last viewed on my monitor on until I manually set the screen saver again. Also, the monitor will not shut off. This only appears to be happening with the aquarium screen saver (figures that my kids only like this one). Anyways, I hope that I can get this fixed somehow. Thanks for your time and effort!
 
Ok. So it does run... So you can completely disregard everything PC Eye told you.

Do you use sound with the Aquarium (most people do)? If so, try disabling it in the screen saver properties and see what happens.

Have you got the latest DirectX?

How are you with playing games? Do you or your kids have any DirectX games? Do they play fine? Any crashing or anything?

Have you got the latest video drivers for your card?

Let me know. I'll be back.
 
SirKenin said:
Ok. So it does run... So you can completely disregard everything PC Eye told you.

Do you use sound with the Aquarium (most people do)? If so, try disabling it in the screen saver properties and see what happens.

I have the sound turned off

Have you got the latest DirectX?

I do not know - the computer is a week old. I suppose I could try to download the latest.

How are you with playing games? Do you or your kids have any DirectX games? Do they play fine? Any crashing or anything?

No game playing - used mostly for work and kids are very young.

Have you got the latest video drivers for your card?

Again, brand new, however I could try to update

Let me know. I'll be back.
Click to expand...

Thanks again. Let me know what you think based on my responses.
 
Smudge said:
Thanks again. Let me know what you think based on my responses.
Click to expand...

He's too busy being in a rush to open his yap! without trying to effectively analyse the problem you are having there. :rolleyes: Funny I "clearly" understood your eaelier mention of this being a new system. What I did in the last response was point out where to find the file you are seeing problems with. Some people just can't comprehend that.

My advise here is to use another saver until the Aquarium files can removed or overwritten with a fresh copy of both the saver and it's driver. One or the other is somehpw damaged and causing the problem you are seeing.
 
Smudge said:
Thanks again. Let me know what you think based on my responses.
Click to expand...

Ok. With sound off (believe it or not, sound was a common problem with that particular screensaver. lol), the thing to do is to go back to the links I gave you in post 7 and update DirectX and your video drivers. We need to eliminate those problems first, because they are the easiest.. The way to troubleshoot is easiest to hardest. Not the way that was presented to you earlier.

See, with being a new system and a new OS, there is a distinct possibility that the drivers were not updated. Many manufacturers do not bother with all the updates, leaving it up to the customer, and the reason is simple. It takes time to do the updates, and time is money. The more time they spend, the less cash they put in their pockets. ;)

Try it and get back to me... We can always elevate to level 2 if we need to, but one step at a time. :)
 
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What make and model is your system? If you have problems trying to update video and sound drivers let someone here know. Sometimes the Windows installation is more of a problem if something there needs a repair or replacement of one or more system files. Typing "sfc /scannow" will startup the system file checker utility. Check to see if the recovery disk has the I386 folder on it there since the tool often requests that to verify files.
 
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