Why Won't My Screensaver Activate?

Start the screensaver with a few simple commands from the keyboard.

A screensaver might not activate if it has not been set properly. A screensaver needs to be set to "enable" in order to activate after the computer is idle for the number of minutes specified by the user.

Significance

If password protection has been turned on (set to one), the screensaver will not activate unless it has been turned off (set to zero). Also, if a display image has not been selected (or is set to none), the screensaver will not activate.

How-to

To activate the screensaver from the computer's desktop, go to the monitor display properties (by right-clicking and selecting properties) and select a screensaver from the drop-down dialog box. Once a screensaver has been chosen, click OK.

Prevention/Solution

Ensure the computer registry settings are set to "enable" and not "disable" on the default login [login.scr] screensaver. To do this, go to the computer's registry editor by clicking "Start > Run >Regedit." Select the "ScreenSaveActive Enabled" value. Once this is done, exit the registry and reboot the computer.

References

• The Elder Geek: Enable/Disable Logon Screen Saver
• Microsoft: Set up your screen saver
• Microsoft Support: Screen Saver Is Not Password-Protected ...

Resources

• Microsoft: Instantly activate a screen saver
• Appletell: How to instantly activate your screen saver in Mac OS X
• George Mason University: Basic Security - Activate a Password Protected Screensaver