lost screen saver

[Nancy]

I've had this computer since February ... with Vista Home Premium. But it
has only been recently that the screen saver won't work. What can I do to
fix this?
Thanks.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Hi Nancy,

See if this applies.

The screen saver does not work when you use a Microsoft wireless pointing device on a Windows Vista-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

The screen saver does not start after you install a wireless pointing device:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913405

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I've had this computer since February ... with Vista Home Premium. But it
has only been recently that the screen saver won't work. What can I do to
fix this?
Thanks.

 

[Nancy]

Thank you so much. That did the trick. I had bought a laser mouse and
didn't realize this would need to be done.
Again, thanks Mr. Genius!

Let me ask you this as a follow up. I see there are other optional updates
for my computer. Can any of them cause me problems or should I download
them all? I doubt some of them apply but then you never know. I did
download all the important ones but had not done the optionals.

Nancy
Hi Nancy,

See if this applies.

The screen saver does not work when you use a Microsoft wireless pointing
device on a Windows Vista-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

The screen saver does not start after you install a wireless pointing
device:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913405

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I've had this computer since February ... with Vista Home Premium. But it
has only been recently that the screen saver won't work. What can I do to
fix this?
Thanks.

 

[Malke]

Thank you so much. That did the trick. I had bought a laser mouse and
didn't realize this would need to be done.
Again, thanks Mr. Genius!

Let me ask you this as a follow up. I see there are other optional
updates for my computer. Can any of them cause me problems or should I
download them all? I doubt some of them apply but then you never know.
I did download all the important ones but had not done the optionals.

Hi, Nancy - The answer to your question depends on what the optional
updates are. In general, if they are drivers do not install them from
Windows Update. If you do a Custom update instead of the default
Express, you can see what the updates are. I think there's also a link
to click in Vista to see the optional updates (sorry not to be more
specific but the Vista machine isn't on now).

Malke

 

[Nancy]

Hi, Nancy - The answer to your question depends on what the optional
updates are. In general, if they are drivers do not install them from
Windows Update. If you do a Custom update instead of the default Express,
you can see what the updates are. I think there's also a link to click in
Vista to see the optional updates (sorry not to be more specific but the
Vista machine isn't on now).

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Hi Malke,

OK, I might have goofed the other day. There was an update for Nvidea (?)
which I OKed for download. Now, not sure if that caused it or not but my
monitor flickers at times. Could that have been the reason?
Nancy

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke,

OK, I might have goofed the other day. There was an update for Nvidea
(?) which I OKed for download. Now, not sure if that caused it or not
but my monitor flickers at times. Could that have been the reason?
Nancy

Yes, that could be the reason. You installed a driver for your Nvidia
card from Windows Update. You can roll it back. Here is general
information about drivers, including how to roll back to the drivers
that worked.

Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM
computer (HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific
model machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers
anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor or System Information for Windows.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.gtopala.com/ - System Information for Windows

If you have installed drivers from Windows Update, you can roll them back:

Roll Back Troublesome Device Drivers in Windows Vista from the How-To
Geek - http://tinyurl.com/346lox


Malke

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Glad that helped, Nancy. Thanks for the feedback! I see that Malke has answered your followup question. Just to reiterate Malke said, it's a wise idea to install driver updates only from the manufacturer's website.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thank you so much. That did the trick. I had bought a laser mouse and
didn't realize this would need to be done.
Again, thanks Mr. Genius!

Let me ask you this as a follow up. I see there are other optional updates
for my computer. Can any of them cause me problems or should I download
them all? I doubt some of them apply but then you never know. I did
download all the important ones but had not done the optionals.

Nancy
Hi Nancy,

See if this applies.

The screen saver does not work when you use a Microsoft wireless pointing
device on a Windows Vista-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

The screen saver does not start after you install a wireless pointing
device:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913405

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I've had this computer since February ... with Vista Home Premium. But it
has only been recently that the screen saver won't work. What can I do to
fix this?
Thanks.

 

[Nancy]

I see ... I should go to start-programs-HP-HP update. Sometimes the windows
update comes up automatically, though. Should I just ignor them? Or, at
that point should I close that down and open the above update method? Or
just "driver" updates? How will I know what update I should install and
which not to install?

Sorry for the confusion,
Nancy
Glad that helped, Nancy. Thanks for the feedback! I see that Malke has
answered your followup question. Just to reiterate Malke said, it's a wise
idea to install driver updates only from the manufacturer's website.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Thank you so much. That did the trick. I had bought a laser mouse and
didn't realize this would need to be done.
Again, thanks Mr. Genius!

Let me ask you this as a follow up. I see there are other optional updates
for my computer. Can any of them cause me problems or should I download
them all? I doubt some of them apply but then you never know. I did
download all the important ones but had not done the optionals.

Nancy
Hi Nancy,

See if this applies.

The screen saver does not work when you use a Microsoft wireless pointing
device on a Windows Vista-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

The screen saver does not start after you install a wireless pointing
device:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913405

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I've had this computer since February ... with Vista Home Premium. But it
has only been recently that the screen saver won't work. What can I do to
fix this?
Thanks.

 

[Nancy]

There was a second NVidia install that I had already done this morning.
Maybe that was a fix for the one 5 days ago because it isn't flickering at
the moment. I will try to remember to stop the automatic updates from
Windows I hope. I am very confused as you can see. Do you mean just
drivers or any Windows update?
Nancy

 

[Malke]

I see ... I should go to start-programs-HP-HP update. Sometimes the
windows update comes up automatically, though. Should I just ignor
them? Or, at that point should I close that down and open the above
update method? Or just "driver" updates? How will I know what update I
should install and which not to install?

Sorry for the confusion,
Nancy
Glad that helped, Nancy. Thanks for the feedback! I see that Malke has
answered your followup question. Just to reiterate Malke said, it's a
wise idea to install driver updates only from the manufacturer's website.

You want to set Windows Update to automatically download the updates but
not to automatically install them. You want to have Windows Update alert
you as to when updates are downloaded and ready to install. Then you
want to look at the updates and install all security updates. You don't
want to install driver updates. You can tell by looking at the updates
what they are for.

In most cases, if everything is working well and you're not a heavy-duty
gamer you do not need to update the drivers. "If it ain't broke, don't
fix it".


Malke

 

[Nancy]

Hi Malke,

I uninstalled the latest update on my nVidia driver but still have the
flickering monitor. I went into display settings and tried way too many
things but nothing helped with the flicker. It is not a constant type
thing. Just flickers every couple of minutes or so. Is my monitor going?
Thanks,
Nancy