Odd Screen Saver Question

[SV]

Greetings,
I have a favorite screen-saver I want to use in Windows XP. I put it in to
the C:\windows\System32\ directory with all the other screen savers and I
can't get XP to acknowledge it in the Screen Saver tab of the Display
Properties box.

If I double-click it, it works, so I know the .scr file is at least
functional.
I tried and old trick of renaming one of the listed screen-saver files to
something else so I can rename mine (hopefully fooling Windows XP) and found
out that as soon as I try to rename the listed .scr, Windows XP creates a
NEW one and won't let me rename mine because 'a file of the same name
already exists'.

So I'm figureing XP is on the ball on this one, and that's cool. The
question is, how do I 'install' my screen saver? I'm not finding anything
in the Help section or on-line :-(

Thanks,
Shane

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

I have a favorite screen-saver I want to use in Windows XP. I put it
in to the C:\windows\System32\ directory with all the other screen
savers and I can't get XP to acknowledge it in the Screen Saver tab of
the Display Properties box.

Then it's an old 16-bit screen saver, most likely. They don't appear in
the list. Use the "Dependency Walker" (part of the "Windows Support
Tools" on your WinXP CD) in order to find out. Or download from here:
www.dependencywalker.com

I tried and old trick of renaming one of the listed screen-saver files
to something else so I can rename mine (hopefully fooling Windows XP)
and found out that as soon as I try to rename the listed .scr, Windows
XP creates a NEW one and won't let me rename mine because 'a file of
the same name already exists'.

No good idea. "Description of the Windows File Protection Feature"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=222193

So I'm figureing XP is on the ball on this one, and that's cool.

Nope. That's normal.

The question is, how do I 'install' my screen saver?

http://groups.google.com/[email protected]

 

[SV]

d-d,
Thanks for the info, now that you mention it, I'm SURE it's an old 16-bit
file. The Windows File Protection makes sense to me, fortunately a screen
saver isn't critical!

I took a look at Dependency Walker and it looks like it'll show me
information, but is not designed to let the screen saver play in XP. Is
that correct?

Shane

 

[Guest]

Just follow what that link to google groups tells you and rename your screen
saver with the SS on the front so if its file name is ... tiger.scr rename
it SStiger.scr. That should fix your problem.

The reason you cannot rename your SS file after deleting the other SS is
because it's simply been restored after it was deleted. First I would copy
the original screen saver(which you're trying to replace) to a safe location
outside of system32 and then you could move your file out of the system32
folder then rename it the other SS name and then drag it back into the
system32 folder and overwrite the existing SS, you won't have to do this
however because you can just rename yours with the SS at the start. Good
Luck.

Joe

Kemco IT Professional

 

[Guest]

If it is a 16 bit screen saver then why not simply start the 16 bit
application launcher in windows and leave it running so that it will start.
It can be found in your windows\system32 folder and is called wowexec.exe
Post back if you need more. TTFN.

There are three types of people in computing, those that can count and those
that can't.

 

[SV]

I never thought I'd use a Wayne's World reference, but:

:: genuflect::
I'm not worthy..... I'm not worthy...
:: genuflect ::

Add 'SS' to the front, OMG!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I LOVE simple when it's
combined with effective!
You'll have to pardon me, now, I have to go set the Compatibility Wizard up
on my NEW 'ss' named screen-saver and savor (pun intended) the result!
Guess I ought to remove the Compatibility Wizard settings on the OLD one..
apparently it creates a buch of 'temp files' to tell the system how to deal.

Much thanks, Joe!

Shane

 

[SV]

Well, I tried that and nothing seemed to happen except that other programs
got all upset.
I'll dig a bit into wowexec, see if there's something more I can do.
Thanks!

Shane

 

[SV]

Joe,
Well.. the GOOD news is, I was, indeed, able to simply add 'ss' to it and XP
recognized it as a legitimate screen-saver. The not-so-good news is, as a
screen-saver, it doesn't run right.

So, I started with the original file (not named with the 'ss') and I have to
have it in 256 mode or it doesn't work right.
I tried Windows Compatibility Wizard, but to do it, I had to change the
extension to 'exe'. No problem, change to 'exe', set and set the
compatibility.
Then, I went back to 'scr' and double-clicked and POOF, it's GREAT!
So I renamed it to 'ss' file and tried double-clicking (and using the
Display Properties) and it appeared to have lost the compatibility settings
(I guess they're based on file name).
So I changed the 'ss' file to an 'exe' and re-did the compatibility and
changed it BACK to an 'scr' file and tried it: Nope, doesn't work.

It appears that Windows handles the 'ss' files in some specific manner (I
guess it uses some 'shell' program to open them?) so that my compatibility
settings don't get registered, even if I use the original 'got it to work
great' file.

In the end, I DO have the power to simply create a shortcut to the file that
DOES work and, when I'm going to be not using the computer, just fire it up.

Now.. I'm all curious and must wonder "what program does Windows use to run
screen-savers?" hmmmmmm

Shane

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

I took a look at Dependency Walker and it looks like it'll show me
information, but is not designed to let the screen saver play in XP.
Is that correct?

Yes.