Screen saver fails to activate... sometimes

[Jonathan Sachs]

Sometimes my screen saver kicks in automatically when I leave my
computer unattended. Sometimes it doesn't. I have not been able to
identify the reason.

The usual consequence of this is that I return to the computer and
type my password "blind" with the monitor on standby; then when the
monitor powers up I find that I have typed the password into an
application instead of the "Unlock Computer" box. This is an
irritation more than a serious problem, but I'd like to get to the
bottom of it.

I am running Windows XP with Service Pack 2. The display card is an
ATI Radeon 9600 with driver version 8.360.0.0, from ATI's Catalyst
suite version 7.4. I doubt that the card or driver is responsible
because the problem began when I was using a much older card from a
different vendor. I'm not sure what other facts might be relevant.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

Sometimes my screen saver kicks in automatically when I leave my
computer unattended. Sometimes it doesn't. I have not been able to
identify the reason....

I checked earlier traffic in this NG and found references to KB
articles that associate this problem with a wireless mouse and the
processes PCMservice.exe, PCM, DVDLauncher, and ehtray.exe. I have a
wireless (Microsoft) mouse, but my system is not running any of those
processes, so I think the problem must be elsewhere.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

The screen saver does not work when you use a Wireless Optical Desktop mouse on a Windows XP SP2-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

The screen saver does not work on a Windows XP-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916256

Microsoft HID update for Microsoft Wireless Hardware devices:
http://jtsang.blogspot.com/2007/02/microsoft-hid-update-for-microsoft.html

--
Regards,

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

Sometimes my screen saver kicks in automatically when I leave my
computer unattended. Sometimes it doesn't. I have not been able to
identify the reason....

I checked earlier traffic in this NG and found references to KB
articles that associate this problem with a wireless mouse and the
processes PCMservice.exe, PCM, DVDLauncher, and ehtray.exe. I have a
wireless (Microsoft) mouse, but my system is not running any of those
processes, so I think the problem must be elsewhere.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

The screen saver does not work when you use a Wireless Optical Desktop mouse on a Windows XP SP2-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

This article explains how the problem can be solved by removing
processes which I have already stated are not running on my system.
This does not appear to be useful. Am I missing something?

The screen saver does not work on a Windows XP-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916256

This article says that the problem may be "because third-party
programs cause driver conflicts," and explains how to remove the
responsible driver. This may well be the problem, but knowing it is
would not help unless there is some way to identify the conflicting
driver. Since the problem is intermittent, I can't identify a faulty
driver by removing drivers until the system stops misbehaving.

This article also advises me to check my system for spyware. I am
already running AdAware SE Plus, and it says my system is clean.

Microsoft HID update for Microsoft Wireless Hardware devices:
http://jtsang.blogspot.com/2007/02/microsoft-hid-update-for-microsoft.html

This article mentions an update named "Microsoft HID Non-User Input
Data Filter" which is supposed to fix the problem. I ran the update
service (it took most of the evening), but that update never appeared.
Either it is unavailable or it was already installed.

We're not there yet.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

This does not appear to be useful. Am I missing something?

I referenced that article for more clarity. It also mentions about PowerDVD ("Method 2: Remove the PowerDVD software") which I thought might apply in your case.

No idea why the update was not listed. I assume that you selected "Hardware, Optional" category in the WU site, with the wireless device connected. Perhaps you can try this particular question i the WindowsUpdate newsgroup.

--
Regards,

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

The screen saver does not work when you use a Wireless Optical Desktop mouse on a Windows XP SP2-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

This article explains how the problem can be solved by removing
processes which I have already stated are not running on my system.
This does not appear to be useful. Am I missing something?

The screen saver does not work on a Windows XP-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916256

This article says that the problem may be "because third-party
programs cause driver conflicts," and explains how to remove the
responsible driver. This may well be the problem, but knowing it is
would not help unless there is some way to identify the conflicting
driver. Since the problem is intermittent, I can't identify a faulty
driver by removing drivers until the system stops misbehaving.

This article also advises me to check my system for spyware. I am
already running AdAware SE Plus, and it says my system is clean.

Microsoft HID update for Microsoft Wireless Hardware devices:
http://jtsang.blogspot.com/2007/02/microsoft-hid-update-for-microsoft.html

This article mentions an update named "Microsoft HID Non-User Input
Data Filter" which is supposed to fix the problem. I ran the update
service (it took most of the evening), but that update never appeared.
Either it is unavailable or it was already installed.

We're not there yet.