Screensaver and power schemes ineffective when logged out

[LaynaIT]

I have been editing HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop
settings to try and make the screen saver I have chosen, Marquee, and
the
monitor power down settings take effect. Whatever values I put in the
ScreenSaveActive and PowerOffActive values are ignored. I have a lab of

hundreds of PCs all running Windows XP Pro + SP2 + fully patched and
none of
them ever load the screensaver or power down unless a user is logged
in. If
logged in everything works fine, but most of the time these PCs are not
in
use and it's wasting a lot of electricity by keeping the monitors
active.

I have novell client and the computers autologin to Active Directory.
The student logs in as themselves into Novell. Like I said before, when
logged in, screen saver works. When logged out, doesn't activate.

Please assist.

Layna Larson
ERAU

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Try this key

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

How To Change the Windows Logon Screen Saver in Windows XP
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/scrnsave.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[LaynaIT]

Thanks for replying, Wesley! Yes, this value does exist in registry. I
checked that out!

It does work fine when I am logged in. The screen saver kicks in. but
when i am logged out, it does not work.

I do have these computers auto-logging into Windows, the user must
login to Novell. When they are not setup to auto-login, the screen
saver kicks in.

Any light you can help shed on this problem is appreciated!

Layna

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Layna,

Novell may be messing this up. I know nothing about Novell.

When you start Windows, you may be presented with the Windows XP welcome
screen, which prompts you click your user name to begin, or you may be
presented with a Welcome to Windows dialog box that prompts you to press
CTRL+ALT+DEL to log on. By default, if you do not press a key for 10
minutes, the Windows logon screen saver (Logon.scr) starts.

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT stores the profile used when no users are logged on to
the computer (such as when the CTRL+ALT+DELETE logon prompt is displayed).

The Logon Screen Saver is here...
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
Value Name: SCRNSAVE.EXE
Data Type: REG_SZ
Value Data: somename.scr or path to somename.scr


HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

Modify the value of PowerOffActive and set it to 0. 1 will automatically
turn off the monitor.

Modify the value of ScreenSaveActive and set it to 1. 0 will disable the
Logon screen saver.

ScreenSaveTimeOut is the length of time that elapses before the logon screen
saver starts. Change the value of ScreenSaveTimeOut to equal the screen
saver timeout in seconds.

Modify the value of SCRNSAVE.EXE and set it to ssmarque.scr. Use
ssmarque.scr NOT Marquee. ssmarque.scr = Marquee Screen Saver You do not
need the path since ssmarque.scr is in %SystemRoot%\System32.

Restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

See this also...
How to change the Windows Logon screen saver in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314493

Also look at...
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\PowerCfg
and/or
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\PowerCfg
Value Name: CurrentPowerPolicy
Data Type: REG_SZ
Value Data:
0 - Home/Office desktop
1 - Portable/Laptop computer
2 - Monitor on for presentations
3 - Network computer (no Wake-on-LAN)
4 - Optimized for high performance
5 - Optimized for power saving

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[LaynaIT]

Wesley. You are a genious! My coworker tried changing the time to 300
seconds, or 5 minutes, and it still never kicked off. But, once we
changed it to 120 seconds, it worked.

Thank you so much! Now, our network administrator is looking for a GPO
he can push this out with.

Thanks again! I appreciate it!

Layna