Screensaver Shortcut

[Phil]

Does anyone know how to create a shortcut that will
activate whichever screensaver is currently selected in
the display settings?
Office XP had a shortcut for this in the Office Toolbar.
I just upgraded to Office 2003 which has no toolbar and
lost my shortcut.
I like to keep this shortcut in my quicklaunch bar for
security purposes - I can launch my password protected
screensaver with one click as I leave my desk.
All responses are greatly appreciated even if they don't
help.
~ Phil

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Right-click on your Desktop and select:
New > Shortcut, then browse to the
C:\Windows\System32 folder. Chose
your desired screensaver, such as "sspipes.scr",
click next and finish.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

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| Does anyone know how to create a shortcut that will
| activate whichever screensaver is currently selected in
| the display settings?
| Office XP had a shortcut for this in the Office Toolbar.
| I just upgraded to Office 2003 which has no toolbar and
| lost my shortcut.
| I like to keep this shortcut in my quicklaunch bar for
| security purposes - I can launch my password protected
| screensaver with one click as I leave my desk.
| All responses are greatly appreciated even if they don't
| help.
| ~ Phil

 

[Anthony Procissi [MSFT]]

Unfortunately that method bypasses the locking mechanism, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;328000
I found shareware (twpro45) claiming the ability to do this but it doesn't
activate the password protection either.
You might be stuck with locking your computer with WindowsKey+L and waiting
for the screen saver to start manually.

 

[David Candy]

When the system starts a screensaver it switches to a new terminal window and starts the screensaver there. If run manually it runs as an ordinary program on the current desktop and merely draws pretty pictures.

 

[Darius Spaghadoros]

Interesting.
Is there any way to start a new terminal window yourself??

When the system starts a screensaver it switches to a new terminal window
and starts the screensaver there. If run manually it runs as an ordinary
program on the current desktop and merely draws pretty pictures.

 

[David Candy]

Only programitically. Or use Task Scheduler or Fast User Switching or a service.

Window Stations
A window station is a secure object that contains a clipboard, a set of global atoms and a group of desktop objects. The interactive window station assigned to the logon session of the interactive user also contains the keyboard, mouse, and display device. The interactive window station is visible to the user and can receive input from the user. All other window stations are noninteractive, which means that they cannot be made visible to the user, and cannot receive user input.

Desktops

A desktop is a secure object contained within a window station. A desktop has a logical display surface and contains windows, menus, and hooks. A window station can have multiple desktops. Only the desktops of the interactive window station can be visible and receive user input. On the interactive window station, only one desktop at a time is active. This active desktop, also known as the input desktop, is the one that is currently visible to the user and that receives user input. Applications can use the OpenInputDesktop function to get a handle to the input desktop. Applications that have the necessary access can use the SwitchDesktop function to specify a different input desktop.

Invisible, noninteractive window stations enable service applications that do not have access to the interactive window station to start GUI applications. Applications running in a noninteractive window station cannot receive input or be visible. For example, the schedule service could use this support to start a GUI backup application on a remote computer on which the interactive window station was not accessible. For more information, see Interactive Services.