"Windows XP" Screen Saver Options Confusion/Inconsistency

[Sid Joyner]

Hi All:

I have two XP Professional machines running SP2 with all updates. However,
there is a difference presented to me with the "Windows XP" screen saver -
the one with the black background and flying XP logo - which comes standard
with XP under Display Properties/Screen Saver.

On one machine, when I choose the Windows XP screen saver, I have a check
box option for "On resume, display Welcome Screen" - exactly what I want it
to do. However, on the other machine when I choose the Windows XP screen
saver, I have a check box for "On resume, password protect", which returns
me to aWin2000 type dialog box where I have a drop-down list and need to
type in the password - exactly what I do NOT want.

Both machine are set up to use the Welcome Screen for user interaction. Can
anyone help me determine why I'm getting different options with the two
systems?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

If Fast User Switching is turned on, this shows...
On resume, display Welcome screen

You have to turn the Welcome Screen on.

1. Open User Accounts in Control Panel.
2. Click Change the way users log on or off.
3. Select the Use the Welcome screen check box.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Oops.

If Fast User Switching is turned on, this shows...
On resume, display Welcome screen

You have to turn the Welcome Screen on in order to turn Fast User Switching
on.

1. Open User Accounts in Control Panel.
2. Click Change the way users log on or off.
3. Select the Use the Welcome screen check box.
4. Make sure that the Use Fast User Switching box is checked
5. Click the Apply Options button

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Sid Joyner]

Hi Wesley:

Thanks for the very quick response - but that doesn't work. I've always had
the "Use Welcome Screen" and "Fast User Switching" check boxes checked on.
And these options work as they should - except with the screen saver on this
one machine. The machine boots up to the Welcome Screen and I can use Fast
User Switching to switch between users on the Welcome Screen.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Sid,

Does the machine that has On resume, password protect displayed have
Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer
unchecked in User Accounts? I.e. Start | Run | control userpasswords2

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Sid Joyner]

Hi Wesley:

The checkbox for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer" is checked. It's the same on both computers, i.e., "on resume,
Password protect" and "on resume, use Welcome screen".

Thanks for your continued help.

 

[Sid Joyner]

Hi Wesley:

The checkbox for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer" is checked. It's the same on both computers, i.e., "on resume,
Password protect" and "on resume, use Welcome screen".

Thanks for your continued help.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Hi Sid,

Still trying to figure it out. Bear with me.

Power Options Properties...
Start | Run | Type: powercfg.cpl | Click OK |
Advanced tab | Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby

Is this the same for both machines?
-----

How many accounts are on each machine?
-----

Do both machines use the same logon? Both machines use Welcome Screen, not
Ctrl + Alt + Delete?

Start | Run | Type: control userpasswords2 | Click OK |
Advanced tab | Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete

-----

Open Registry Editor...
Start | Run | Type: regedit | Click OK |

Do all of these keys exist on both machines?
Are the settings the same on both machines?
Don't worry if some of these keys do not exist.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop
Value Name: ScreenSaverIsSecure
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 0 or 1

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Value Name: NoAutoReturnToWelcome
Value Type: REG_SZ
Value Data: 0 or 1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Value Name: LogonType
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 0 or 1
0 = Displays the security dialog box
1 = Displays the new Welcome screen

If you find the answer with any of these, let us know what it was.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Sid Joyner]

Hi Wesley:

The Power Options are identical for both machines:
Power Setting: "Always On"
Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby is checked.

Both machines are desktop machines never very seldom turned off.

However, the user configuration is very different between the two machines:

On resume, password protect: 1 user (computer administrator) with Guest
turned ON.
On resume, Welcome Screen: 4 users (1 CA, 3 limited accounts) with Guest
turned ON.

Thanks.

 

[Nightowl]

However, the user configuration is very different between the two machines:

On resume, password protect: 1 user (computer administrator) with Guest
turned ON.
On resume, Welcome Screen: 4 users (1 CA, 3 limited accounts) with Guest
turned ON.

Sid, on the problem machine, try creating another user account.

Fiddling around on my own computer (single user machine) I found that to
get the "on resume, Welcome screen" I had to have:

 Welcome Screen enabled
 Fast User Switching enabled
 More than one user

As Guest is an inbuilt account, like Administrator, perhaps it doesn't
count?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

I think that you're correct, Administrator and Guest don't count.

I have the Guest account disabled.

I would bet that the aspnet_wp account counts.

I used to see On resume, Welcome Screen and I'll bet that lost it when I got
rid of the aspnet_wp account and .NET Framework.

Waiting to see what Sid does to his On resume, password protect machine.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Nightowl]

Well fellas, we have located the issue.

Just for the record, on the password protect machine, when I go to the
Computer Management Administrator plug-in and check for all defined XP users
under Local Users and Groups, I have the following:

Administrator
ASPNET
Guest

I don't think any of these "count" -- Guest and Administrator are built-
in accounts and ASPNet is normally hidden.

HelpAssistant (not activated)

IUS_XXX
IWAM_XXX (these 2 users are associated with the IIS FTP server where XXX is
the machine name)

So they're not ordinary "local users".

Sid (my normal user account with CA privilege)
SUPPORT_38888 (a Microsoft account not activated)

So there are other "hidden" users other than my user account and Guest.

But none of them are "normal users" except you. . .

HOWEVER....

When I created another user account "Test" as a limited user, it DID change
to "use Welcome Screen" from "password protect". So I would say based on
this that it requires more than one user other than Guest to activate the
Welcome Screen on resume with the XP screen saver.

That's what I've found in experimenting.

Which sucks. I don't want to create a fake user just to get this
functionality. But I don't think I have any other choice unless you guys
have some ideas.

I agree :-( It would be going a bit far to create a new user just for
this, and with attendant security considerations. I've played around a
bit with some Registry tweaks but haven't so far found anything that
works. I'm afraid this is where I have to leave you to those who
understand the inner workings of XP a bit better than I do. . .

Thanks once again for your great help and preserverence on this issue.

You're welcome, Sid. Wish I could help more.

 

[Nightowl]

I think that you're correct, Administrator and Guest don't count.

I have the Guest account disabled.

Hi Wes, yes, me too. I also have a Help Assistant and Support_xxxxxxxx
(both disabled), leaving just the Administrator and me (with admin
privileges) as "live" accounts. And for this purpose, the Administrator
doesn't count

I would bet that the aspnet_wp account counts.

I used to see On resume, Welcome Screen and I'll bet that lost it when I got
rid of the aspnet_wp account and .NET Framework.

I would have thought it counted, but it seems Sid has ASPNet on his
computer and it's not being counted. . . strange.

Waiting to see what Sid does to his On resume, password protect machine.

I've been trying to think of a workaround but haven't come up with one
yet. Maybe the MVP brains will do better?

Best wishes

 

[Sid Joyner]

At this point, the only workaround I can see is the following:

1. Disable the Guest account.

2. Create a limited user "Visitor" which will be the *new* Guest account.

I think this would serve my purpose in that I could use the XP screen saver
and have it go to Welcome screen where a "guest" could use the computer
while I'm not there and my account would be password protected by the
Welcome screen if I need to return to my logged-in account. I'm sure the
security of a limited user is poorer than the Guest account, but it should
be OK (I guess).