Terry, Ok.. Go to this registry entry and see what the screensaver key entry is:- "The registry place where the screensaver is stored along with the timings is:- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop Scroll down the entries and you'll find the SCRNSAVE.exe entry." Tell me what that is... Safe COmputing...;o)

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Terry, I have just looked at your System.ini again. The entry [BOOT] [ScreenTime] previousProjectorProcessID=384 is alien to me. It may be an idea to delete this entry, or put REM in front of each line. Safe COmputing...;o)

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Pcfixinguy- First of all let me tell you that I really appreciate all of your help. I found the screensaver entry in the registry but I'm not sure what you are talking about. Do you want to know the values? the SCRNSAVE>EXE is 180 (time) and 1 (active?). Then there is one for screensave secure (not sure of the exact abbreviation) and the value was 0 but I changed it to 1 a couple of days ago. Let me know exactly what you are talking about so I can post it. As for the INI file I ran registry mechanic and the eminem entry dissapeared. I still don't know how to edit an entry in the INI file. I will try romoving the "projector ID=384" tonight and I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again, Terry

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OK the entry for SCRNSAVE.exe in the registry is: C:\WINDOWS\System32\ssstars.scr. There are a lot of entries in addition to the screensaver ones. Can one of these other entries be the culprit(like hung app timeout etc)?

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Terry, To edit the System.INI file follow this:- 1. Click START and RUN 2. Type in SYSEDIT and OK 3. The box that pops up contains four files SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, CONFIG.SYS, and AUTOEXEC.BAT 4. Click on the SYSTEM.INI box to bring it to the front. These files are simply TEXT files esentially. 5. Put REM in front of each of three entries:- [BOOT] [ScreenTime] previousProjectorProcessID=384 then close the entire box and click YES to SAVE. I think the PreviousProjectorProcessID was to do with old screensaving, and it is normally set to 0 in most old system.ini files I've seen before. XP doesn't use it. 6. Reboot, and try your screensaver again. As for the registry entires for you screensaver, I thought Eminem was invalid. Secondly, the settings you state are fine, the screensaver selected is the STARS coming at you on the screen on a black background. Get back with your tries...;o) Safe Computing...;o)

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Pcfixinguy- I followed all of the above steps and still no screensaver. One thing I've noticed is that when I set my monitor to turn off automatically after the desired amount of time it doesn't show in the registry. There are entries in the registry regarding power modes and none of the valuse change when I enable the power options. Is there an entry in the registry that coincides with the changes you make to the power options? I still think that somthing is loading with my desktop that stops my screensaver from working since my screensaver will work before I logon to windows and it works before my desktop fully loads (if my desktop takes longer than a minute to load). I am at the end of my wits on this one. If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears. My last resort will be to rty and reinstall windows and see if I can proceed this time. Thanks, Terry

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Terry, Power modes are for UPS and Hibernate and things like that. The normal Switch off Monitor option does not change those entries. The logon screensaver is just a built in Windows logo. It should not be your chosen screensaver. Looking back to the beginning of your post, you mention POLICY errors. Are you running XP HOME or XP PRO?? Get back with that one...;o) Safe Computing..;o)

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I am running XP Home. I reinstalled Windows last night successfully but the screensaver still doesn't work. Now I've ran into new problems and I regret reinstalling XP. Now, after I logon everything is fine for a few minutes, but then I get some kind of remote procedure call error with a message telling me that my pc will restart. There's a clock that ticks down and then windows restarts. It's a long message and I didn't have time to write it all down before the restart. I think the location was NT Authority/System. This happened about five times. This would happen immediately after getting a message from McAfee (virus alert) saying I had a worm named W32/nachi.worm.b. The name of the file is WksPatch[2].exe. Then windows would give me that message and shutdown. I got another message saying that svchost.exe was also a worm so I don't know what to think. I'm doing fine right now, I had McAfee exclude those files, I connected to the internet and I was able to download all of the windows updates from microsoft. So far so good, but I'm wondering about this worm or worms that may be infecting my pc. McAfee never found these until I reinstalled windows. Let me know what you think. Another thing, my DSL connection wasn't working and while I was waiting for the PPPoE coneection virus sacn was loading and gues what, my screensaver came on but it doesn't now. I'll keep you updated. Thanks, Terry

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UPDATE: I disabled system restore, did a complete scan of my PC with McAfee and removed 2 worms and two virus'. I guess the nachi worm created the bogus svchost.exe and both are history. Reinstalling windows has been a headache. Lastnight I realized that I had no sound and that's when I discovered I had no driver for my sound card. After a couple of tries I finally downloaded a decent one from Realtek. Everything is running smooth now except the screensaver. I find it interesting that my screensaver will start after a minute (I have it set to activate after 1 min) if all the startup programs have not completely loaded. It's like the answer is before my eyes but I can't see it.

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Terry, Reinstalling looses ALL your patches, including the BLASTER virus patch which accounts for the RPC error amognst other things. I meant to tell you not to reinstall because of all that. However, get all the patches downloaded and installed. Tell me when you have gotten everything back to normal, and we'll continue the screensaver issue. Make sure Mcafee is up to date too 4346 is the latest DAT and engine 4.3.20 too...;o) Safe Computing (belatedly)...;o)

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Pcfixinguy- Well, I've finally got things back to normal. My biggest headache was caused by my audio card (Realtek AC'97). The drivers from Realtek were horrible. I finally got one from Microsoft and my music sounds good again. Overall, my PC performance has suffered lately. I'm not sure of the cause. I think McAfee is using a lot of memory. It's not so bad as to call it a propblem but it is noticeable. I'm ready to tackle this screensaver problem. Get back to me with any suggestions. Thanks again, Terry

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Terry, Mcafee virusscanner nor the firewall, if that is Mcafee too, should cause any major use of memory. With 512Mb that you have, and average use of memory with all things running as they should would be about ˝ of it. You can check in the Task Manager (Right Click Task bar, Task manager, Performance Tab, Physical Memory-Available). Around 30 to 40 processes should be average too, with a CPU usage of 1% to 6% You probably have several processes running that needn't be, such as Messenger (not MSN). As for this screensaver, well,, that is a doozy huh. Get back to me with what you find based on the numbers I have just quoted above and let's see if your PC is working optimally (while I work on the next idea for the screensaver!)...;o) Safe Computing...;o)

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I have a total of 38 processes. CPU Usage 0% - 2% with a max of 5% Available physical memory= 242648 (total=523760). I've had no speed problems using programs. I can use multiple programs at once with no problem whatsoever. The slow-down I've noticed is when I right click an icon (I get an hourglass before a menu box) or when I click start there is a little lag before I get my start menu. The wierd thing is that if I do the same thing a second time it gets faster. By the third time there is no lag at all. It seems like I have to break in everything after the reinstall, like a new pair of shoes.

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Terry, The fact that things appear to get faster each time you use them is that those "actions" get put into a "prefetch" list. The first time it has to go through all the motions to obtain the program or action that you perform, but after that it has recorded the path in the prefetch list so that the next time you perform an action, it quickly scans the prefetch list and brings it up much quicker. The processes are just about spot on as is the memory usage and CPU usage. So, apart from the obvious issue with this screensaver, your PC is working fine...:o) Safe Computing...;o)

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Pcfixinguy- Well, I have an update. I got a call from my girlfriend and she told me the screensaver was working. I turn the monitor off at night but I leave my tower on. Well, when she turned the monitor on she said that at first the screen was all black with a blue box in the middle with what she said was filled with shapes the size of fonts. I have no idea what this is and it kills me I was not hoem to see it with my own eyes. She said I've seen the screen before and that she thinks it shows when I restart my PC but she's not sure. She left the computer alone and when she came back the screensaver was working. She then went to check something on the internet and the internet connection was not connected (it is always connected normally). She connected to the internet and now the she screensaver is not working again. This would lead me to believe that SBCYahoo is the problem but the screensaver would work in the past whiel I downloaded files all night long. NOt to mention I've tried ending the internet connection and that did not help. SO I don't think it is SBCyahoo. What gets me is that blue box and the black background. My desktop has a standard windows wallpaper that is red so my desktop was not showing at the time. My computer did not restart becasue I was still logged on. I hope this helps because it confuses me more. I am going to try and figure out exactly what this blue box was. Terry

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Terry, I am not sure what that is either. However, I'd like to backtrack. Firstly, you have completely reinstalled so any "things" that may have been present before should not be there. So, as the screensaver is still an issue, I am wondering if it may be hardware related. Two devices have influence over the screensaver in that they will bring a PC out of screensaver. These are the mouse and the keyboard. A very sensitive mouse might cause the screensaver to keep "coming out of screensaving" on the slightest vibration of the mouse. Any key on the keyboard will also cause the screensaver to stop. And I mean ANY KEY even the ones that don't "do" anything as such, like NUM LOCK, or SHIFT, or PAUSE,,,etc... I forget now if the screensaver works in PREVIEW, but if it is a hardware issue then I am reckoning it is not working in PREVIEW either. The keyboard is easy to check. Just unplug it and then try the screensaver by using the mouse as normal. The mouse is a bit more difficult, but here's what to do:- 1. Get to the display properties as normal and on the screensaver tab. 2. unplug the mouse 3. use TAB on the keyboard until the PREVIEW button is highlighted/selected. 4. Press ENTER These two tests will eliminate the two pieces of hardware that directly stop the screensaver....;o) Safe Computing...;o)

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I thought I had replied earlier but I guess I didn't confirm the post. I haven't did the hardware test yet but I can preview my screensaver without any problems. Also, this weekend my screensaver decided to work for about a day and a half but it stopped again yesterday so I am just as baffled. This time I was downloading some plugins for adobe and that was the first time the screensaver started working. I was downloading using a P2P server if that has any significance. I will do the hardware test tomorrow evening and get you the results as soon as I'm fininshed. Thanks Terry

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