How to get a screensaver at the Windows 7 login screen?

Question

I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. Since a couple of weeks, I no longer have a screensaver on the Windows login screen. If a user logs and then lock his session, the screensaver will start eventually but if no user are logged the login screen will never start the screensaver.

Anyone know how to set a screensaver there?

Answer 1

I'm not 100% sure if these steps will work if someone isn't logged on though!

To enable the screensaver, first choose the screensaver you want. Look in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 for files with the .SCR extension - typically there are the following (at least on my Enterprise Installation)...

• SSTEXT3D - 3D Text
• BUBBLES.SCR - Bubbles
• MYSTIFY.SCR - Mystify
• PHOTOSCREENSAVER.SCR - Photos
• RIBBONS.SCR - Ribbons

One of the things to be aware of is that you don't appear to have Direct3D support at the logon screen so the builtin screensavers above won't work. Unless you have another file you might want to grab the LOGON.SCR file from an earlier operating system.

Once you have your screensaver (in my case LOGON.SCR), open your registry editor and navigate to the following key -

HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop

Below this key create the following REG_SZ values...

SCRNSAVE.EXE = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\LOGON.SCR
ScreenSaveActive = 1
ScreenSaveIsSecure = 0
ScreenSaveTimeOut = 60 (or whatever timeout you want in seconds)

That's it - you'll have your screensaver at the logon screen then.

Answer 2

Actually, for Windows 7/Server 2008, if you compare the registry values in the same relative key location under YOUR hive, it is ScreensaveRIsSecure. You may find yours to be 0 but references in other posts indicate it should be 1