Screen Saver Short-cut

[aekyall]

Hope I'm in the right area. If not, please move.

When I had XP(Home), I had a shortcut on my desktop that allowed me to invoke my screensaver, at will, without having to await the automatic (set) prescribed delay. This was an excellent 'tool' and one that I picked up from an exchange over on the 'other place' some considerable time ago. I cannot now remember how to action this - assuming it's actually possible to do so with Windows 7? If anyone knows, or remembers how to set it up, I'd be extremely grateful.

Thank you

[HansV]

Screen savers are executables with extension .scr; most of them are stored in C:\Windows\System32.

x144.png

You can drag one from this folder to your desktop with the Alt key held down; this will create a shortcut to the screensaver.

[aekyall]

Thank you Hans - Worked a treat!

[Just Plain Fred]

Screen savers are executables with extension .scr; most of them are stored in C:\Windows\System32.

x144.png

You can drag one from this folder to your desktop with the Alt key held down; this will create a shortcut to the screensaver.

HansV,
Hello.. I also have done this on my Windows 7 \ 64, but it seems that you can not drag the shortcut and place it into the Task-Bar (which is where i put it on my other systems) any ideas? Regards Fred

[HansV]

Hi Fred,

Welcome to Eileen's Lounge!

You can't pin a .scr to the taskbar (no idea why not), but there's a somewhat elaborate workaround:

- Make a copy of the .scr.
- Change the extension of the copy to .exe; confirm when Windows asks whether you really want to do that.
- Create a shortcut to the new .exe.
- Right-click the shortcut and select Properties from the popup menu.
- Add a space followed by /s after the Target, so that the Target looks like this (for example)

C:\Test\Bubbles.exe /s

- Click OK.
- Drag the shortcut to your taskbar.

You can now start the screen saver from the task bar but take care not to move the mouse pointer after clicking the shortcut!

[Just Plain Fred]

Hi Fred,
- Make a copy of the .scr.
- Change the extension of the copy to .exe; confirm when Windows asks whether you really want to do that.
- Create a shortcut to the new .exe.
- Right-click the shortcut and select Properties from the popup menu.
- Add a space followed by /s after the Target, so that the Target looks like this (for example)
C:\Test\Bubbles.exe /s
- Click OK.
- Drag the shortcut to your taskbar.
You can now start the screen saver from the task bar but take care not to move the mouse pointer after clicking the shortcut!

HansV ,
Hello and thank you for your reply. So far i have not been successful with the work around.... Get error "not a valid path" I will keep "fooling" with it and post back if i can stumble upon the reason for the error. Regards Fred

[HansV]

I tested it, and it worked for me. But here is another option, involving two shortcuts:

- Create a shortcut to the .scr file in any folder you like; pick a location where it isn't likely to be deleted by accident.
- The name of this shortcut doesn't really matter.
- Select this shortcut in Windows Explorer and press Ctrl+C to copy it, or right-click it and select Copy from the popup menu.
- Now activate your desktop.
- Right-click an empty part of the desktop and select New | Shortcut.
- Type explorer.exe followed by a space, then press Ctrl+V.
- Windows should paste the path of the first shortcut into the box; you should now see something like the following, with the path and name of your first shortcut of course:

explorer.exe "C:\Test\Bubbles.scr shortcut.lnk"

- Click Next.
- Provide a convenient name for the new shortcut, for example that of the screen saver.
- Click Finish.
- The new shortcut will have the Explorer icon. If you wish, right-click the shortcut, select Properties and assign another icon.
- Drag the new shortcut to the taskbar, or right-click it and select Pin to taskbar from the popup menu.
- The shortcut on the desktop can be discarded once you have pinned it.

[Just Plain Fred]

I tested it, and it worked for me.

HansV ,
Just wanted to post back, I have followed your first scenario, (more closely this time ) and you are correct ... This works It's a good "tweak" to keep for Windows "7" Thanks Again Regards Fred

[Just Plain Fred]

C:\Test\Bubbles.exe /s

HansV ,
One more question... What does the " /s " Mean? and where can i find out about these commands? Regards Fred

[HansV]

If you change the extension of a .scr to .exe, running it will not start the screensaver but open the Settings dialog for the screensaver. The /s switch tells Windows to start the screensaver.

The old MSKB article INFO: Screen Saver Command Line Arguments discusses the available switches; it still applies to Windows 7 as far as I know.

[Just Plain Fred]

If you change the extension of a .scr to .exe, running it will not start the screensaver but open the Settings dialog for the screensaver. The /s switch tells Windows to start the screensaver.

The old MSKB article INFO: Screen Saver Command Line Arguments discusses the available switches; it still applies to Windows 7 as far as I know.

HansV,
Thank you ! Regards Fred