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Screen saver and slowness problems



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 1st 17, 07:03 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
KenK
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Posts: 444
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

I dug out another old Compaq running XP Home that was given to me a
couple of years ago. I'd like to use it for a backup computer using DSL.

Has a screen saver. It shows up very often. Has no icons, etc. Just
screen saver picture. No mouse pointer. I can't get rid of this. Tried
moving mouse and buttons and most keys including Esc. Have to reboot
computer to get rid of it. Tried a few screen saver for XP web sites but
the stuff they talked about didn't show that way on my computer. Maybe
several versions of XP? Service packs might change screen saver
installation displays? Want to either get rid of screen saver or set the
wait time as long as possible - hopefully an hour or so. I know no screen
saver is required; I have two other XP machines I set up and they have no
screen saver.

Any suggestions on getting rid of this screen saver?

Also, this computer runs very slow. Not just on the net, but any
operations.

TIA


--
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  #2  
Old November 1st 17, 07:24 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

In message , KenK
writes:
I dug out another old Compaq running XP Home that was given to me a
couple of years ago. I'd like to use it for a backup computer using DSL.

Has a screen saver. It shows up very often. Has no icons, etc. Just
screen saver picture. No mouse pointer. I can't get rid of this. Tried
moving mouse and buttons and most keys including Esc. Have to reboot
computer to get rid of it. Tried a few screen saver for XP web sites but
the stuff they talked about didn't show that way on my computer. Maybe
several versions of XP? Service packs might change screen saver
installation displays? Want to either get rid of screen saver or set the
wait time as long as possible - hopefully an hour or so. I know no screen
saver is required; I have two other XP machines I set up and they have no
screen saver.

Any suggestions on getting rid of this screen saver?


Right-click on empty part of desktop, choose Properties, Screen Saver
tab, and then either choose another 'saver or set the Wait time to as
long as you want. (Others have said setting it to 0 deactivates it
completely; I've just tried, and it won't let me set it to 0. But there
is "(None)" in the list of screensavers.)

Also, this computer runs very slow. Not just on the net, but any
operations.


Presumably why it was given to you (-:. Depends how much you value your
time: I _think_ (I haven't looked lately) you should be able to get
another XP machine for a song, or you could try to find out why it's
slow. My guess is either the way it's set up, which will take ages to
sort out, or the hard disc is not well, in which case imaging/cloning it
to another one (that _isn't_ also on its last legs!) wouldn't take long.
(One of the utilities that reads the SMART data - such as
https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm [the free version] -
will usually give an indication of HD health, though not infallibly so.)

TIA


HTH
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I don't like activity holidays. I like /inactivity/ holidays.
- Miriam Margolyes, RT 2017/4/15-21
  #3  
Old November 1st 17, 07:55 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
R.Wieser
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,302
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

Ken,

Any suggestions on getting rid of this screen saver?


Its most likely not the screensaver which is the problem, but the setting to
request (demand) a password before allowing you to exit it.

At the same place John Gilliver mentioned ("Right-click on empty part of
desktop, choose Properties, Screen Saver tab") you should also see a
tickmark named "On resume, password protect". Maybe that one is set ?

Also, do you have a password set for yourself to be able to use the machine
? If not and a lock-with-password is requested I could imagine a catch-22
situation like yours ...

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


  #4  
Old November 1st 17, 08:24 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

In message , R.Wieser
writes:
Ken,

Any suggestions on getting rid of this screen saver?


Its most likely not the screensaver which is the problem, but the setting to
request (demand) a password before allowing you to exit it.

[]
Also, do you have a password set for yourself to be able to use the machine
? If not and a lock-with-password is requested I could imagine a catch-22
situation like yours ...

[]
I wouldn't think it was either of those, as he's said neither mouse nor
keyboard _stops_ the screensaver. I think if password prompt (either of
them) is set, then the screensaver should stop - or at least pause - and
pop up a box for you to type the password into. From how Ken's
describing it, it's not stopping at all.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Quantum particles: the dreams that stuff is made of - David Moser
  #5  
Old November 1st 17, 10:06 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
R.Wieser
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,302
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

John,

I think if password prompt (either of them) is set, then the screensaver
should stop - or at least pause - and pop up a box for you to type the
password into


:-) I was also thinking of that, but what if the OS is smart enough to
notice there isn't any password to enter, and thus it doesn't display the
password-entry dialog -- and thus unlocking is impossible.

The idea of my suggestion was to make certain that the screensaver isn't
getting locked in the first place.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


  #6  
Old November 1st 17, 10:10 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
VanguardLH[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,881
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

KenK WROTE:

I dug out another old Compaq running XP Home that was given to me a
couple of years ago. I'd like to use it for a backup computer using
DSL.

Has a screen saver. It shows up very often. Has no icons, etc. Just
screen saver picture. No mouse pointer. I can't get rid of this.
Tried moving mouse and buttons and most keys including Esc.

Any suggestions on getting rid of this screen saver?


Right-click on empty part of desktop, choose Properties, Screen Saver
tab, and then either choose another 'saver or set the Wait time to as
long as you want. (Others have said setting it to 0 deactivates it
completely; I've just tried, and it won't let me set it to 0. But
there is "(None)" in the list of screensavers.)


If Gilliver's suggestion doesn't work, find the .scr file and rename
it. Then the file cannot be found when whatever fires that is loading
in that target screen saver.

Also, this computer runs very slow. Not just on the net, but any
operations.


Presumably why it was given to you (-:. Depends how much you value
your time: I _think_ (I haven't looked lately) you should be able to
get another XP machine for a song, or you could try to find out why
it's slow. My guess is either the way it's set up, which will take
ages to sort out, or the hard disc is not well, in which case
imaging/cloning it to another one (that _isn't_ also on its last
legs!) wouldn't take long. (One of the utilities that reads the SMART
data - such as https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm [the
free version] - will usually give an indication of HD health, though
not infallibly so.)


Probably also why the input is ignored when the screen saver is active.
Ken needs to review all the startup programs (msconfig.exe or
SysInternals' Autoruns) and services to see what is loaded on Windows
startup and choking the CPU (Ken never mentioned CPU usage level) or the
data bus with tons of transfers.

Might be also time to do a full scan for malware. Could be another
reason the prior owner got rid of the computer. Both Avast and
MalwareBytes (use the latter as a 2nd-opinion manually-instigated or
on-demand scanner) support Windows XP (SP-3 minimum) and both are free.
As I recall, you install MalwareBytes AntiMalware, disable all the
on-access (realtime) scanner and features, and after 14 days for the
trial then it cripples to the free version. I forget which one might
bitch about the presence of the other so install order could be
important. After years of use but after getting fed up with Avast with
using their AV program as an adware platform to puke onscreen popups to
advertise their payware products, I switched to Bitdefender Free.
However, I don't think Bitdefender supports Windows XP. You can enabled
Silent Mode in Avast Free to get rid of the ads but then you also
silence the info popups, like those that tell you a page got blocked
(so, when silent, you might not know why you cannot visit a site).

Running "chkdsk c: /r" might reveal any problems with the HDD. I use HD
Sentinel (payware) to monitor the SMART data of my drives as an
indicator of their health. Acronis has a free disk health monitor
(https://www.acronis.com/pl-pl/homeco...drive-monitor/)
but I don't know how that one operates. There's CrystalDiskInfo
(https://crystalmark.info/software/Cr...o/index-e.html) which
is freeware. Never used it so don't know how it works.

If Windows XP truly was included with the hardware then there should be
a rescue partition or recovery discs or an installation disc for Windows
XP. Otherwise, Ken got polluted hardware with a pirated copy of WinXP.
If he does have the installation media, he could download all the
drivers for all the hardware of that computer and the peripherals
connected to it, the chipset driver package (making sure to get the one
for Windows XP), and do a fresh install of Windows XP (have it wipe the
OS partition for the new install). Just make sure to also save the
current license key already recording in the existing install (there are
lots of tools to extract the license key) since the key listed on a
sticker on the case may not be a valid one (could be a sysgen key used
for the same image used for thousands of pre-built setups). However,
make sure the key on the sticker is legible in case that's the one
needed for a fresh install. I do not know if Microsoft is delivering
any updates from their Windows Update site for Windows XP.
  #7  
Old November 2nd 17, 03:15 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default Screen saver and slowness problems

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
[]
If Windows XP truly was included with the hardware then there should be
a rescue partition or recovery discs or an installation disc for Windows
XP. Otherwise, Ken got polluted hardware with a pirated copy of WinXP.


A _little_ harsh, especially if it was given: people tend to lose discs.
Though I think the recovery partition was commoner than recovery discs
by the time of XP. (But if it's been "repaired" at any time by doing a
clean install, the recovery partition might not be there.) If not much
has been installed, it might be worth seeing if there's a recovery
option at boot (probably the keep-pressing-F8 method), though perhaps
image it first in case there is but it doesn't work.

If he does have the installation media, he could download all the
drivers for all the hardware of that computer and the peripherals
connected to it, the chipset driver package (making sure to get the one
for Windows XP), and do a fresh install of Windows XP (have it wipe the


Shouldn't the installation media - if it came with the computer - be a
customised one with the necessary drivers? (I'm pretty sure a recovery
_partition_ would.)
[]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A perfectionist takes infinite pains and often gives them to others
 




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