How to change the logon screen saver in Windows
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Article ID : 185348
Last Review : February 1, 2006
Revision : 4.2
This article was previously published under Q185348
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SUMMARY
Change the Logon Screen Saver
Change the Logon Screen Saver Timeout Time
Disable the Logon Screen Saver
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SUMMARY
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
This step-by-step article describes how to change the default logon screen saver. When you start Windows, a Begin Logon dialog box prompts you to press CTRL+ALT+DEL to log on. By default, if you do not press a key for 15 minutes, the Windows logon screen saver (Logon.scr) starts.
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Change the Logon Screen Saver
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
3. In the Details pane, double-click the SCRNSAVE.EXE string value item.
4. In the Value data box, type the path and name of the screen saver, and then click OK.
Important Make sure that you specify the path correctly to the screen saver. If the screen saver is located in %SystemRoot%\System32, the explicit path is not required.
You have now changed the logon screen saver.
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Change the Logon Screen Saver Timeout Time
You can also change the amount of time that elapses before the logon screen saver starts. The default is 900 seconds (15 minutes).
To change the length of time before the logon screen saver starts, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
3. In the Details pane, double-click the ScreenSaveTimeOut string value item.
4. In the Value data box, type the number of seconds, and then click OK.
You have now changed the length of time that elapses before the logon screen saver starts.
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Disable the Logon Screen Saver
To disable the logon screen saver, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
3. In the Details pane, double-click the ScreenSaveActive string value item.
4. In the Value data box, replace the number 1 with the number 0, and then click OK.
You have now disabled the logon screen saver.
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APPLIES TO
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
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Keywords: kbhowtomaster kbui KB185348