Screensaver won't activate

[RalphTheCow]

It is set with Group Policy and works on most machines, but there are a few machines that it doesn't work on. gpresult and rsop both show that it is applied, and it shows up properly from the desktop and works properly when previewed from there. I tried a different login with a different screensaver, and it works well, so I don't think it is a running program that is preventing it from kicking in. I've tried rebooting and logging in with a different user and then trying again, all to no avail.

What should I try next? One thing is that logon.scr is specified with no path, but I would think the system knows to find it in windows\system32, especially since it works on most machines. I am thinking there must be some setting that is not quite right in these few machines, maybe in the registry?

 

[corkyg]

Screensavers are normally set and controlled in power management. Be sure and check those settings in Control Panel.

 

[RalphTheCow]

Screensavers are normally set and controlled in power management. Be sure and check those settings in Control Panel.

I have the screensaver set to 1 minute for troubleshooting purposes, so that should be way before any power saver settings would kick in, and I am pretty sure I have them set for always on.

This is exasperating because the registry looks the same in the affected machines as it does in the non-affected ones. It won't kick in in various OSes, also. Seems to work on Server 2008 R2 but not Server 2008.

 

[Charlie98]

I have the same problem with a friend's Dell W7 machine, even after a clean OS install... can't figure it out.

 

[corkyg]

The power management setting could be NEVER, and that could override your other setting. The best screen saver in power management for a LCD monitor is off/sleep after specified minutes.

 

[RalphTheCow]

The power management setting could be NEVER, and that could override your other setting. The best screen saver in power management for a LCD monitor is off/sleep after specified minutes.

You were spot on, corkyg! Thanks! Worked like a charm on two XP machines, but there is a stubborn Server 2008 machine set to go off after 20 minutes, but still no screen saver. I tried changing the power scheme with no change. So I wonder what else can interfere with the screensaver? This is nuts!