Disable screensaver using registry settings

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• Hi i dont understand how i change the permission so my screen doesnt lock after 10 minutes. My organization manages this and i cant change it. HELP PLIS!

• I changed both keys, no one works ...
  but are you sure that they work?

  "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop"
  "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop"

  i have Windows 10 PRO 64bit

• From command line you can run the below command to change screen saver timeout limit.

  MISTAKE:

  Reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop" /v ScreenSaveTimeOut /t REG_SZ /d 0 /f

  TRUE:
  Reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop" /v ScreenSaveTimeOut /t REG_SZ /d 1200 /f

  • Both of those are correct. The one with 1200 sets the screen saver to activate at 20 minutes (1200 seconds). The one with zero means to never activate the screen saver.

• Is there a way to lock these settings down so users can't change them? I am looking for a screensaversetting window that has the options grayed out.

  Thanks,

• What may be throwing some people is if a policy has been set on the system regarding the screensaver. Those settings are in a different location in the registry.
  HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop
  Here, the same settings you mentioned in your article can be applied.

• There is no REG command.
  Why do so many things not work when mentioned in this article?

  • Sure there is. Did you try it from a command prompt?

    C:\>reg /?
    REG Operation [Parameter List]
      Operation  [ QUERY   | ADD    | DELETE  | COPY    |
                   SAVE    | LOAD   | UNLOAD  | RESTORE |
                   COMPARE | EXPORT | IMPORT  | FLAGS ]
    Return Code: (Except for REG COMPARE)
    
      0 - Successful
      1 - Failed
    
    For help on a specific operation type:
    
      REG Operation /?
    
    Examples:
    
      REG QUERY /?
      REG ADD /?
      REG DELETE /?
      REG COPY /?
      REG SAVE /?
      REG RESTORE /?
      REG LOAD /?
      REG UNLOAD /?
      REG COMPARE /?
      REG EXPORT /?
      REG IMPORT /?
      REG FLAGS /?
    

• Is it possible to run the screen saver for a limited amount of time then returns to desktop automatically?

• Actually, the information above is not correct (or at least not complete) for Win7 Pro.
  Yes, deactivating the screensaver from the registry makes it so the screensaver doesn't start, but the system still locks the screen without a screensaver.
  But that behavior is not controlled by the powerconfig control panel.
  Interestingly, setting the timeout value for the screensaver to a large number doesn't change the actual behavior of the screensaver (or the reading on its control panel).

• Hi,

  wondering if you can set the timeout to 'never'?

  Would a value of 0 do that?
  (worried it will flip on me and make the screen go permanently off if I try that, so haven't tried it yet..)

  • I have managed to disable the screensaver, but the screen still locks itself after a few minutes so I have to ctrl+alt+del and type in my password again. (I have set the 'ScreenSaveIsSecure' to 0 already)

    Would that be a power setting and a different article?

    • This is not a screen saver then. The display becomes blank after some time which is controlled by powersettings.
      Open powercfg.cpl. Here you can increase the timeout period or set it to never. If you go further to 'Advanced' you can disable password prompt after hibernate/standby. Something similar to http://www.technlg.net/windows/disable-password-prompt-hibernate/ (this article is about XP, but the steps are similar in Win7)

  • So you meant never activate the screensaver, right? You can refer the section 'To disable or enable screen saver using registry key' in this post.

• hi I like to have these hacks for screen saver made into an register file can you email these hacks for turning off screen saver for windows 8 also the time turn off and files to turn them on again that is 4 files I need with register files to double click.
  Our upload to website I can download.
  Thanks for help.
  Yours,
  Harold