Screen Saver Disabled Problem

Hi, I have a customer who is having a strange problem. His screen savers are always being disabled all by themselves.

He could turn off the machine or even have it on for days and when the time comes where there is no activity and the screen saver should start it does not.

He then right clicks on the desktop, goes into properties and in the Screen Saver tab it is blank. Then he has to re-enable again. This is becoming a real pain for him and I have never seen that problem before.

If anyone here has ever experienced this and has a fix, I would really appreciate it a bunch!

Thank You,

Victor

PS I forgot to mention that he is on XP Pro SP-2

 

Hi Victor

Do you know if he is running under an Admistrator level account?

Try this just on one of his machines first.

D/L install and run ATF-Cleaner clear all except passwords in all browsers you have.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/ATF_Cleaner_d4949.html

D/L and install CCleaner: Clean temps and registery
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/bui...wnloading-slim

Reboot before continuing with the below.

OK I saw your other post and this should get both issues.

NO it would not be a good idea to update to SP3 while you have issues or you could have a real mess. After you have exhausted all means then as a last resort then do the SP3.

Download Dial-A-Fix (DAF)
http://wiki.djlizard.net/Dial-a-fix#...C_and_articles

Have XP CD available in case DAF needs a file. Likely will not need it.

Check all boxes on the screen (clear any restrictions if it shows any)
Then click GO!

When the entire page is finished click the HammerHead at bottom to go to the second DAF page.

Here 1 at a time do the below

Reinstall BITS
Repair Permissions

Watch for any File not found or other errors and make note as this may lead to the fix!

Reboot retest!

Get back to us.

Mike

 

Thanks for Reply

Mike thank you very much. I have not been able to do what you said because I don't have access at the moment to the clients machine.

He does run as administrator. Also I should mention I have him use Windows Washer from Webroot which is a great program to clean temp files, history, internet temp files, etc..

Do you still think ATF and CC Cleaner are needed? That Dial A Fix looks great! Never saw that before until you told me. The Dial A Fix I assume is for the Microsoft Update issue only correct? If so, then that looks like solution.

As for the screen saver, let me know if anything else I should try?

Thanks Again

 

Yep!

I would still do them, do them after Window Washer to see/compare the results.

The Dial-a-fix is for both the winupdate and screensaver issues.

In your other post Arie posted the M$ fix for this issue but DAF does that and more.

So you don't have remote access RDP or VNC? Doin it the hard way!

Mike

 

I am back

Mike thanks very much for your help! I am sorry for late reply.

I do not do a remote for the customer since he lives less than 5 minutes away. That Dial a Fix looks great!

Sorry to be repetitive. Should I just try Dial A Fix first? Reboot and see if it fixes the situation?

Thanks,

Victor

 

Nope do the cleanups first, reboot the DAF!

Mike

 

Update

Hi, my customer tried this on his own and he said that it did not really work for him. Perhaps he did not do it correctly.

Again this is a problem I have not seen before. Even though I am only minutes away it is not always easy to go see him since he works a lot.

I am going to try it myself and see if it fixes things. If it does not, the only other thing I ask is if you have any other alternatives? Still no SP-3 for him so that could help at this point but not sure.

If no alternative ways to fix this, I want to thank you for your time and effort and will close this thread. He will just have to deal with it for now which I don't like to do to him but he will understand.

Speaking of closing, since I started the thread, do I also have the ability to close a thread I created? I already resolved a fax issue and would like to close that thread.

Thanks

 

klargo55

No the post will remain for others who may have a similar problem.

You may however post that it is resolved or that you wish to drop it etc.

You most certainly be sure the DAF was run correctly. The ATF-Cleaner and CCleaner also.

klargo we just need more info.

If you go there to confirm the above. Then do the below while there.

Not saying he has malware but to be sure and also see detailed info on system we will use some malware diags.

Go here read and understan then get us a HJT and DSS logs (both)
http://www.windowsbbs.com/announcement.php?f=41

also get

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Install and update Malwarebytes and if it finds much then run again in safe mode.

Do this and get back!

I do not know of a shortcut!

Mike

 

MFlynn Reply

Hi, it has been several months since I posted an update. Unfortunately during the summer the customer became ill for a time and also had to leave on some trips. Anyhow I found out some things. One is PowerDVD software can cause this problem, Media Center, Nero and Logitech Set Point software.

I removed PowerDVD and that did not work. Nero software is installed but the module that causes the problem, he is on XP Pro so Media Center is out so that leaves Setpoint. He has Logitech products. Anyways at the end he told me not to worry and do not remove Setpoint so I will never know if it will work or not.

He wants a new PC next year with Windows 7. I will get him a major PC since he loves the latest and greatest...

Thanks for all your help

Victor