Screen savers are designed to turn on when a
computer has been idle for a specified period of time. The original job
of the screen saver was to prevent image burn-in on CRT monitors by
displaying a continuously changing image. With today's monitors,
burn-in is no longer a problem, but screen savers are still around. The
primary benefit they offer today is the ability to password-lock
computers automatically when the screen saver turns on.
Configuring Screen Savers with Password Protection
Password-protecting
the screen saver deters unauthorized users from accessing a computer,
which can protect both the personal data of the user and the
intellectual property of the organization. As an administrator, you
should ensure that the computers you deploy have password-protected
screen savers enabled.
You can password protect the screen saver by performing the following steps:
-
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
-
Click the Screen Saver link to display the Screen Saver Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Set a screen saver with password protection for user and organization security.
-
Use the Screen Saver list box to select a screen saver. To disable the screen saver, select None and skip the remaining steps.
| Real World |
Unfortunately, screen savers can use up a lot of
the computer's resources, increasing both the energy usage of the
computer (which otherwise would be idle) and its memory and processor
usage. Some screen savers, particularly the three-dimensional ones such
as 3D Text, can cause the processor to run at a
high percent utilization. The reason for this is that 3D designs are
very complex and the computer must make a lot of computations to
maintain and update the screen saver image. For tips on reducing
resource usage when screen savers turn on, see the sections of this
chapter entitled "Reducing Screen Saver Resource Usage" and "Setting Energy-Saving Settings for Monitors."
|
-
Select On Resume, Display Logon Screen.
-
Use the Wait box to specify how long the computer
must be idle before the screen saver is activated. A reasonable value
is between 10 and 15 minutes.
-
Click OK.
Reducing Screen Saver Resource Usage
A computer that is running Windows Vista and that
performs background tasks or network duties, such as print services,
should not be configured to use a complex screen saver, such as 3D
Text. Instead, the computer should be configured with a basic screen
saver, such as the Blank screen saver. You can also modify the settings
for advanced screen savers to reduce resource usage. Typically, you do
this by reducing the redraw and refresh rates of the advanced screen
saver.
To reduce screen saver resource usage, follow these steps:
-
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
-
Click the Screen Saver link to display the Screen Saver Settings dialog box.
-
If you want to use a screen saver that uses fewer
resources without making configuration changes, use the Screen Saver
list box to select a basic screen saver, such as Blank or Windows Logo.
-
If you want to use a more advanced screen saver
but reduce its resource usage, select that screen saver and then click
Settings. Afterward, use the Setup dialog box to reduce the Complexity,
Speed, or similar field values that affect the drawing or refreshing of
the screen saver. In the example shown in Figure 2, I've reduced the resolution and set the Rotation Type to None to reduce the resource usage of the 3D Text screen saver.
Figure 2: Advanced screen savers have settings that you can use to reduce resource usage.
-
Click OK once or twice as necessary to close the open dialog boxes.
Setting Energy-Saving Settings for Monitors
Many newer monitors have energy-saving features
that cause them to shut off after a certain period of inactivity.
Enabling this feature can reduce the organization's electricity bill
because monitors typically use a lot of electricity to stay powered up.
On some systems, this feature might have been automatically enabled by
the operating system during installation. This depends, however, on the
operating system properly detecting the monitor and installing any
necessary drivers.
On a portable laptop computer running on batteries,
saving energy is especially important. By configuring the monitor to
shut off when the computer is idle, you can save the battery life and
extend the battery availability time when the laptop is unplugged.
To manage a monitor's energy settings, follow these steps:
-
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
-
Click the Screen Saver link to display the Screen Saver Settings dialog box.
-
Click Change Power Settings. The Power Options Properties dialog box is displayed.
-
In the left pane, click Choose When To Turn Off Display.
-
Use the selection list provided to specify when
the monitor should be turned off to save energy. By default, all the
standard power plans turn off the computer's monitor after 20 minutes.
-
Click Save Changes.
| Note |
If the computer is connected to a monitor that
doesn't support Energy Saving settings, some power options might be
grayed out or unavailable. If you are configuring the computer in a
build area and are using a different monitor than the one the user will
have, you might want to obtain the user's monitor model and repeat this
process.
|
| Real World |
Typically, you'll want to turn off the monitor
after 15 to 20 minutes of idle time. On my office computer, I turn on
the screen saver after 7 minutes and then turn off the monitor after 15
minutes of idle time. On my laptop, I use settings of 5 minutes and 10
minutes, respectively.
|
|
