Screensavers

If the same image is displayed on the screen for too long, it can "burn in" to the screen, so that a faint (almost ghostly) version of that image is always present on the screen. Obviously this isn't desirable, so a screensaver is displayed when the computer has been idle for a set amount of time. The screensaver is usually a moving image, and prevents this problem from occurring.

How to Customize your Screensaver

Just as you can customize your wallpaper, you can customize your screensaver too. To do this, right-click on the desktop background, select "Properties", and then select "Screen Saver".

Shows the screensaver settings.

With any of the selections, you can modify the settings using the "Settings" button, and preview the results using the "Preview button". You can also specify how long the computer must be idle before the screensaver is applied (in this example, 10 minutes).

If you tick the "On resume, display logon screen" box, then when you resume using the computer after the screensaver has been applied, you'll revert back to the logon screen where you will need to enter your password again. This does provide a limited degree of security, in that if you've left your computer idle for long enough for the screensaver to be invoked, nobody else can access it without knowing your password. On the other hand, this can also be annoying because it makes resuming work slower (because you need to enter your password again).

How to Use a Slideshow as your Screensaver

You can do this using Webshots (as described in the Wallpapers section), but for screensavers you can also do this directly within Windows. From the "Screen saver" menu described in the previous section, select "Photos", and then select the "Settings" button. A window will pop up allowing you to change slideshow settings for your screensaver.

Shows how to setup a screensaver slideshow.

You can specify a folder from which the pictures should be taken by selecting the "Use pictures and videos from:" option, and then using the "Browse" button to find and select the appropriate folder. The transition speed can be modified using the "Slide Show speed:" menu, and the contents can be shuffled (displayed in a random order) if you tick the "Shuffle contents" box.

Where to Find Free Screensavers

Using any of your own collection of digital photographs is obviously free. Beyond that, there are lots of free wallpapers and screensavers available from http://www.screensavers.com, some free sample images usually come with Windows (usually stored somewhere like C:\Users\Public\Public Pictures\Sample Pictures), and a sample of free images come with the the Webshots Desktop mentioned in the Wallpapers section.

If none of these are what you're looking for, there are loads of others available. Typing "free screensavers" into Google (or any other search engine) will bring up plenty of results.

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