How do I Turn the Screensaver Off in Windows

How screensavers affect monitors
Monitors that are running screensavers have a tendency to consume the same amount of power as they would if they were running normally. This can be as little as a few watts for small LCD monitors, to as much as several hundred for the much larger plasma displays.


The more modern computers have the ability to switch the monitor into a lower power mode, and blanking the screen altogether. This power saving mode for computer monitors, is commonly an integral part of the power management options that is supported in most of these modern operating systems, including the computer hardware and also the monitor.

By using a screensaver on a flat panel or LCD screen, you will not have to power down as the screen has the ability to reduce the life of the display. If you have ever had a screensaver on your computer that you just want to get rid off this is for you. Here is a simple guide to turning off the screen saver in Windows XP.

Screensavers can actually waste power, this is because they are able to prevent the computer from going into the lower power state, and they sometimes cause the CPU and GPU to do more calculations, which keeps the hard disk working for longer than if the computer were idle.

Windows XP has the ability to detect the installation of a virus via the screensaver if it is being downloaded, it will warn the user before downloading the file. It is believed that screensavers and free screensavers were amongst the most likely search terms to return links to malware or virus.

Turning off the screensaver in Windows XP
You begin by logging in to your computers administrator account. If you are one of the users on your computer, then your default login name should also have administrative privileges.

Next you go to and click START

Then click on Run.
Type 'regedit' into the text box you see
Then press enter. This will take you to the Registry Editor.
Once in the Registery Editor

You double-clickthe HKEY_USERS folder you see in the left of window
Then click DEFAULT
Click CONTROL PANEL
And click DESKTOP.
Now you will scroll down until you see the "ScreenSaveActive" and "ScreenSaveTimeOut" values. When you have found them you will then,

Set the "ScreenSaveActive" value to zero and the "ScreenSavetimeOut" value to zero. You can do this by double clicking on the words and entering the number 0 in the following pop-up window.
Finally you will close the Registry Editor

Be very sure that you are editing the right values.

Check to see if the screensaver has been turned off.