WinXP(Home Ed) and removing Screen Savers

[Kruzin]

This is prob a stupid question, but I can't seem to figure it out...

I have set up a number of new HP systems in one of my classrooms.
All of these systems came with XP home pre-installed on them.
I need to get rid of the basic screen savers (the boss hates screen savers, and the students are putting vulgar messages on the 3Dtext SS daily).
Every morning, I have to spend 15 min going around to all of these systems, and turning the SSs back off.
I want to just remove them from the systems permanently.
BUT, every time I delete the .scr files from the windows and system folders, they just come right back....

So what's the trick?

[Sasq]

its pre 7am here so I'm not so useful, but give this a look

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/regentry/34635.asp

maybe set the file to nothing, or umm errr delete the file

Dan

[Gurm]

Windows File Protection. Gotta love it!

Delete 'em from the dllcache as well.

- Gurm

[Kruzin]

I did that.
Deleted them from the Windows folder, the system folder AND the dllcache folder (everywhere I could find them on the drives), and they STILL come back....

[DGhost]

did you delete them while in safe mode? iirc, thats the only way to get around SFP...

i'll look up some other methods, it seemed to me it was possible without deleting them...

[Kruzin]

I didn't try it in safe mode.
I'll try that in the morning....

[DGhost]

I found a way to disable screen savers under Win2k SP1 and higher. the specific method requires Windows XP Pro, i'll see if i can find a redistributable version of the software. it might or might not work under XP Home, but it probably will...

[DGhost]

okie, i have not tested this under XP Home, but i think this might work as well...

1) download this file that contains the XP Pro Group Policy Editor

2) extract it to C:\Windows (or you windows directory...) making sure you are extracting using path names

3) you should be able to run gpedit.msc from the run dialog box, or by navigating to it and double clicking on it.

4) in the MMC window it pops up, under "User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Control Panel -> Display" there will be a Screen Saver option. if you go into its properties you should be able to set it to "disable". that should make it so you cannot set a screen saver at all. there are other useful things you can configure through it, so its pretty useful.

5) if this works you probably wanna delete the .msc afterwards, or at least make sure you are not leaving any references to it in the run command, etc...

disclamer: i honestly do not know if this will work or not. i am not responsible for any damage done to a computer by using this tool. there is a possibility of messing up the computer using this tool. use at your own risk, etc.

edit: I don't have a Windows XP Home box around here otherwise i would have tested it first...

[Kruzin]

Thanks, DG....if deleting the files in safe mode doesn't work, I'll give that a shot.
I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow...

[orangejulius]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000...n/gp/gpref.htm

http://groups.google.com/groups?&q=ScreenSaveActive+disable

[DGhost]

Originally posted by orangejulius
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000...n/gp/gpref.htm
http://groups.google.com/groups?&q=S...Active+disable

all the pages i could find through the second url deal with Windows 9x.

the first URL does acctually provide the nessicary info to make a registry patch. suprising, as using regmon and watching what the group policy editor did to the registry resulted in a completely different registry path.

anyways, registry patches to do the same thing are attached.

[Tempest]

I don't know if this will work on XP, but I've used it successfully on 2000:

http://www.littlewhitedog.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=71

This way they should appear in Add/Remove Programs (I think).

[DGhost]

screen savers won't show up with that. it does work in XP for other things, but nothing of major interest.

[Snake-Eyes]

So the screensavers aren't uninstallable from the Add/Remove programs applet by default (under Windows Components)? (I haven't tried removing SS from my home PC, but I know it used to be in prior versions of Windows, so not being in XP is just strange to me.)

[Kruzin]

Nope...the standard SSs are not in add/remove.

No worries though....booting into safe mode and deleting them there did the trick

Thanks all :P