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Screen Savers – why do we have screen savers?
Do they really save the screen?

They can, depending on the type of screen. Flat panel monitors are especially at risk. If you leave your computer on one particular thing - any one screen image - the image left on the screen could be "burned" into it permanently. Yikes! From them on a faint image of whatever was on your screen at the time can be seen there all the time, no matter what other sites or activities you visit. Think how distracting that could be!   

Over the years monitors improved so that we didn’t have to worry about that so much for a time. But now some flat panel monitors might be susceptible to that same type of damage. 


So, for what other reasons are screen savers used?
wrapple.gif (10267 bytes)Interesting Appearance

Apple3.gif (461 bytes)Privacy

Apple3.gif (461 bytes)Security

Interesting Appearance – There are some pretty snazzy screen savers out there. They can be fun and sometimes even helpful. Mrs. Simpson has one that shows each country in the world and its location. Mrs. Cannon has a corkboard screensaver with a "Things to Do Today" list.

Privacy – Imagine that you work in a place that handles private material such as a bank, attorney’s office, or school. You might have to step away from your desk for a few minutes. You certainly wouldn’t want just anybody to be able to walk by and see the private information on your screen. A screen saver could pop up automatically, completely covering that private information until you come back. Some screen savers can be set to appear immediately when you move the mouse cursor to a certain spot on the screen. That would be helpful when privacy is a concern.

Security – This takes the privacy issue one step further. If you need to make sure that no one but you could make your screensaver disappear you can set it to require a password. Once the screen saver pops up you must type in the correct password to make the screen saver disappear. Beware that you should NEVER set a password on a screen saver unless you are sure that you will remember it, and NEVER without permission from a parent or teacher when using a shared computer.

How do you make a screensaver appear on your computer? 
Follow Martha’s recipe for Basic Screensavers. 
She has some special screensaver recipes you might want to try also.

Basic Screen Savers


Right click anywhere on your desktop. Remember a right click pops up a menu, a box of choices. Choose Properties by clicking it once. Notice the tabs across the top of the Properties window. Click the Screen Saver tab. A small monitor is near the top of that area. Below that is a drop down menu titled Screen Saver. Click the down arrow at the end of that box to use the drop down menu. Click once on any of the screen savers listed there to see a preview in the small monitor. Find one you like. 
Now set the time in the area titled Wait ___ Minutes. Let’s put it on 3 minutes. That means that your screen saver will appear if no one touches any key or the mouse for 3 minutes. 
Do NOT make any changes to the password area. The tiny box beside Password Protected should NOT have a check mark. Martha says, "Passwords are a bother!" 
Almost finished – click the Apply and OK buttons.

Now let your computer "cool", set for 3 minutes without touching a thing, and you should see your screen saver appear.

To remove it, follow the same steps 
only choose "None" as the screen saver.

 


  Using Your Own Pictures as a Screen Saver
 

Begin by preparing a folder of yummy pictures. They can be digital pictures, pictures you create in the Paint program or other drawing programs, a Power Point presentation you save as a graphic file, or any other method you have to create picture files. Save or drag all of your pictures into one folder. One way to create your own folder within My Documents (or any other location) is by right-clicking any blank area to cause a menu to appear. Move over New on the menu, and onto Folder - click "Folder" to create a new folder. Type a name for the folder that is meaningful. There you have it, a folder for your pictures.

To use your folder of pictures as a screensaver: Right click anywhere on your desktop. Remember a right click pops up a menu, a box of choices. Choose Properties by clicking it once. Notice the tabs across the top of the Properties window. Click the Screen Saver tab. A small monitor is near the top of that area. Below that is a drop down menu titled Screen Saver. Click the down arrow at the end of that box to use the drop down menu.


Click once on the "My Picture Slideshow" screen saver listed there. Next click the Settings button there to direct it to your folder of picture files. After clicking the Settings button, an Options window appears. Look for the field labeled "Use pictures in this folder:". Click the Browse button beside it and browse to the location of your picture folder. Notice the other options available and adjust as needed later. Click the OK button. You should then see the little preview monitor begin to display your pictures. If not, your specified location is incorrect. You'll need to go back to the Settings button to correct it.

Now set the time in the area titled Wait ___ Minutes. Let’s put it on 3 minutes. That means that your screen saver will appear if no one touches any key or the mouse for 3 minutes.
Do NOT make any changes to the password area. The tiny box beside Password Protected should NOT have a check mark. Martha says, "Passwords are a bother!"
Almost finished – click the Apply and OK buttons.


Now let your computer "cool", set for 3 minutes without touching a thing, and you should see your delicious screen saver appear.

Use PowerPoint to create a screensaver. Save it as a graphic.

Tips: For consistent size in Paint, click Image, Attributes in the menu bar to set the size.

PowerPoint works well for keeping picture size consistent.

Other screen savers can be added to your computer. 
You can download them from the Internet.
Do you know how to download & install? 
See the Download & Install section of the Computer Lab site if you're new to that. 
Martha recommends visiting these interesting screen savers. 
Be especially careful when downloading screensavers. Be aware that free screensaver sites might also download junk and spyware along with the free screensaver.
Use good judgement, have current spyware and virus protection, and if you download watch for automatically checked boxes during installation that are set to "agree" to additional junk. 

- Follow the instructions given on each site. -


My Corkboard Screen Saver

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Ingredients:
Download the Corkboard Screensaver from this site:
 www.mycorkboard.com
Totally Free! & Ultra Cool!
Extra Goodies:
You can download & install "Add-Ons" from the My Corkboard site to add holiday items or other fun things to your board. Teachers can put instructions on a To Do Today List. Great idea!

- Follow the instructions given on each site. -


                         Eye of the Storm Screen Saver


Ingredients:
Download the screensaver from this site:
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Reviews/r176.html

 FREE!
Screen saver globe showing any active tropical storms, hurricanes, ...

- Follow the instructions given on each site. -


                           Cities Screen Saver


Ingredients:
Download the screen saver from
http://www.kellysoftware.com/ssaver/Cities.asp

 FREE!
This screen saver is educational as well. It displays an image and you try to guess the the city. A few seconds later it displays the name of the city in the lower left corner of the screen. It includes 27 images, with transitional effects between images.

- Follow the instructions given on each site. -

                                
Holiday Lights Screen Saver


Ingredients:
Download the Holiday Lights Screensaver from this site:
www.tigertech.com
This is shareware. Free to try, then pay $19.95 if you want to keep it.
This is a fun one!
Extra Goodies:
Not only screensavers but lights that stay around the screen as you work. Several occasions are offered. More when you register and pay. Music available too.

- Follow the instructions given on each site. -


                                Arty's Solar System Screensaver

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Ingredients:
Download the screen saver from this site:  
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/artysolarscreen.html

 FREE!
Join Arty on his vacation to the many sites within our solar system with this fun screensaver. It also tells the time, date and the current Phase of the Moon. Press the space bar to exit the screensaver.

- Follow the instructions given on each site. -

Other interesting, educational screensavers to try...

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original text created by Mrs. Cannon
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