Need help automating screensaver choices

tubesnow · Post by **tubesnow** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:04 pm

Good afternoon,

I've searched around for a similar topic but could not find one that already existed. I'm a novice macro recorder user, so perhaps I am looking at the wrong type of program, but I'll explain what I'm trying to do, and maybe one of you nice people can help me figure it out

I want to write a macro/script/executable, that will work on a variety of configurations on different PCs running windows that will:

- Change the screensaver to the My Pictures Slideshow
- Change the directory where the screensaver looks for pictures
- Change the default time to '1 minute'

I've been able to automate this locally on my machine, but have yet to figure out a way to send this macro/exe to someone else and have it 'voila' change all that.

Any tips/pointers?

Thanks!

pgriffin · Post by **pgriffin** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:22 pm

My guess would be to try using VBScript. You could call you VBScript from MacroScheduler, if you like.

This not an endorsement, but I have found useful VBScript here in the past.

http://www.visualbasicscript.com

Me_again · Post by **Me_again** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:18 pm

I believe the screensaver parameters are stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER in the registry. MacroScheduler can read and write registry keys, see commands like RegistryWriteKey in the Help.

Before you start playing with this I would suggest you pay attention to this note from the Help "Use all registry functions with caution. If you are unfamiliar with the Windows Registry we recommend that you do not use these functions. Removing or modifying a registry entry that you did not create could cause your system to become unstable."

Use this information with care and entirely at your own risk.

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:17 am

The problem with the registry is that the registry settings seem to change from Windows version to Windows version. Plus you may need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect. But have a look in HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop. You will see screen saver options there.

Paul's suggestion for using VBScript is usually the best for most system administration tasks. Unfortunately I haven't found anything to suggest that VBScript can be used in this case. But I may have just missed something.

If all else fails, you can automate the Display Properties window via keystrokes, of course.

Me_again · Post by **Me_again** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:16 pm

Yeah, I think it's a can of worms (hmmm, what's the Brit equivalent of that?) but there's always OS_VER