Screen Saver Shortcut - Create in Windows

How to Create a Screen Saver Shortcut in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8

information   Information
This tutorial will show you how to create a screen saver shortcut that can be pinned or used anywhere to let you manually run a screen saver when you like in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.



Here's How:

1. Right click or press and hold on an empty area on desktop, and click/tap on New and Shortcut.

2. Type the command below for the screen saver you want into the location area, and click/tap on the Next button. (see screenshot and table below)
NOTE: Substitute full path to screen saver .scr file in the command below with the actual full path to the .scr file within quotes.
%windir%\explorer "full path to screen saver .scr file"
For Example: If I wanted to have a 3D Text screen saver shortcut then I would type this below exactly for the location.​
%windir%\explorer "C:\Windows\System32\ssText3d.scr"

Default Screen Savers

Location

3D Text

C:\Windows\System32\ssText3d.scr

Blank

C:\Windows\System32\scrnsave.scr

Bubbles

C:\Windows\System32\Bubbles.scr

Mystify

C:\Windows\System32\Mystify.scr

Photos

C:\Windows\System32\PhotoScreensaver.scr

Ribbons

C:\Windows\System32\Ribbons.scr

Shortcut-1.jpg

3. Type Screen Saver for the name, and click/tap on the Finish button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can name this anything you would like though.
Shortcut-2.jpg

4. Right click or press and hold on the new Screen Saver shortcut on your desktop, and click/tap on Properties.

5. Click/tap on the Shortcut tab, then click/tap on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)
Shortcut-3.jpg

6. In the line under "Look for icons in this file", copy and paste the location below, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
%windir%\System32\PhotoScreensaver.scr
Shortcut-4.jpg

7. Select the icon highlighted in blue above, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot above)
NOTE: You can use any icon that you would like instead though.

8. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 5)

9. In Vista or Windows 7, you can now Pin to Taskbar (Windows 7) or Pin to Start Menu, add to Quick Launch, assign a keyboard shortcut to it, or move this shortcut to where you like for easy use.

10. In Windows 8, you can Pin to Taskbar on desktop, Pin to Start screen, add to Quick Launch, assign a keyboard shortcut to it, or move this shortcut to where you like for easy use.

11. If available, you can also set the screen saver settings (step 4 in Option Two at this link) for this screen saver to what you like.


That's it,
Shawn


 

Attachments

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Last edited:
Very Nice Tutorial , Shawn..... :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows® 8.1 Pro 64-Bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell® XPS® 15-9530
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7 4702HQ @3.20GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel® HM86 Express Chipset
    Memory
    Dell® 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
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    NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 750M 2GB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Intel® High-Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell® LED™ 15.6-Inch QHD+
    Screen Resolution
    3200 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung® SSD™ 840 Pro 512GB
    PSU
    Dell® 91 WHR 6-Cell Battery
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    Dell® Cooling
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    Dell® Integrated Keyboard
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    Network Adapter- Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0
Thank you. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
You Are Welcome :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows® 8.1 Pro 64-Bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell® XPS® 15-9530
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7 4702HQ @3.20GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel® HM86 Express Chipset
    Memory
    Dell® 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 750M 2GB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Intel® High-Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell® LED™ 15.6-Inch QHD+
    Screen Resolution
    3200 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung® SSD™ 840 Pro 512GB
    PSU
    Dell® 91 WHR 6-Cell Battery
    Case
    Dell® Machined Aluminium Chassis
    Cooling
    Dell® Cooling
    Keyboard
    Dell® Integrated Keyboard
    Mouse
    Dell® TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    Download Speed- 50.0 MBPS Upload Speed- 20.0 MBPS
    Browser
    Mozilla® Firefox® 29.0
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky® PURE® 3.0 Total Security
    Other Info
    Network Adapter- Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0
Nice! now I can make my PC show the screensaver without waiting the time-out!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Y520
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 7300HQ
    Motherboard
    OEM Lenovo
    Memory
    4GB DDR4-2400
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 (2)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 1TB 5400 RPM
    Keyboard
    OEM Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 Proteus Core
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Other Info
    PC:

    AMD Athlon X4 760K
    8GB DDR3-1866
    AMD Radeon RX 460
    Seagate 500 GB 7200 RPM
PROBLEM

C:\Windows\System32\scrnsave.scr
and others .scr are "AutoCad Script" type and I can open it only in notepad (no opinion to run or open it in another program)

BTW Why deafult "Start of the Week:" is Sunday?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W7 home 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
probem solved

Hello SVK Peto, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You might see if downloading and merging the .reg file for the listed .scr option in the table of the tutorial below may help. It will restore the default associations for .scr (screen saver) files.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/8486-default-file-associations-restore-windows-8-a.html


Q2) I suppose because Sunday is the first day of the 7 day week, thus the start of the week??


Hope this helps, :)
Shawn

Link is for W8, but I found same for W7 thx.

I didnt know other countries have it different. Where are you going to church then? In saturday or in sunday?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W7 home 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
Oops, sorry about that. The .scr file is the same in W7 and W8.

Church is on Sunday here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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