How can I add a shortcut to launch a screensaver on the desktop?

John Savill

January 8, 2000

1 Min Read
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A. Screensavers are just programs with a .scr extension. To create a shortcut of a screensaver perform the following:

  1. Start Explorer (Win+E, or Start - Programs - NT Explorer)

  2. Move to the %systemroot%system32 directory (e.g. d:winntsystem32)

  3. Find the .scr file of the screen saver (you could perform a search, Tools - Find - Folders of Files, enter a name of *.scr and unselect "Include subfolders", click Find Now)

  4. Right click on one of them, drag it to the desktop, release the right mouse button and select "Create shortcut here"

  5. Next right click on the new shortcut and select properties

  6. In the target box add to the end "-s", e.g.
    C:WINNTsystem32sspipes.scr -s

  7. Click OK

This screensaver would not be password protected.

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