Screen Saver won't kick in

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November 9th, 2009, 06:41 PM
BOB IROC

Screen Saver won't kick in

I am working on a Dell Laptop that had a bad hard drive and I replaced it and freshly installed Windows XP using the Dell OEM XP disc and no matter what the screen saver will not kick in. I read a forum post about a PowerDVD service stopping this but this machine just has Windows XP and the Dell drivers on it. WHen I got to the screen saver options under display and hit the test button the screen saver kicks in for a millisecond but then cuts out. Everything I read on this problem here and by searching the net does not seem to apply. There are no external devices and no extra software on the machine other than Windows XP SP3 and the latest updates. Is there some place maybe I can look to see if I can shed some light on what might be keeping the screen saver from kicking in. I was thinking of disabling the touchpad in the BIOS as that is the last thing I can think of that could be causing this but I wanted to start a forum post to see if there was any ideas that could help me. The machine seems to run fine otherwise.

Edit: Just for fun I tried throwing Vista and Windows 7 on the same machine using Dell OEM discs knowing they would not activate but as a test and the computer exhibits the same problem. No screen saver.
November 9th, 2009, 08:38 PM
Guts3d

I had a laptop with the same problem, turned out to be a stuck function key on the keyboard. Hope that is it!
November 9th, 2009, 09:31 PM
BOB IROC

Thanks Guts, I will try that. I did replace the keyboard too since it was missing a key. Did you just hit each key 1 by 1 or did you have to do something special. It is a new keyboard so I hope that it is ok. I do not want to return the laptop to the owner and have to say Oh by the way everything works but the screensaver or sleep mode.
November 10th, 2009, 08:44 AM
CCT

Are you using a wireless mouse?
November 10th, 2009, 09:13 AM
BOB IROC

Quote:

Originally Posted by CCT

Are you using a wireless mouse?

Nope... No external devices and no extra software on the computer at the moment other than Windows XP SP3, Latest Patches, & Latest Drivers (from Dell Website)
November 10th, 2009, 09:37 AM
CCT

Is the NIC wireless? If so, is it disabled normally?

Call up Notepad, run through the character and numeric keys and then left to right all the others (some obviously do nada alone, some do nada anyway).
November 10th, 2009, 11:32 AM
futuretech

Have you tried msconfig and shut things off one at a time and then see if screen saver works?
If you used the dell cd does it install other dell software or is it just the OS?
November 11th, 2009, 10:41 PM
BOB IROC

Quote:

Originally Posted by futuretech

Have you tried msconfig and shut things off one at a time and then see if screen saver works?
If you used the dell cd does it install other dell software or is it just the OS?

The dell CD is just Windows. And I think the stuck key was the trick. Ran my fingers over every key and now it kicks in. Who'd a thunk. Especially since it is a replacement keyboard