ditch your screensaver?

[michaewlewis]

I just saw this article on yahoo. The author says that screensavers are a thing of the past and they actually do more harm than good because they take up more power to run the screensaver than not. He also says that LCDs don't get burn in.
This guy obviously has never tried running any tests to verify his rant. If you leave an image on your screen for a couple weeks, the lcd will start to get burn in. It happens where I work quite often, which is why I have started scheduling screensavers to run overnight and on the weekends. The effects of burn in are not as permanent as they are on crt monitors, however. With an LCD, you can unplug it for a day or so and it will fix itself. I would have been okay with the article if he would have mentioned that, but he's just another uninformed writer that is spreading his made up exaggerations to more clueless readers, which results in mass hysteria.
Sigh. 

[Calum]

I always turn my screen off if I'm not using it, and my PC also runs a blank screensaver and turns off the video if left for 5 minutes.
Screensavers aren't as important as they used to be, but they're certainly not a thing of the past.

[!~*:.Pink Floyd.:*~!]

I keep mine blank BTW Calum did you get your avator problem fixed

[Calum]

Yes I did thanks.

Don't forget also that screensavers are sometimes used as an indicator to some programs that the machine is idle, and they will then start work.
For example, Windows automatically defragments certain files, mainly the boot files, when the screensaver is active.  With no screensaver, this won't happen.  That's why I keep a blank screensaver, even though my video card will switch off when it becomes active anyway.

[BC_Programmer]

Yes I did thanks.

Don't forget also that screensavers are sometimes used as an indicator to some programs that the machine is idle, and they will then start work.
For example, Windows automatically defragments certain files, mainly the boot files, when the screensaver is active.  With no screensaver, this won't happen.  That's why I keep a blank screensaver, even though my video card will switch off when it becomes active anyway.

Are you sure? I don't have a screensaver installed but after quite some idle time the HD light is going crazy...

[Calum]

Well, I'll rephrase then - for me, nothing happened without a screensaver set.
If I didn't set one, the automatic defrag didn't happen.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I have Microsoft's Blue Screen Of Death Screensaver.

[soybean]

Don't forget also that screensavers are sometimes used as an indicator to some programs that the machine is idle, and they will then start work.
For example, Windows automatically defragments certain files, mainly the boot files, when the screensaver is active.  With no screensaver, this won't happen.  That's why I keep a blank screensaver, even though my video card will switch off when it becomes active anyway.

How can you tell the automatic defragmentation is running?

[Calum]

Hard drive activity, and files being less fragmented than before.
If I leave my computer running with no screensaver activated, my HDD doesn't show any extra activity as it would if a defrag was running.

[BC_Programmer]

isn't this a separate setting? "optimize hard disk when idle" I think...


System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
OptimalLayout]
Value Name: EnableAutoLayout
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled)

I could swear there is a UI checkbox somewhere for this, but I can't find it...

maybe this setting is disabled at the same time as a screensaver? strangely I had this option disabled, which makes the  HD activity suspicious. Especially since it isn't even fragmented at all(to the point of being worth it). But I'm fairly sure it isn't malware (I just surgically removed several persistent items, and can't find a single foreign DLL with Process Explorer... I'll have to run filemon, figure out what it is. I hope it's something useful. Might not be defragmentation at all...

[Kip]

I could swear there is a UI checkbox somewhere for this, but I can't find it...

There is a checkbox for it in "TweakUI".  It is titled "Optimize hard disk when idle" and is in the "General" section.