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General discussion

screen-saver issue

Oct 31, 2007 2:22AM PDT

I have a Vista Basic laptop. I will soon be upgrading to Vista Premium (My specs are above the Premium minimum), but not for a while. I have an issue with my screen-saver. Every time I turn it on, it doesn't work! For example: I want to use Vista's "Ribbon" screen-saver. I set the time to 5 minutes, but it never turns on! I haven't made many changes to my laptop, and Windows Update installs updates every Friday. And once I upgrade, will the screen-saver work again? Pleas help me resolve this issue!!!

Discussion is locked

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This issue is
Oct 31, 2007 3:41AM PDT

And was noted back in XP (and prior) days. The screen saver only kicks in if the machine is not busy. But it never tells us why it thinks it's busy. My guess is Vista's new indexing or you have a wifi connection, firewall, etc.

Bob

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It was working....
Oct 31, 2007 3:49AM PDT

It was working when I got it and I used wi-fi, and it still worked... The only thing I have done that might of effected it was installing Norton Internet Security 2008. Is there a way to turn my screensaver on. Norton Internet Security might just be the problem. I have been having issues with Windows Defender and it! Windows defender doesn't recognize it as a firewall/antivirus! Is there a way to fix it? Maybe my screensaver will work once again!

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Bingo.
Oct 31, 2007 4:26AM PDT
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Final question
Oct 31, 2007 6:17AM PDT

Ok, this may sound like a somewhat stupid question... How do I disable the background system scan? The website described it, but I can't figure it out!!!

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A story about my dad and Norton
Oct 31, 2007 6:29AM PDT

We had a similar tussle with Norton. There must be more than a dozen settings and it's too much for me to keep in memory. Since I don't have Norton on any machine here I can't guide you to it's settings. Besides they change it yearly. Try disabling what you don't use first.

For my dad we finally found it to be some web privacy filter. But problems with Pogo (a web game site) popped up later. We finally turfed Norton and went to Free AVG and Zone Alarm.

And why not call it in. Ask for a fix or a refund.

Bob

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Thanks
Oct 31, 2007 7:11AM PDT

I just sent a message to Norton's help line via e-mail. Thank you R. Proffit!!! But, just in case, can you tell me good, free antivirus/firewall apps?

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There's a long list in our Spyware, Security forum.
Oct 31, 2007 7:12AM PDT

But I did share what my dad (and our family) uses now.

YES!!! I'm running these on Vista.

Bob

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Screensaver
Oct 31, 2007 7:04AM PDT

These screensaver that come with the Windows all of the versions are bad for my computer. For a long time I have put the screensaver time to 9999 minutes. But after 5 or 6 months, the computer starts to go black after 20-30 minutes. I have no idea what caused this because lots of people I know does the same thing to their screensaver time but what is wrong with mine?

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Think about what you gave the forum to work with.
Oct 31, 2007 7:11AM PDT

-> It has a lot in common with the blank screensaver.