Screen saver/sleep for Windows 7 laptop conundrum

twopenny

I used to do this easily in the old days but now it escapes me.

When you left the laptop on you could set a time for a screensaver to come on. Was supposed to be better for the screen?

Went to Control Panel and Display  choose a screen saver of bubbles- but it just came over transulcently of what I'd left on the screen so not 'resting' the screen I'd guess

Tried something else and it turns to black after 5 mins and wakes on wiggling the mouse.

How do I find something decorative that will save the screen when I get distracted and leave it on please?

flaneurs_lobster

Screensavers haven't really been a thing since CRT monitors were the norm.

Do you mean a pretty picture that displays when the screen/laptop is locked? Much like the lock screen on a mobile phone? Must be some although most laptops are set up to minimise battery/power use whenever they are not actually being used hence the blank screen and sleep mode.

Ayr_Rage

Real screen savers are still available in W10 and W11.

I use RIBBONS.

flaneurs_lobster

Blimey, so there are. 

Haven't seen Mystify in over a decade.

twopenny

Thank you. I saw Ribbons but took Bubbles instead.

That just sends Bubbles over the screen when it's quiet but I can see my wallpaper and icons behind them so not really asleep I guess.

It used to be easy to do on Display and the search threw up 'click on' something I hadn't got.

My screen shut down/saver settings disappeared after a trip to the menders and I hadn't worried as I thought it was simple to put back.

I'll try Ribbons and see if that quietens the screen down.

If not then I'll have to just be more vigilant and take care. You get used to it all being done for you

Neil_Jones

twopenny said:

Thank you. I saw Ribbons but took Bubbles instead.

That just sends Bubbles over the screen when it's quiet but I can see my wallpaper and icons behind them so not really asleep I guess.

It used to be easy to do on Display and the search threw up 'click on' something I hadn't got.

My screen shut down/saver settings disappeared after a trip to the menders and I hadn't worried as I thought it was simple to put back.

I'll try Ribbons and see if that quietens the screen down.

If not then I'll have to just be more vigilant and take care. You get used to it all being done for you

In Windows 7 what you're looking for is in the power options to stop the screen turning off after five minutes.

Regardless you don't need to "save" the screen with modern hardware particularly if its flatscreen/LED screens.

As for the Bubbles screensaver, its supposed to do that.  It's always done that.

twopenny

Oh, that's why then

Not sure it's modern hardware I've got. This is one of the first with Windows 7 so it's what, 2009 so 16yrs old.

400ixl

I do hope this device is not connected to the internet at all.

Better than a screen saver, just go into power settings and set it to turn the screen off after X minutes.

Neil_Jones

twopenny said:

Oh, that's why then

Not sure it's modern hardware I've got. This is one of the first with Windows 7 so it's what, 2009 so 16yrs old.

The point was that when flat screen/LCD/LED monitors came in, the need for screensavers went out.

The idea of a screensaver was to prevent burn-in which occurs when a section of the screen is in the same place pretty much all the time.  This was pretty much an exclusive feature to an extent with CRTs, and isn't a thing now with modern screens (OLED/early plasma excepted, but that technology AFAIK was only on television sets and affected you more if you left them on news channels all the time).

Because CRTs update by flashing the screen 50 times a second (in a nutshell) they were always prone to this phenomenon .  modern screens use pixel grids to make the picture so there is no concept of burnt-in (stuck and dead pixels on the other hand cannot be saved by a screen saver).

TL;DR - if you want to use a screensaver, that's up to you.  But you don't actually need to these days,

twopenny

Thanks for the explanation Neil.

Good to know.