GPO Screensaver on server

[Hondy]

Hi

I want to turn on the lockable screen saver functionality on my production environment via GPO.

To do this I need to specify an executable in the GPO, anyone know what the executable is for the "Windows 2003 Server" screensaver is(the static Windows logo that randomly gets displayed around the screen)?

Presumably there is little performance impact compared to the old OpenGL problems?

So I need to set:

Screensaver = enabled
Screen Saver executable = ???
password protect screen saver = enabled
Screen saver timeout = 15 mins

Right?

Thanks

H

 

[GrimR]

We have a custom scr so this is how I do it.

'Add screen saver
Dim objFSO:Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Dim WshShell:Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Const OverwriteExisting = True
sysDir = objFSO.GetSpecialFolder(1) 

strLocalfile = sysDir & "\MYCOMPANY.scr" 

If objFSO.FileExists(strLocalfile)=False Then
objFSO.CopyFile  "\\server\share\MYCOMPANY.scr" , sysDir & "\" , OverwriteExisting = true
End If

HKEY_CURRENT_USER = &H80000001
strComputer = "."
Set objReg = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")
strKeyPath = "Control Panel\Desktop"
objReg.CreateKey HKEY_CURRENT_USER, strKeyPath
ValueName = "ScrnSave.exe"
strValue = "C:\WINDOWS\System32\MYCOMPANY.scr"
objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_CURRENT_USER, strKeyPath, ValueName, strValue

MCITP:EA/SA, MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCP+I, MCP

 

[Hondy]

Thanks for the tip but I need to enforce it via GPO. Although you did inspire me to search for scr files on a server.

It looks as though the executable is c:\windows\system32\logon.scr

If you right click it in Explorer there is a "test" option and that appears to be the one I need.

I just hope it has no hidden adverse affect of turning it on!

 

[micahdaniel]

I made a GPO to do this using winexit.scr This forces users to logout at night (I think Microsoft made it, Google it if interested). But you can use whatever .scr you like. To set it up:

- Make a GPO and name it appropriately (make sure it is an OU where your users reside)
- Edit the gpo and go to >Userconfig>Admintemplates>ControlPanel>Display
- Enable screen saver, screen saver executable name (set the path too) and screen saver timeout (set the time too)

In my case, I also had to add a line to the user's logon script to copy the winexit.scr file to their %windir% path. Since you're going to use a built-in, you won't need to do that. I attached a screen shot of the gp editor that about sums it up.

 

[micahdaniel]

Not sure why the link didn't work quite right. Trying again.

 

[dbustamante]

you can try this where it just locks the computer but theres no background.


Screensaver = enabled
Screen Saver executable = rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation
password protect screen saver = enabled
Screen saver timeout = 15 mins