# How Would One Go About Creating A Screen Saver? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2000, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929 "2000-03-21T07:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/1 "2000-03-21T07:36:00Z")
Someone recently asked me if I knew of any good RHPS screensavers. I searched the 'net, and I could not find even _one_. So, I decided to make one. I want it to display pictures from the movie, one after another. Very simple – I could make an animated gif of it easily with PSP. But I am wondering if a screensaver may need to be a specific format? And I notice that when choosing a screensaver in windows, there is no “Browse” option. How do I get my screensaver as an option? Anybody know? * * * [Cessandra](http://envy.nu/cessandra/profile.html) I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids! ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/2 "2000-03-21T09:40:00Z")
[Stardust](http://www.softseek.com/Desktop_Enhancements/Screen_Savers/Create_Your_Own/Review_9871_index.html) lets you make your own slideshow screen savers. I’ve never used the program, so I can’t vouch for it. Put your screensaver file (must have extension .scr) in the C:\Windows\ directory and it should show up in the list. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/3 "2000-03-21T09:43:00Z")
Where’ve you been, Cessandra? Someone (I forget who) was just asking where you were! * * * I always try to do things in chronological order. ---
**Author:** ![Shagrath\_Borgir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Shagrath\_Borgir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagrath_Borgir)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/4 "2000-03-21T10:00:00Z")
Well you’re in luck, as i’ve made many screen savers before! 🙂 Do you know how to program? Any language will do, and visual basic is a good one to start with. Well, just make a program that does what you want your screen saver to display. Then rename the .exe to a .scr. So suppose you called it screensaver.exe when you compile it. You just rename it to screensaver.scr, then put it in your c:\windows directory, and it will display in the list! 🙂 * * * “…the dark side of the mirror always threw our malice back…” ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/5 "2000-03-21T12:41:00Z")
neutron star, thanks, I’ll check that out. evilbeth, I’ve been here, I just haven’t seen anything that I wanted to respond to. Sort of retro-lurking, I suppose. Little Nemo was the most recent person to mention my absence, and I just responded to that thread. Shag, I don’t know anything about programming. I was hoping to maybe make this on PSP or something. . . * * * [Cessandra](http://envy.nu/cessandra/profile.html) I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/6 "2000-03-21T16:08:00Z")
What type of computer operating system? Anyway try [download.com](http://download.com) search for ‘screen saver’ they have lots of programs to make your own. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-go-about-creating-a-screen-saver/8929/7 "2000-03-21T16:59:00Z")
If you just want a slideshow of various gifs, jpegs and what not, you can download something that will do this from [www.cerious.com](http://www.cerious.com) It’s called “Thumbsplus Screesaver” oddly enough. It’s also a freebie.