# screen saver question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266 "2003-05-10T03:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266/1 "2003-05-10T03:48:42Z")
Well not really a screen saver, but I have my monitor set to turn off after a certain amount of time (20 mins I think). My question is, why does it not work sometimes? Usually it works fine, but about 10% of the time (sometimes more) it doens’t work. It’ll stay on for hours and hours. BTW I’m running XP Pro. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266/2 "2003-05-13T11:51:17Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266/3 "2003-05-13T12:18:52Z")
In your control panel, go to “Power Options” and click on that. A window will pop up. Click on the dropdown menu for “Turn Off Monitor” under “Settings For Home/Office Desk power Scheme”. You should find different time settings there, ranging from 1 minute to 5 hours to never. It is probably defaulted to 20 minutes, which means that after 20 minutes of inactivity, your monitor shuts off as a power saving option. Hope this was what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![racekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6bbea6/32.png) [@racekarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racekarl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266/4 "2003-05-13T12:56:21Z")
I don’t have an answer for you, but this happens to me as well at work where I run Windows 2000 Server. I know the settings are correct, because it usually works, but as you say, occasionally I’ll come in the next morning and the monitor is still on. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a modal dialog box or something that pops, leaving the computer waiting for input? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266/5 "2003-05-13T15:10:12Z")
Just a quirk of the OS. Happened to me often till I re-installed the OS (98). Now it works all the time. I didn`t re-install just for that reason, there were other problems. Windows gets all gumned up with background crap and stuff that never gets deleted. Untill, of course, you do a re-install. There are other things you can do in the interim. Kill all the startup programs you don`t need, Delete temp files and cookies, Run ad-aware (from [lavasoft.com](http://lavasoft.com)) Defrag, Add RAM Disconnect the ethernet cable from your network card while away. ---
**Author:** ![rackman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@rackman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screen-saver-question/174266/6 "2003-05-13T16:57:27Z")
In addition to what **whuckfistle** suggests, I had a similar problem, and updating drivers (in my case the keyboard driver) may also help.