need to start my screensaver on demand

Question

I need to start my screensaver on demand.  In the old days, there was a keyboard shortcut for this.  I thought about building a macro to go to the screensaver settings and doing "Preview".  I can't find a way to bulid a macro in an application that will work without starting the application.  Any suggestions or am I missing the availability of doing this already built into Vista?

 

Answer 1

Odd requirement, do you perhaps really want to call LockWorkstation()?  Otherwise, write a program that uses RegisterHotKey(), then calls SystemParametersInfo(), SPI_SETSCREENSAVEACTIVE when you get the WM_HOTKEY message.

Answer 2

OMG, you're way over my head.  I don't want to lock the workstation.  I remember, again in the old days, that you could easily assign actions to keyboard shortcuts.  Frankly, I don't know how to write a program that would execute in Vista.  I've pulled up the info about each of the functions, etc you mentioned.  Do you feel up to giving me a quick tutorial on what to do?

 

Answer 3

Find your screensaver file.  It will end in .scr

Create a shortcut to it on your desktop or browse to it with My Computer

Right click the file and go to properties

Go to the Shortcut tab

Click in the shortcut box

Click the combination of keys you want to use (I use alt+F10)

Click OK