Programming the Screensavers of Andy Clark

Programming Screen Savers

The code segments in these pages are in the <PRE> style, so you can save the file and use copy to remove the appropriate segments. Have fun and if you spot any error's then please email.

Operating System Specific

The different operating systems handle screensavers slightly differently.

Windows for Workgroups and Windows 3.1

These are 16 bit operating systems. To develop screensavers for these platforms you will need a 16 bit development tool such as Visual Basic 3, Visual C++ 1.5 or Delphi 1.

More details...

Windows 95/98

Remember that to be truly compatible with these operating systems your screensaver should also work on the Windows NT platform. Windows 9X implements security via .PWL files. These can be accessed by making appropriate calls to DLLs.

Plus!

The Microsoft Plus!® extensions to Windows NT and Windows 9x provide a couple of additional registry settings to allow you to control the sensitivity of mouse movement which will wakeup the screensaver. Unfortunately there is no interface for this. However the Plus! pack also includes a control panel add-in for Desktop Themes which can include a "themed" screensaver.

Windows NT and XP

The main difference for Windows NT and Windows XP is that it will handle it's own security so any security code that you specifically add needs to make allowances for this.