The Importance Of Screensaver And How To Enable It

Screensavers are those animated pictures that you usually see on the computer screen after leaving it unattended for a certain period of time. Some people think screensavers are merely created to add to the computer's aesthetic properties. Other think they are unimportant. That conception believe it or not is wrong.

Every computer user needs a screensaver, especially those who are still using CRT monitors. CRT stands for cathode ray tube. These are the monitors that look a lot like a television set.

CRT monitors display images on the screen by emitting radiations of high energy. Now if you leave your computer for too long and it doesn't use a screensaver, the images showing on the monitor could burn onto the screen permanently. The task of screensavers is to take the images left on the screen away, store it on the computer, and substitute it with moving pictures. That way, your monitor won't have ghostly afterimages.

To activate screensaver on a Windows Xp or any Windows-based computer, follow these steps:

1. Right click on the desktop.

2. Click on Properties.

3. Click on the Screen saver tab.

4. Click on the drop down arrow under Screen saver.

5. Choose your desired screen saver. You can preview the screen saver you have chosen it by clicking on the "Preview" button.

6. You can also adjust the settings of the chosen Screen saver by clicking on the "Setting" button. This step is optional. The screensaver will run even if you don't make changes on its setting.

7. Set the wait time. The wait time is the period of time you are to leave the computer unattended before the screen saver is activated. The default time is 10 minutes. You can set it lower if you wish.

8. Set a password if so desired. If you don't want others to use your computer as you leave it with the screensaver running, you can set a password by putting a check mark on the "on resume, password protect" box. If you are not so good at remembering passwords, better leave the box empty.

9. Click Apply and OK. Your screen saver should be set.

These are the steps on how you can activate a screensaver on your computer. If you don't like the screensavers stored in your computer, you can download a variety of them from the Internet. Just make sure you are getting screen savers from reliable sources.