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Often you come across a
screensaver with an intriguing description and no screenshots. You are curios to
see it in action. But: SLAP! You can't figure out the way to make it work on
your system and you will never know what you have missed. What a pity! I know.
Well... Enough! Enough of
this! There should be a way to make us, screensaver hunters, luckier. Keep
reading. There's something that can open a whole new world of screensavers to
you.
First, in order to fight
this evil, we should find its roots. Why is it so that we have the problem?
Mainly it's because there are several ways to distribute screensavers:
- As self-extracting
installation packages
- As ZIPped installation
packages
- As individual .SCR files
The self-extracting
packages are the easiest to install. You just download the screensaver and
double click it. Then the installation program starts and performs all the steps
necessary to install the screensaver. That is, you have it ready for use just
with a few mouse clicks.
You can recognize the
ZIPped installation packages by their names. They have ".zip" at the end. Double
clicking such files will probably get you nowhere unless you are well prepared.
The third category is
represented by files with names ending with ".scr". Activating such file usually
launches the screensaver. That's not bad. At least you can see what it's all
about. But this way it won't appear in the list of available screensavers that
the operating system starts if your computer goes to rest. That is, you have to
use a little trick if you like the screensaver.
Now that the reason of
our problems is a bit more obvious, I almost hear your question. Once the
self-extracting packages are the easiest to install, why just not to stick with
them? Okay, you are right. It makes a perfect sense. But you forget one
important thing. Screensavers are created by programmers.
And programmers differ
from other computer users in that they see everything from their very specific
and technical point of view. It's not a problem for them to extract files from
ZIPped packages as they work with them very often. It is rather natural for them
to copy files into secret system folders that 80% of users didn't hear about and
don't have to.
That's why they create
screensavers and put them on download sites in the form that is hard to install
for you. But don't hurry to blame them. They mostly do it unintentionally, not
because they hate people who can't handle ZIP archives or bare screensaver
files.
I know it because I am
one of them. In fact (my face goes red here) my Rainy Screensaver (
http://www.elasticsystems.com/rainy/ ) was distributed as a ZIPped package until
version 1.7. Thanks to the people who provided me with their feedback. I really
don't see any reason to hurt those who use their computers as tools or source of
entertainment. These people don't have to know all technical aspects.
I hope more and more
screensaver writers will understand this and will make their screensavers easier
for you to install. Meanwhile you yourself can get the knowledge needed to
handle not so friendly installations without a problem. So let's get back to
installing ZIPped packages and bare screensaver files.
* ZIPped installation
packages
These ".zip" files are
known as archives. It is very popular way to spread software and information
over the net. They let you to "pack" many files into one that is much easier to
download. They also use special methods known as compression to reduce the final
size of the packed files and thus save your time and money spent downloading
them.
In order to unpack
(extract) files from a ZIPped package you should use a special program. Probably
the most popular and easy to use is WinZip. You can download it from
http://www.winzip.com. Windows XP has a built-in support for ".zip" files so, if
you use Windows XP, there's no need for additional software.
The most important thing
to keep in mind is that a ".zip" package usually contains a collection of files
that should be extracted somewhere before you can use them. It doesn't matter
what program you use to extract the files. Just follow its instructions to do it
and put extracted files in the place of your choice. It's better to create a
special folder for such cases. Alternatively you can use temporary folder
provided by Windows.
Once the files are
extracted you should examine them. If you see one named "Install.exe" or "Setup.exe"
among them then you can double click it to complete the installation process.
Even though archives are very convenient when used on a bunch of files, they can
be used to pack a single file to reduce its size. So if you have extracted a
single file with its name ending with ".scr" then you should keep reading.
* Bare screensaver files
As I have said before,
these files have their name ending with ".scr". They are screensavers
themselves. That is, they are the programs that create all these amazing effects
when started. You can find some details about them in my article "Windows
Screensavers Explained" at http://www.elasticsystems.com/articles.html .
The easiest known way to
install ".scr" files is to right click on them and then choose "Install" from
available menu options. Once you do this, Windows will set the screensaver as
default and open Display Properties dialog where you can adjust screensaver's
settings if you wish.
This way has some
disadvantages though. First, you should be careful with where you keep the
screensaver file. If you have put it in the temporary folder and it is likely to
be deleted or moved somewhere else later, then the system won't find the
screensaver anymore. So you'd better create a special folder for screensavers
that you choose to install this way. Second, if you select another screensaver
from the list in Display Properties dialog then Windows will forget any
screensaver installed using the described method. That is, you will have to
right click it and choose "Install" once and again.
Nevertheless, this way is
very convenient if you just want to take a look at the screensaver, play with
its settings and delete it. If you really like the screensaver and want it to
brighten boring cloudy days then you'd better find a cozier place to keep it.
How do you find such
place? It's easy. What you need is to drag the screensaver into your Windows
folder. If you use Windows 95/98 or Windows Me then chances are this folder is
on your drive C: and has a name of "Windows". If you use Windows NT/2000 or
Windows XP then it's probably on your drive C: and is called "WINNT". Once you
put the screensaver in this folder it will be available in the list of installed
screensavers in Display Properties dialog. Now you can select it whenever you
wish. Furthermore, you should worry no more about reinstalling it every time you
change your mind and select another screensaver.
TIP: Sometimes you
download a ZIPped installation package for screensaver, extract its contents to
some folder and find there both "Setup.exe" (or "Install.exe") and ".scr" files.
In this case double clicking "Install" or "Setup" is the preferred way. That's
because the installation program will perform all the steps needed to install
the screensaver like copying necessary files, updating system registry,
providing uninstaller and so on. Simply copying the ".scr" file to Windows
folder apparently won't do it.
Now that you have a few
more useful tricks under your belt, you can install much more screensavers. Add
here acquired confidence that those screensavers you like are ready to please
you whenever you wish and there's a good reason to become a bit happier.
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