Developing a screen saver

[neodishanku]

Hi all,
Can any one point to me how to develop a screensaver in winxp. What language shud i use to write the code. I have browsed the net and found some native code in c. Is this the way to develop. Has anyone played around with it?
Looking fwd to rplies

Cheerz
neodishanku

[Ancient Dragon]

there are several examples here if you use Microsoft compilers.

[jbennet]

i used vb.net 2005 express edition (free) and renamed the .exe to .scr and voila - a screensaver - any program can be a screensaver

[iamthwee]

i used vb.net 2005 express edition (free) and renamed the .exe to .scr and voila - a screensaver - any program can be a screensaver

Hey that's sweet. I'll try that later.

[jbennet]

for VB 2005 Express you either get or can download a starter kit which walks you through making a RSS Reader screensaver

[iamthwee]

Yeah at home I got the express kit. So all I have to do is rename the file to .scr.

Ok how do I add it so I can use it as an actual screen saver.

[iamthwee]

Ah I've just read the instructions. Simple stuff!

Installing the Screen Saver on Your Computer The following steps describe how to install the screen saver application on your computer.

To install the screen saver:

If you haven't already done so, load the Starter Kit into Visual Basic.

On the File menu, click Save All.

If you are requested to enter a location to save the project, select a directory or accept the default location. Make a note of where the project is saved - by default it will be in a directory under \My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects.

On the Build menu, click Build Solution. This creates an executable file for the screen saver.

Open up the directory specified in step 3 containing the saved project.

Open the bin\Debug subdirectory. This is where the debug version of your executable file is located. Its default name is ScreenSaver1.exe but you may have given it a different name when you created the project the first time. Change the ".exe" extension on this file to ".scr".

Note: If you do not see the file extensions in Windows Explorer, then click on Folder Options under the Tools menu, click on the View tab, and uncheck the checkbox labeled "Hide extensions for known file types".

Right-click on the .scr file and select "Install". This opens up the Windows Screen Saver Dialog Box.

Click the Preview button in the Windows Screen Saver Dialog Box. The screen saver launches. Press any key to stop it.

Click the Settings button in the Windows Screen Saver Dialog Box to see the screen saver options. Try changing the background image or the RSS feed.

Click OK.

[~s.o.s~]

[edit]Ah..too late[/edit]

Create the project of your choice in VB and then make the executable file. Place the file created in the \windows\system32 folder.

Then go to the screensaver dialog box by right clicking on the desktop and then selecting properties. Select the screensaver with the name which you had given to the project and it will be done.

[jbennet]

yes

i made my own using opengl before

[iamthwee]

Do you know how to integrate say a .mov file into a screen saver.

Now if you could do this I'll have some mad 3d animation going on in my screensavers:cheesy:

[jbennet]

is .mov quicktime?

if its VB i suppose you could make a form the size of the screen and remove the titlebar etc... and then dock a windowsmedia control onto the form

[iamthwee]

>is .mov quicktime?

Yeah. Windowsmedia control?

Do you have a linky?

[gcs584]

There is a really cool open source Quicktme library available online - http://www.openquicktime.org/

Regards,

GCS584