I need to find a way to have Windows 7 start the screensaver as soon as the system is locked. The intent is to have the screensaver immediately come up instead of Windows Welcome when a user iniates the lock. Other solutions I've seen have recommened scripts that can be kicked off from the desktop, but, that's not going to work for what I want to do. We have 3 different occasions where this needs to happen: 1) the user selects "lock" from the start menu, 2) smartcard is removed from the system, 3) timeout after inactivity. Is there any way to accomplish this? Whatever method is used will be pushed to all of the systems by policy and need to be able to be run by standard users with no admin privledges.

Hi, Thanks for posting in Microsoft TechNet Forum. As we know, Windows 7 monitors keystrokes and mouse movements and then starts the screen saver after a period of inactivity. And Windows 7 waits longer than screen saver idle timeout before starting the screen saver: Why does Windows wait longer than my screen saver idle timeout before starting the screen saver? Handling Screen Savers (Windows) Based on my knowledge, it may be hard to achieve “immediately” currently. I would like to suggest you enable the Screen saver timeout policy as a workaround: Group Policy Settings for Personalization Hope it helps. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I don't have a lab to mess with right now, but, I may have a solution. I'll enable Audit Logon Events and create an alert to kick off the screen saver when it sees event 4800. Once I get the chance I'll try it. BTW- I can't change the screen saver timeout, it's set per STIG requirements. Also, we don't want to drop that number any lower than it already is- users wouldn't be happy :D

Hi, How’s everything going? We’d love to hear your feedback about the solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I haven't had a chance to do much on this yet, it's been pretty busy this weekend :D I did notice that in the Task Scheduler there is a trigger for "On Workstation Lock". I attempted to have that launch the screensaver but it didn't work. I still want to figure this out and will be certain to give feedback on things I try.

Hi, May I mark the discussions above as “Answer”? We’d love to hear your updates on this issue; this would give useful ideas to people who have similar issues. Regards, Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tnmff@microsoft.com.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.