How To Modify Hidden Settings of Windows 7 Screen Savers

Mustafa | Jun 16, 2009 | Comments

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One of the things that users liked in Windows XP was the ability to modify configurations of screen savers that came with windows. However, Microsoft has removed the interface that allows users to alter their settings in Windows Vista and Windows 7. So when users click on ”Settings” in the “Screen Saver Settings” window for Bubbles, Mystify and Ribbons, they receive a message saying: “This screen saver has no options that you can set.”

The settings are still there, however they can’t be changed from the normal Windows interface. Hence, we have to use the Windows Registry to do so. :)
Here’s how:

Open the “Screen Saver Settings” window

Right-click anywhere the desktop
Select “Personalize”
Click on “Screen Saver” at the bottom right

Now leave this window open as we are going to need it to see the changes we make to the screen saver.

Open the Windows Registry

Click on the “Start”
Type in “regedit” in the search bar
Choose “Yes” if a “User Account Control” message appears

We are going to use the Windows Registry to alter the settings for the screen savers: Bubbles, Mystify and Ribbons.

Modifying the Settings

Go to the location: “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Screensavers” by clicking on the arrow sign to expand each ‘key’.

You should see 4 other keys: Bubbles, Mystify, Ribbons and ssText3D. These are the names of the screen savers that we are going to modify their settings. You will then find same names in the “Screen Saver Settings” window, except for ssText3D. ssText3D refers to “3D Text” screen saver. We don’t need to change it since its settings can be easily changed through the “Screen Saver Settings” window.

The following tables show the information we are going to use for each screen saver. You may want to skip this until we need it.

: DWORD values for ‘Bubbles’

: DWORD values for ‘Mystify’

: DWORD values for ‘Ribbons’

: Modified ‘Bubbles’ Screen Saver – Thumbnail

We are going to create a DWORD value for the option we want to alter using the Name of DWORD Value column for its name and the Values to enter column for its value.

In the Windows Registry, click on the name of the screen saver you want to modify.

You should see “(Default)” on the right side.

To create a DWORD value

Right-click anywhere on the right side of the Windows Registry Editor
Choose “New” and then “DWORD (32-bit) Value”
Enter the name of the DWORD value using the tables above (e.g. “NumRibbons”)
If you would like to change the name of a DWORD value: Right-click it and choose “Rename”

Refer to the table of the screen saver you’d like to edit…

To edit the value of the DWORD value

Double click the DWORD value (or right-click on it and choose “Modify”)
Select “Decimal”
Enter the value you want using the tables above in the textbox under “Value data” (e.g. “30″ for “RibbonWidth”)

Refer to the table of the screen saver you’d like to edit…

To test the screen save

Go to the “Screen Saver Settings” window
Select the screen saver’s name
Click “Preview” every time you want to see how it looks
After you’re done and satisfied, press “OK” to apply and exit

Additional Tips

If you’d like to save your screen saver settings to apply them another computer:

Go to the Windows Registry editor
Go to the location: “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Screensavers” by clicking on the arrow sign to expand each ‘key’.
Right-click on the ‘key’ with the screen saver’s name
Choose “Export”
Browse for the location you want and press “Save” after giving it a filename

To install the screen saver settings on another computer: