RSS feedThis week I had a chance to install Really Slick Screensavers on a Windows 7 computer with Intel graphics. As it has been for as long as I can remember, OpenGL 3D screensavers run slowly on Intel graphics because they are disabling hardware acceleration.
Intel says they disable hardware rendering due to “potential compatibility issues with a number of third party OpenGL screensavers”. They started doing this about a decade ago. It was a terrible idea then and it’s a terrible idea now. As if stealing from the Microsoft playbook, Intel has decided to make their driver outsmart all of its users. Should computers perform at their best and do exactly what users tell them to do, or should they perform poorly and do what Intel thinks users want them to do? The answer is obvious. Here is a better solution: if a screensaver does not work on your computer, then do not use it. Intel does not need to get involved.
Years later, I still get email about this problem every month. The only workaround that I have heard is to change the extension on your screensaver files from “.scr” to “.sCr” or something similar in order to fool the Intel graphics driver into thinking it is not running a screensaver. This apparently works for some people but not for others.
Intel, for the umpteenth time, please fix your driver. People hate this “feature.” If someone wrote a screensaver a decade ago that crashed your driver, who cares?! It’s 2011!
September 19th, 2011 - 6:53 am
One reason why the “.sCr” workaround might not work for some people is that just renaming the file isn’t enough. From my testing it seems you also have to re-select the screensaver (i.e. pick another screensaver and then the one you want again) so the screensaver setting in the registry matches the unusual capitalisation.
September 26th, 2011 - 6:16 pm
That’s why when I went to buy a new laptop recently, I went with AMD rather then Insmell. Sure, most computers use an Insmell CPU, but doesn’t mean I have to. The graphics are AMD as well, and I do believe they offer better support of OpenGL and other open standards then Insmell.
People need to wake up and realize they have a choice. It doesn’t need to say “Insmell Inside” to be a good computer. You don’t have to buy all your software form Micro$oft for it to be good. You can even oust Micro$oft altogether and go with Linux if you are brave enough. If you have some Winblows programs you can’t live without, then try a dual-boot, that’s what I do.
For anyone reading this wondering what “AMD” or “Linux” is, see the following webpages:
http://www.amd.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
October 21st, 2011 - 2:30 pm
In dual graphics card laptops with NVIDIA Control, several of the screensavers can be selected to use the NVIDIA accelerator graphics rather than the global settings or Intel Graphics.
December 27th, 2011 - 9:28 am
Hiya,
I would like 2 thank u as I just tried the Euphoria and was really sad it’s so slow and so I read ur recommendation about the extension modification and was surprised it really works.. Much better now
Thx again man!
Charles
January 3rd, 2012 - 10:25 pm
Yammer, Dude, I know Intel’s policy is an annoyance, but that’s hardly a reason to buy an AMD.
Anyway, here’s a solution that works with Intel graphics. It involves registry editing, so at the very least, set a new rollback point before getting started. And don’t shoot the messenger.
1. Move the screensaver from the Windows subdirectory to Program Files. Right click and click install to activate it. Reboot. This actually only worked for one reboot, so I’m not sure if it’s really relevant to what finally did work, my best guess is that it’s not necessary.
2. Open Regedit. In HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\SCRNSAVE.EXE remove the .scr extension from the active screensaver (in this case, I changed “C:\progra~1\solarw~1.scr” to “C:\progra~1\solarw~1″.
3. Remove the .scr extension from the file name (change “solarwinds.scr” to “solarwinds”).
And it works.
One note, the screen saver tab will show no screensaver active, so if you want to change the values (time until saver starts, number of emitters, etc…) you’ll have to temporarily undo the fix and make the changes, or (easier) just make the changes directly in the registry. The Desktop key contains the general details (time until saver starts, etc…) and obviously the Really Slick key has the specific details.
Terry, thank you for writing such cool screensavers that I was willing to get obsessed until I found a workaround.
Tony
February 17th, 2012 - 2:06 pm
I have a Sony laptop with dual Radeon/Intel graphics cards. When I try to run the RS screensaver, I get a 1114 dll initialization failure error message. Does this have something to do with the graphics setting, or is this another problem altogether?
February 17th, 2012 - 2:14 pm
That’s probably a separate problem. It would be nice if those error messages were more specific. You could try installing the Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package if you do not already have it. I can’t think of any other possibilities off the top of my head.