My management decided to set the same slideshow screensaver on all PCs in the company. The images of the slideshow should have corporate design and provide general rules of information security, useful tips or some other reference information. First of all, they considered the development of their own screensaver in *.scr format, but this method required some extra software and was not flexible and easy enough to manage it. It resulted in a solution to distribute images and to manage the screensaver on an Active Directory domain using GPO.
It should be mentioned right away that the company is using all supported Windows versions: Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 as client OSs so the solution has to be universal and work on any OS version.
In OS Windows, starting from Windows 7, you can display a slideshow of the images from the specified folder, but you cannot manage these settings using GPO. So we needed a workaround solution.
Network Share with Images for Slideshow and
First of all, create a network share to store the source images for your slideshow on any server in your network. Grant all domain users (Domain Users group) the privileges to read files in this folder. For example, in our case the UNC path to the files is srv1InstallImg. Copy the images here.
Configuring Scheduled Task Item using Group Policy
Then create a script file copy_screens.bat, which will connect clients to this network share and copy the screensaver images to C:Screen folder on the local disk of each computer. The code of the script copy_screens.bat is shown below.
net use s: fsrv1InstallImg
mkdir C:Screen
del /Q C:Screen*.*
xcopy S:*.* C:Screen
Copy this script to SYSVOL folder on the domain controller (C:WindowsSYSVOLsysvolcontoso.comscripts). Then using the Group Policy Editor, create a new policy or edit an existing one. To demonstrate, we’ll run the copy task using a one-time Task Scheduler job (if you need to refresh slides, run this task again). Create a new task for the Task Scheduler for all PCs using GPO.
Tip. You can copy the files using a Startup script, but in this case it’s better to modify your script so that it checks if the files in the source folder have been changed.
Go to User Configuration > Preferences > Control Panel Settings > Scheduled Tasks and create a new task (New->Scheduled Task at Least Windows 7) with the following parameters:
Task Name: CopyScreen
Action: Update
Run the task using the following account: %LogonDomain%%LogonUser%
Add a new trigger: New Trigger -> On a Schedule -> One Time in the Triggers tab
In the Action tab, specify that the following script has to be run: contoso.comSYSVOLcontoso.comscriptscopy_screens.bat
Save the changes in the task and assign the policy to the OU with the users.
Configuring Screensaver Settings on a Reference PC
Now you need to configure your screensaver on a reference computer so that it took the images for the slide show from C:Screen. The settings of the corresponding registry keys on this computer will be distributed to all PCs using Group Policy.
Note. The folder C:Screen must exist on a reference computer.
In Windows 10, go to the following settings section: Start-> Settings-> Personalization-> LockScreen. Scroll down to find Screen Saver Settings. Select ‘Photos’ as a screensaver and click Settings.
Specify the path to C:Screen, tick Shuffle Pictures and save the changes.
Now export the following registry branch HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftware MicrosoftWindows Photo ViewerSlideshowScreensaver in a .reg file and import it on the domain controller (or another computer, on which you edit the GPO).
Important. The path to the folder containing the images is stored in encrypted (Base64) EncryptedPIDL parameter, so you won’t be able to change it manually. Since Windows doesn’t wrap the lines in the value of this parameter correctly, you have to manually edit .reg file (in the NotePad) so that the value of EncryptedPIDL key goes as a single line.
Save the .reg file and import it to the computer, on which you edit the GPO.
GPO to Manage Screensaver
Open your policy and go to the following GPP branch: User Configuration -> Preferences -> Windows Settings -> Registry. Create a new parameter: New > Registry Wizard > Next
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows Photo Viewer -> Slideshow -> Screensaver. Check the following keys and click Finish:
- EncryptedPIDL
- Shuffle
- Speed
Then go to the following GPO section: User Configuration -> Policies -> Administrative Templates -> Control Panel -> Personalization. Enable Force specific screen saver, and specify PhotoScreensaver.scr as its value. (By default, Photoscreensaver.scr uses the folder C:UsersPublicPicturesSample Pictures as the source of the screensaver images.)
Tip. You can also enable these policies in the Personalization section- Enable Screen Saver
- Password Protect Screen – protects the Lock Screen with a password
- ScreenSavertimeout – the timeout in seconds that triggers the automatic start of the screensaver
That’s all, close Group Policy Management console and update the policies on the clients (gpupdate /force). A single corporate slideshow screensaver that takes images from c:Screen will start on all domain computers after a specific timeout.
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May 6, 2019Windows 8 has a settings screen called PC Settings that allows you to change some basic settings and Windows Start Screen preferences directly in the Windows 8 Start Screen. This screen allow you to change settings that include backgrounds, colors, synchronization preferences, and synchronization preferences. This tutorial will explain how to access these PC Settings and provide basic information about what each settings category allows you to configure. For full access to the Windows 8 Settings, you would need to use the Windows 8 Control Panel instead.
To open the PC Settings screen, press the Windows key and at the same time press the I key on your keyboard. This will open the Windows 8 Settings Charm Bar as shown below.
Now click on the Change PC Settings option in the bottom right hand corner of the Charm bar. This will open the PC Settings screen, which contains numerous settings categories that you can use to configure Windows 8.
On the left side of the PC Settings screen you will find the various categories that you can customize. The settings themselves will appear on the right when you click on a particular category. Each settings category is detailed below.
Personalize Category
The Personalize screen allows you to change the following settings:
- Change your lock screen background.
- Change your Start screen colors and background.
- Change your account picture.
- Specify the Windows 8 apps that you want to display information on the Lock screen.
Users Category
The Users screen allows you to configure various account settings in Windows 8. These include:
- The ability to switch between Local and Microsoft Accounts.
- Add a new user.
- Change your password.
- Create a picture password.
- Add a login pin.
- Specify whether a user must enter their password when waking the PC.
Securecrt 8.5 license key. Notifications Category
The Notifications screen allows you to configure how notifications are displayed on the Start Screen and the apps that will display them.
Search Category
The Search screen allows you to configure how search works in Windows 8. You can also use this screen to enable or disable specific apps that you wish to use when searching.
Share Category
The Share screen allows you to configure the apps that you wish to use to share email, documents, HTML pages, or images with other people.
General Category
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The General settings screen allows you to configure various settings that will be used throughout Windows. This includes the following settings:
- Changing the time zone.
- Whether or not you wish to use Daylight Savings Time.
- Configure App switching.
- Configure Autocorrect.
- Language preferences.
- See how much storage space your apps are using.
- Refresh your PC, which reinstalls Windows 8 while retaining your data.
- Reset your PC, which performs a clean install of Windows 8.
- Boot your computer to the Advanced Startup Option menu.
Privacy Category
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The Privacy screen allows you to configure what personal or usage information can be used by Windows 8. This includes whether or not apps may use your current location, whether apps can use your name or picture, or if URLs that your apps use can be sent to the Windows Store.
Devices Category
The Devices screen displays a list of devices installed on your computer and provides the ability to remove or add a new one. You can also use this screen to specify whether certain items should be downloaded over metered connections.
Ease of Access Category
The Ease of Access screen allows you to configure settings that make using Windows 8 easier. This includes changing the contrast or text size for those who may be visually impaired or who find the text size too small.
Windows 8 Slideshow Settings For Computer
Sync your settings Category
The Sync your settings screen allows you to configure what information will be synchronized between your Windows 8 account and your Microsoft Account.
HomeGroup Category
The HomeGroup screen allows you to specify what files and devices you wish to share with the rest of your HomeGroup. It also provides the ability to leave an existing HomeGroup or create a new one.
Windows Update Category
Windows 8 Slideshow Settings Iphone
The Windows Update screen allows you to check for new updates for the Windows operating system.
As you can see their are quite a few settings that be configured directly from the Start Screen that will allow you to personalize your user experience in Windows 8. If you have any questions about these settings, please ask in the Windows 8 Forum.