Castel Software
There are seven screen tabs on the Setup Screen. These links will take
you to each screen.
The bold tab name above each screen shot
links back to the links above.
Use the links under the bold tab name to
go directly to that area of help.
Or you can click on the control in the screen shot.
Features:
New features in Version 5.1:
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Image Sets: Create any number of Image Sets and switch between them as you
desire. Images can be anywhere on your system. Create a Set for each
of your favorite subjects, and make a Sound Set to match.
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Sound Sets: Create any number of Sound Sets and switch between them as you
desire. Sound files can be anywhere on your system.
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Both Image and Sound Sets can be changed "on the fly", that is, while My
Screen Saver is running, you can press the slideshow Hot Key (default is
"S"). While in Slideshow mode a right click will bring up a floating
menu where you can change both Sets. Pressing "S" again returns to
Screensaver mode.
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ToolKit for My Screen Saver: Create and distribute your own screen
saver using your images and the base files from My Screen Saver v5.1 or higher.
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My Screen Saver now runs in the preview box in the Windows Screen Saver Tab.
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Extra 15 day trial, for those who have already installed an earlier version,
this version will add 15 days to your trial period. If your trial has
run out, you will have a new 15 day trial.
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New in Version 4.0:
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Play your own sound file(s) in the background
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Redesigned the Setup Screen
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Reworked the display engine to be more efficient, use less RAM, display faster
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No program limit on the number of image files. (No more 100 file limit)
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Better response for ending My Screen Saver
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Disable option in both Setup and from the System Tray Menu - stops My Screen
Saver from running, useful for those long downloads, when it keeps starting
so you can't see the progress of the download.
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You can select whether to re-enable or not on Reboot. I suggest you
do, or you may forget that it is disabled.
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You also select whether or not to display a message if Windows tries to run
My Screen Saver while it is disabled
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Select in Setup whether or not to run the System Tray Icon when your system
boots. You don't need a shortcut in the Startup folder
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Can also run the System Tray Icon from Setup
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Added a link to my Website on the System Tray Menu
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New in Version 3.0:
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Change Background Color: Set the background color to whatever your
system will allow.
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Resolution: My Screen Saver works on a basis that is relative to the
screen resolution on which it is running. It should work on just about
any resolution. It has been tested on a screen resolution of 1024 by
800 with True 32-bit Color. On resolutions lower than 640 by 480, you
may have some trouble with seeing all of the setup screen, but the screen
saver itself should still work.
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Special Effects: Slideshow Show Names
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Registration: Instead of redownloading
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Customize Displays: Set up your own displays. Control the size and
positions of the pictures.
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Setup Cycles: Multiple displays
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30 days full use of My Screen Saver before Registration is required.
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Version 2.0
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Displays the pictures you put in the application folder.
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Set up different folders, each with a theme, then switch between them as
you like.
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Display from 1 to 15 pictures at one time.
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Special Effects: Shrink, Grow
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Control timing for both special effects and display interval.
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Password protect
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If no password is set, set program to Ask before exiting
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SySTray Icon to make using My Screen Saver more enjoyable.
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Image files:
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If you've lost the Demo Image files, you can download them at my website.
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My Screen Saver will display valid files with these extensions: *.bmp, *.wmf,
*.jpg, *.gif and *.ico
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The size of the files does make a difference in the speed of My Screen Saver.
If an image seems to take longer than the others to display or flickers badly,
it is probably because it is bigger than the others. This could also happen
if your system is low on free RAM, and has to keep swapping out to the hard
drive.
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If the file is bigger, resize it with an image editor. Resizing could actually
make it display better and it will still appear just as large on the screen.
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Just remember that some formats are naturally bigger than others. For instance,
bitmaps(*.bmp) are not compressed at all and will be much larger than any
of the other formats. In comparing the size of files, only compare within
the same file type.
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My Screen Saver does not alter the aspect ratio (height to width) of the
image. It keeps the ratio the same and simply adjusts both to fit it in the
space allotted.
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Requirements:
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Written for Win95 and should run on but was not tested on Win98 and WinNT.
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Requires 32-bit system to run. Will not run on Win 3.1.
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Requires at the most 3.5mb of hard drive space. Most of which is for
the VB runtime files. If you don't need these the setup will not add
them to your system.
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Installation:
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This information is in the file Install.txt in the download package.
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If you allow the self-extractor to put the setup files where it suggests,
they will go into C:\SWsetup\Disk1, Disk2 and Disk3. The Disk1 folder
contains a Setup.exe file. Run this. Once you have finished the installation,
the extracted files can be deleted along with the folders they are in. Or
you can copy Disk1, Disk2 and Disk3 to a floppy disk. Each will fit on a
separate floppy. My Screen Saver can be installed from these floppies.
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There are actually two files to be installed: Myssaver.scr and MyssRun.exe.
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Myssaver.scr is the actual screen saver. Myssaver.scr will be in your
windows folder. It must be there to allow you to select it as your screen
saver.
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MyssRun.exe will be in the \SysTray sub-folder. If you want to use this,
you must go into Windows Setup and select "Run on Startup" on the Extras
Tab. This will run MyssRun.exe when you start your system. It
will put an ICON in the system Tray, the lower right corner of your screen
where the clock is displayed. I don't appreciate programs that do that
automatically and therefore I allow you to decide whether you want this in
there or not.
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To uninstall go to the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs Icon, select
My Screen Saver and click the Add/Remove button. This will uninstall
both programs, but may not stop the system from trying to run
MyssRun.exe, and since it will not be there, you may get an error
message each time you boot. To avoid this, before you uninstall, go
into Setup and select "Do not Run on Startup" on the Extras Tab. Since
the installation program didn't set it up to run, it cannot stop it from
running.
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Limitations:
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The only limit on the number of image files is the limitations of the PC
it is running on.
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Note that as the number of image files increases, there is an inevitable
slow down in the screen saver, as the PC will eventually start swapping the
files to disk. I tested this on a PC with 64 megs of RAM and plenty
of disk space and a 233mhz Pentium II with MMX. When I reached around
125 images, the images started displaying noticeably from top to bottom.
At 200, it really slowed down.
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If you get an out of memory error or any other error, try reducing the number
of images in the directory.
Setup
Once installed, you will need to set it as your screen saver. Click on Start,
Settings, Control Panel. Double-Click Display and Click the Screen Saver
tab. Select Myssaver from the list. Before you into the settings, click the
preview button and see what My Screen Saver does. I only ship three
demo images and one sound file with My Screen Saver, but think of when you
have your own files installed! At this time you can go into the settings
and set your preferences.
Copyright 1999 John Castelluccio