Article ID: 811329 - Last Review: February 9, 2007 - Revision: 1.2

The screensaver time-out value is not restored after you use Remote Desktop Connection to log on to Windows XP Professional

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/ ) Description of the Microsoft Windows registry
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SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario:
  • You configure the screensaver time-out value on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP Professional. For example, you configure the time-out value to five minutes.
  • You log on to the Windows XP Professional-based computer by using Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) with a different user account. The RDC session uses the screen saver time-out value from the default profile. By default, the screen saver time-out value from the default profile is 600 seconds, or 10 minutes.
  • You log on locally to the computer that is running Windows XP Professional.
In this scenario, the screen saver time-out value that you configured is not used. Instead, the screen saver time-out value from the default profile is used. For example, the screensaver does not start after five minutes of inactivity. Instead, the screensaver starts after 10 minutes of inactivity.
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WORKAROUND

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To work around this problem, configure the screen saver time-out value in the default profile. The screen saver time-out value for the default profile is configured in the ScreenSaveTimeOut registry entry in the following subkey:
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
Note The default value for the ScreenSaveTimeOut registry entry is 600. This value is in seconds.
To change this value, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click the following entry in the registry:
    HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaveTimeOut
  3. Right-click ScreenSaveTimeOut, and then click Modify.
  4. In the Value data box, type the value that you want to use in seconds, and then click OK.
  5. Exit Registry Editor.
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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
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Keywords: 
kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbprb kbexpertisebeginner KB811329
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