Vista screen saver does not work – with Microsoft wireless pointing device

One thing that has puzzled me with Vista was the fact that the screen saver wouldn’t activate, and so the screen was staying “on” – and noticed a mini screen burn a week or so ago.   Just turned it off over night, and was gone – but still a concern.

One quick I’d assumed was that the wireless keyboard and mouse couldn’t be used to “cancel” the screen saver – hence it wasn’t being turned on.

I did a bit of a search – and found this :

When you use a Microsoft wireless pointing device that uses Microsoft IntelliPoint software on a Windows Vista-based computer, you may notice that the screen saver of the computer does not work even though it is configured to run.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895

Yep – that sounds like the problem !   

This mentioned something about PCM and DVDLauncher services running in the background (?), and part of a Dell operation system – nope, not for me. But – also said to :

Install the Optional Hardware Update that is named Microsoft HID Non-User Input Data Filter.

There was a quick & easy Windows Update “optional” component to install – and all OK.   Didn’t even need a re-boot – the screen saver now comes on as expected – yay !

Here are the details of the update :

Microsoft – Other Hardware – HID Non-User Input Data Filter

More Information : http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20031770

http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub