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Windows 98 - Disable screen saver during Windows defragmentation

November 27, 2013
Updated: December 6, 2021
Quick overview:

In addition to ScanDisk, regular hard disk maintenance also includes defragmentation in particular. As the program integrated in Windows 9x/Me restarts with every slightest change or access to the hard disk, it is not advisable to have a screen saver switched on. It becomes cumbersome if the screen saver is switched off before defragmentation and then switched on again afterwards. In the Windows registry, however, there is a key that can be used to deactivate the screen saver only for the duration of the program:

Deactivate screensaver

1. Click on Start > Run and type regedit in the command line. A program appears that is easy to use thanks to the handling of Windows Explorer.

2. Now navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Defrag\Settings and right-click in the right pane. Now select New > String and give it the name DisableScreenSaver.

3. Now double-click on your self-created value and enter Yes in the line that appears. If you now restart Windows, the screen saver will no longer prevent smooth defragmentation.

NOTE FOR NEW PUBLICATION: This article was produced by Sandro Villinger and comes from the Windows Tweaks archive, which has been built up since the late 1990s.

Founded Windows Tweaks as a teenager in the 90s. His helpful PC tricks made it Germany's most visited Windows site (at the time Sandro looked like this). He then went on to write elsewhere, for example for PC-Praxis, Computer Bild and PCWorld in the USA. Microsoft also poached him from us. Now Sandro is back, finally sharing his tweaks here again. For a stress-free digital everyday life. You can reach Sandro via e-mail.

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