Screen Saver Is Not Password-Protected When You Apply the "Password Protect the Screen Saver" Group Policy Setting (815424)

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

You may experience one or more of the following symptoms when you apply the "Password protect the screen saver" Group Policy setting to Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1)-based computers:

When you create or edit the policy on a Windows XP-based computer, the policy is not applied correctly to Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) client computers.
When you create or edit the policy on a computer with Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Windows XP SP1, the policy is not applied correctly to Windows XP client computers.

For example, if you enable the "Password protect the screen saver" Group Policy, and you view the screen saver settings of the client computer (right-click an empty area of the desktop, click Properties, and then click the Screen Saver tab), the On resume, password protect check box is selected as expected, but the screen saver is not actually password-protected.

CAUSE

The "Password protect the screen saver" Group Policy setting is set in the following registry entry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaverIsSecure

When the value is set to 0 (zero), password protection for the screen saver is turned off. When the value is set to 1, password protection for the screen saver is turned on.

In Windows XP, the ScreenSaverIsSecure registry entry is a REG_DWORD (numeric) value. Other operating systems, including Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP SP1, store ScreenSaverIsSecure as a REG_SZ (string) value. This type mismatch can cause Windows XP client computers and Windows XP SP1 client computers to misinterpret the policy setting.

RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

Hotfix information

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Windows XP

Date        Time  Version       Size    File name
-----------------------------------------------------
17-Mar-2003 20:05 5.1.2600.112  430,080 Winlogon.exe

Windows XP Service Pack 1

Date        Time  Version       Size    File name
-----------------------------------------------------
07-Mar-2003 13:22 5.1.2600.1182 518,144 Winlogon.exe

WORKAROUND

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. To work around this problem, turn on the local password-protection setting for the screen saver by editing the registry. To do so:

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane, double-click ScreenSaverIsSecure.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

When you install Windows XP SP1 or the hotfix that is documented in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article, the ScreenSaverIsSecure Group Policy setting is changed to a REG_SZ value.

318449 PowerPoint Slide Show Turns Off Screen Saver and Ignores System Group Policy

The hotfix that is documented in this article permits Windows XP client computers to correctly interpret the ScreenSaverIsSecure registry entry regardless of whether it is stored as a REG_DWORD or a REG_SZ value. This eliminates any inconsistencies that may occur when policies are created or edited on different operating systems.