Avoid a glitch with the 'Computer Name' screen saver
Nov 10, '05 06:03:00AM
Contributed by: kholburn
I have noticed this Desktop & Screen Saver (D&SS for short) System Preferences panel oddity since at least 10.3. I have tested it on 10.3 and 10.4 machines, and it's still an issue. Here's a description of the issue, and how to avoid it...
The D&SS panel remembers which of the two tabs (Desktop and Screen Saver) was used last, and always re-opens to the last tab viewed.
So here's the problem, which only occurs if two conditions are met:
- You open the D&SS panel by right- or control-clicking on the Desktop and choosing Change Desktop Background from the pop-up menu.
- The Screen Saver tab was the last-active tab, meaning it's the one that will come to the foreground.
If both those conditions are true, then the "Computer Name" screen saver appears as a folder instead of an actual screen saver. Clicking on it brings up an Open Folder dialog. If the Computer Name screen saver is the one you're actually using, then the dialog box comes up immediately after the D&SS panel opens. Even if you try, you'll find you can't select the Computer Name screen saver from the dialog box.
If you get to the D&SS panel any other way -- opening System Preferences, using the Apple menu, even right-clicking on the background and choosing the Change Desktop Background menu item when the Desktop tab was the last one opened, etc. -- then the Computer Name screen saver appears in the list as a normal screensaver.
So the quick fix is that if you want to choose the Computer Name screen saver, then you must open the Screen Saver prefs any way other than right- or control-clicking on the Desktop.
[robg adds: I confirmed this on two machines here, and I've since filed a 10.4.3 bug report on it with Apple (#4337467). Until/if it's fixed, at least now you know why you might see this odd behavior!]
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