how to fix screensaver size to fit 1920x1080 on windows 10

My mom had this when I was young on our old computer and it always fit onto a full screen, then I download it onto my window's 10 pc years later after finding it again and it won't fill fullscreen cause of only having 3 screen settings. 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. My monitor resolution is 1920x1080 so I would love for it to fit my screen, cause the only way I can decently see it on my screen is on setting 800x600 but then it shows black borders around the sides. I grew up loving this screensaver and would love to have it on full screen every halloween. Please help fix it if can. Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Linked pages

• The Scary Screensaver screensaver

Rebecca2 months agoWindows 10 x64, Google Chrome

14 replies

• Hello Rebecca,

  It's an old screensaver that natively only supports the older screen resolutions you mentioned, like 800x600, but I've found a way to add newer resolutions like yours.

  The screensaver is installed into the following folder on your hard drive:

  C:\Program Files (x86)\3D-Relax\The Scary Screensaver

  Inside that folder is a settings file called settings.xml. If you open that with a text editor you'll find various settings written down in the XML format:

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
  <halloween>
  <!-- effect params -->
  <scene>
  <!-- [1..3] effect index, [0]-rotating effects -->
  <index value="0" last="2" />
  <sound value="1" />
  <clouds value="1" />
  <rain value="1" />
  <bats value="40" />
  </scene>
  <!-- videomodes (value = videomode index from list) -->
  <videomode value="6">
  <mode id="0" width="640" height="480" colordepth="16" />
  <mode id="1" width="800" height="600" colordepth="16" />
  <mode id="2" width="1024" height="768" colordepth="16" />
  <mode id="3" width="640" height="480" colordepth="32" />
  <mode id="4" width="800" height="600" colordepth="32" />
  <mode id="5" width="1024" height="768" colordepth="32" />
  </videomode>
  </halloween>

  This is all a little technical, but you may be able to see that the screen resolution options are all listed here, and by editing the settings.xml file we can add additional screen resolutions like the 1920x1080 resolution you are using.

  To do this, we need to open the settings.xml file in a text editor, add this line:

  <mode id="6" width="1920" height="1080" colordepth="32" />

  Directly under this line:

  <mode id="5" width="1024" height="768" colordepth="32" />

  And then we need to swap out this line:

  <videomode value="5">

  With this one:

  <videomode value="6">

  Then save the file, close the text editor, and try the screensaver again.

  You can also skip the manual editing by downloading the version of settings.xml that I created for you. Right-click this link, choose "Save as" (or "Save link as"), then browse to the "C:\Program Files (x86)\3D-Relax\The Scary Screensaver" folder on your computer and save it there, overwriting the file that's already there.

  Hope that helps! It worked for me just now. Let me know if you have any questions.

  Rob (Screensavers Planet)2 months ago

• Thank you Rob I will for sure try these settings out. Do I need to restart my computer or anything to have the settings be accurate and responsive? Because I did try to update the settingxml file and even with the change it didn't work.

  Rebecca2 months ago

• Hey Rob so I just tested the screensaver but it doesn't show in the settings the size change as a option and if this website was able to add photos I would attach images to show that there is still a black barrier on the left and right side but not 100% full screen.

  Rebecca2 months ago

• The computer does not have to be restarted, once you've saved the settings.xml file and go into the screensaver's settings again, you should see the 1920x1080 resolution listed. If not, something may have gone wrong saving the file.

  Can you open up the settings.xml file in a text editor and post the contents here?

  So that would be your current settings.xml file in the directory:

  C:\Program Files (x86)\3D-Relax\The Scary Screensaver

  Rob (Screensavers Planet)2 months ago

• the settingsxml opens to a browser, i don't have a text editor other then notepad. but yeah when i went to look at the screensaver settings, it only showed the 3 default options. i overrided the file like you said after i got the link to save from your message. and even when i like on the settingxml it shows all the information, but the runSettings.bat still shows the 3 in the pull down options under video and resolution.

  if you got a social account i don't mind adding you to get your help further with this by use of screenshots or videos.

  Rebecca2 months ago

• I see what you mean. It worked on one computer, but I just tried it on another and the new resolution doesn't "stick", as if the screensaver never reads the settings.

  Let me do some more digging, I'll post back here as soon as possible.

  Rob (Screensavers Planet)2 months ago

• sounds good Rob thank you. I get email notifications so I'll see when you post. keep me updated

  Rebecca2 months ago

• hey rob just checking if there has been any progress about the screensaver?

  Rebecca2 months ago

• A bit of progress. I have been able to get the adjusted screen resolution working on all test computers, but I haven't quite figured out what the difference is from when it works and when it doesn't. And it runs smoothly on only 1 computer.

  I would suggest you try uninstalling the screensaver through the Apps > Installed Apps screen of your Windows settings panel, then run the installation program again from your Downloads folder (or download the screensaver again from this website). Go through the installation steps, run the performance test when prompted, and then wait for the Screen Saver Settings panel to open automatically.

  Then, don't close the panel but, with "The Scary" selected, click Settings, go to the Video tab, and confirm there are only 3 screen resolutions listed. Click "OK".

  Don't close the Screen Saver Settings panel yet. Click the Start menu at the bottom of your screen, enter "notepad", then right-click the Notepad shortcut and choose "Run as administrator". Go to File > Open, browse to the C:\Program Files (x86)\3D-Relax\The Scary Screensaver folder, choose "All files (*.*)" instead of "Text documents (*.txt)" to make sure you can see all files in the folder, then double-click the settings.xml file to open it.

  Now add the extra line, as before:

  <mode id="6" width="1920" height="1080" colordepth="32"/>

  Then click File > Save and close Notepad.

  Return to the Screen Saver Settings panel, and, with "The Scary Screensaver" selected, click the Settings button and go to the video tab again.

  Do you see the new 1920x1080 listed now, and can you select it?

  I'm not sure what the deciding factor is here but this process worked for me.

  Rob (Screensavers Planet)2 months ago

• Thanks Rob. I'll give it a try when I get to my computer later today and will post again if nothing works.

  Rebecca2 months ago

• hey again Rob so i did all the steps you told me and while it does show the option to click on the setting and have the 1920x1080 in the video setting tab, it now makes the screensaver too big on my monitor and the taskbar still shows on the screen. i really think we should talk on a social platform so i can be able to send you screenshots to further help me with this. cause unless it is a monitor situation, and one you might not have to be able to test on, i don't know what else to do. my monitor is a pixio 24'' monitor.

  Rebecca2 months ago

• i tried switching the numbers around to put the 1080 first as width and 1920 as height and it does pretty much the same size as if it was 800x600 and black border so unless i figure out which number it is being effected, it still won't fit the whole screen

  Rebecca2 months ago

• I saw that on one of the test PCs as well. I'm not sure why that happens on some PCs and not on others, it could be the monitor or the video card in the computer, for some reason the screensaver doesn't know how to scale itself properly.

  Unfortunately I don't have a solution at this time. The screensaver is 21 years old, it's amazing that it still works (to some extent) but the authors could not have anticipated all the changes to Windows and computer hardware since then.

  I'm currently out of ideas, but if I run into anything in the future I'll be sure to let you know!

  Rob (Screensavers Planet)2 months ago

• thanks Rob I do appreciate all you've been doing to help out. Means alot. This screensaver is something my mom use to have set up on the computer every Halloween and for a long time I couldn't remember the name of it until did research to find it again and try to get it for my own computer so I can have it for Halloween as well. So I'd really like to have this working before Halloween this year. So if think of any ideas please let me know.

  Rebecca2 months ago

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