
Systems Internals BlueScreen Screen Saver v2.0

Copyright (C) Mark Russinovich
Systems Internals: http://www.sysinternals.com
last updated May 3, 1999
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Introduction

      One of the most feared colors in the NT world is blue. The 
      infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) will pop up on an NT system whenever 
      something has gone terribly wrong. Bluescreen is a screen saver that not 
      only authentically mimics a BSOD, but will simulate startup screens seen 
      during a system boot. 

        * On NT 4.0 installations it simulates chkdsk of disk drives with errors! 

        * On Win2K it presents the Win2K startup splash screen, complete with 
        rotating progress bitmap and progress-box updates! 

      It cycles between different Blue Screens and simulated boots every 15 
      seconds or so. Virtually all the information shown on Bluescreen's BSOD 
      and system start screen is obtained from your system configuration - its 
      accuracy will fool even advanced NT developers. For example, the NT build 
      number, processor revision, loaded drivers and addresses, disk drive 
      characteristics, and memory size are all taken from the system Bluescreen 
      is running on. 

      Use Bluescreen to amaze your friends and scare your enemies!

      Bluescreen runs on Windows NT 4.0 and Win2K.

Installation and Use

      There are two versions of Bluescreen: one that 
      generates harmless disk activity during the simulated system boots to add 
      to authenticity, and one that doesn't. If you have concerns about a screen 
      saver exercising your disk, download the non-disk-enabled version, but if 
      you want ultimate realism get the disk-enabled flavor.

      Simply copy BLUESCRN.SCR to your <winnt>\system32 directory. Right click 
      on the desktop to bring up the Display settings dialog and then select the 
      "Screen Saver" tab. Use the pull down list to find "Systems Internals Blue 
      Screen" and apply it as your new screen saver. 

More Information

      You can find out how real Blue Screen's are generated, and 
      what the information on the Blue Screen means in my December 1997 Windows 
      NT Magazine NT Internal's column, "Inside the Blue Screen".


   


