Thread: Other uses for screensavers

Not all screensavers are simply for entertainment purposes. Because they are only active when the computer is not in use, they can be used to perform intensive tasks that would otherwise slow the computer down . One very famous example of this is the SETI@home project. The screensaver software is used to analyse the signals from radio telescopes in the hope of finding extra¬terrestrial life . By using millions of computers at the same time the work is completed far faster than even a supercomputer could manage. Some anti-virus software can also be set to scan when the screensaver is active.



There are other distributed computing projects with more tangible benefits than SETI. One example is the Folding@home project from Stanford University in America. The goal is to understand how proteins work in the hope of finding cures for diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. With more than two
million users, the results have been used in around 50 academic papers. The software can be downloaded from folding.stanford.edu and will work just as a screensaver or at all times. The work can be performed completely anonymously, or with a username so your efforts can be recorded.

There's really no better way to say something about yourself than with a screensaver, either at home or maybe even in the office. They can also help keep files on the computer safe by providing a visual display that the computer is not in use and has been locked. And it's really easy to make them personal as most of the tools are already included in Windows, with even more available in Windows Vista. So go on, there's no excuse for a boring screensaver.