Bubbles screensaver has black background

Anonymous
2012-10-26T15:09:27+00:00

In Windows 7, the Bubbles screen saver created bubbles that moved over the top of whatever was on my screen at the time. 

In Windows 8, if I go to the screen saver settings and preview the Bubbles screensaver, it shows the same behavior – bubbles moving over the top of my existing desktop.

But when the Bubbles screensaver actually activates in Windows 8, the bubbles only appear over a background color which I selected.

Is there something wrong with my settings or video drivers?

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Anonymous
2012-10-26T15:10:02+00:00

There is nothing wrong with your screensaver settings, or your video drivers and system. . 

A design change was made in Windows 8 that prevents screensavers from drawing over an image of the desktop.  Any screensaver that previously drew over the desktop, such as Bubbles, will instead draw over a black background.  The screensaver preview is incorrectly showing Windows 7 behavior.

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Anonymous
2012-12-01T20:38:41+00:00

That was already answered above by a Microsoft Forum Moderator

"A design change was made in Windows 8 that prevents screensavers from drawing over an image of the desktop. Any screensaver that previously drew over the desktop, such as Bubbles, will instead draw over a black background. The screensaver preview is incorrectly showing Windows 7 behavior."

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-06-13T11:33:30+00:00

    I did the same with the same result... Why Microsoft does not resolve this problem???

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-05-04T19:57:30+00:00

    I've created this workaround for "Bubbles Screensaver" with desktop background:

    Dowload this zip package: http://sdrv.ms/127i36S

    Unzip package in a temporary folder;

    Copy "BubblesBackground.scr" and "LaunchBubbles.exe" files in "**C:\Windows\System32**";

    Open "Task Scheduler" and create a new task with this parameters:

    General

       Name: Bubbles Background

    Triggers

       Begin the task: On an event

       Type: Basic

       Log: Windows PowerShell

       Source: PowerShell (PowerShell)

       Delay task for: 1 second (type it manually)

    Now select "BubblesBackground" screensaver with desired time delay.

    Issues:

    When the screensaver start, screen goes black for about a second.

    The screensaver also will start every time you start manually "Windows PowerShell",

    to take into consideration in the case where it's used frequently.

    The screensaver only works properly in desktop mode.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-01T15:11:31+00:00

    Havnt tried this yet but will do when i get home from work -

     

    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2139-bubbles-screen-saver-change-settings.html

     

    Good Luck!

    One can change all settings, and all of them will be reflected, when the screensaver starts - except for the background. It will not use the current desktop.

    To be more precise:

    • if ShowBubbles is set to 0, a black background is used

    (also, when the screensaver is started manually by double-clicking bubbles.scr)

    • if Showbubbles is set to 1, the greyish background which is chosen as background of the Windows start screen is used, which lets the bubbles look dirty, sick and tired, and lets you think, your high-end monitor is broken.

    With this setting, the screensaver will run on top of the desktop when started manually, but underneath any (docked to the left or right side of the monitor) metro-app: the bubbles will appear from behind the metro-app.

    My guess is, this behaviour was the reason for covering the desktop and the metro-apps with a solid background, on top of which the bubbles appear - otherwise visible metro-apps will burn-in despite an enabled screensaver.

    Now we have an explanation for the introduced "design change", but we still do not have a "metro-screen saver" that would run on top of both the "regular" desktop and the metro-apps.

    For the time being, I use the setting of Showbubbles=0, and MaterialGlas=0 (solid bubbles) because this gives you a real black background with shiny 3D bubbles.

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