Using windows screen savers (using .scr screen saver files)
 

Hey y'all!
I've been a Linux user for years but just recently I decided to take the plunge and use Ubuntu Linux as my primary OS (with Windows on the side for any games that don't run well in CrossOver Games).

Anyway, one thing I was curious about was whether or not I could get some of my Windows screen savers to work on Linux. Specifically I had been using "Blue Screen", a cute little ss made by SysInternals that emulates various versions of Windows BSODs.

The file comes as a .scr file (like all Windows screen savers). I wanted to know if there was any program that converted .scr files into Linux compatable screen savers. If not, that's still OK as I've now been rocking "Electric Sheep"!

BTW, I'm running Ubuntu Linux 8.10 on a HP DV9000 with an 1.7GHz Intel Centrino Duo processor, 2GB ram, and an nVidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card.

Try after installing wine
 

few windows applications can be installed in linux thru an application called wine.

google wine +ubuntu
follow it and try ur luck to install favorite screen saver

Hmmm... I don't think you quite understand what I'm going for. I have a .scr screen saver file and I want to know if I can convert it to a screen saver file that Linux can use. Yes, while wine can run a lot of Windows applications, I want to use a screen saver.

He understood perfectly. A .scr file is just a regular PE32 .exe file with a different extension. So, your best bet is wine. Of course, not all will work, just like not all the rest of windows programs work.

Most of them do need the /s flag to run the screensaver portion, otherwise they will launch the config dialog (though some of them need /c for that). So, if you have a screensaver called aquarium in your system32 directory, you would run it like this:

I think there's some info on winehq, the wiki, etc...

Oh... I see. Well, I was hoping for something that would integrate better into the desktop environment (ie something I could choose from the `Preferences / Screen Saver` tab).
I did try doing what you suggested, but the ss I was working with didn't work. Ah, well... it was worth a try.

I see. Now I understand what you wanted (and it was a natural thing to expect after all :) ). However, being it a binary program there's no easy way to just convert it to work to linux unless you have the source code (and even then it will require extra work).

You know there is a BSOD screensaver in Linux already right ? No need to transfer one from Windows.

apt-get install xscreensaver-data-extra


http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/i3...extra/filelist

Well, thanks, guys... Here I thought that something as "simple" as a screensaver would be very module, easy, and portable. I guess I was very mistaken! I did check out the extra screen saver pack. However, that BSOD wasn't quite the same quality that the SysInternals one was. For now, I guess I'll just keep using "Electric Sheep".
Thanks to both of you, once again.

Thread closed. (Unless there's any new info.)