This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org:
---
Title       : 	ScreensaverStopper, stop activating the screensaver by sending F24 often
Author      : 	Remy van Elst
Date        : 	21-12-2019
URL         : 	https://raymii.org/s/software/ScreenSaverStopper.html
Format      : 	Markdown/HTML
---



### Screensaver Stopper

ScreensaverStopper sends the F24 keystroke every 40 seconds. This way, Windows 
should not activate the screensaver. Useful if you do not have rights to 
disable the screensaver, but can run executables.

I've written it to solve a personal annoyance. At work I have a Windows 10
virtual machine (for Visual  Studio, network file share access and the Microsoft
Office Suite). I cannot  disable the screensaver, due to GPO policy. I can
however, compile and run software. 

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There is no window, no output, no settings, just a keystroke every 40 seconds. 
If you need to stop the application, use the task manager.

[Test the keyboard input here][6]:

![screenshot 2][5]

Resource usage:

![screenshot][2]

### Download

It's written in C++, compiled with GCC 8.1 via MinGW. Filesize is around 14 KB, 
memory usage after a day of running around 600KB. License is GNU GPLv3.

* Download [here][1] or on [GitHub][4].

### Source Code

`main.cpp`:

    /**
     * Stop system from going to screensaver by sending F24 keystroke every 40 seconds.
     * License: GNU GPLv3
     * Source: https://raymii.org
     * Author: Remy van Elst, 2019
     */
    #define WINVER 0x0500
    #include <windows.h>
    int main()
    {
         // 40 seconds
        DWORD sleeptime = 40000;
        INPUT ip;
        ip.type = INPUT_KEYBOARD;
        ip.ki.wScan = 0; // hardware scan code for key
        ip.ki.time = 0;
        ip.ki.dwExtraInfo = 0;
        // list of keycodes:
        // http://web.archive.org/web/20191221104344/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/inputdev/virtual-key-codes
        ip.ki.wVk = 0x87; // virtual-key code for the "F24" key
        while (true)
        {
            ip.ki.dwFlags = 0; // 0 for key press
            SendInput(1, &ip, sizeof(INPUT));
            ip.ki.dwFlags = KEYEVENTF_KEYUP; // KEYEVENTF_KEYUP for key release
            SendInput(1, &ip, sizeof(INPUT));
            Sleep(sleeptime);
        }
        return 0;
    }

`CMakeLists.txt`:

    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
    project(ScreenSaverStopper)
    set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -Wall -O2 -s")
    set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "-static-libgcc -static-libstdc++")
    message(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS: ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS})
    add_executable(ScreenSaverStopper WIN32 main.cpp)

[6]: https://w3c.github.io/uievents/tools/key-event-viewer.html
[5]: /s/inc/img/screensaverstopper-2.png
[4]: https://github.com/RaymiiOrg/ScreenSaverStopper
[3]: /s/inc/downloads/ScreenSaverStopper.cpp
[2]: /s/inc/img/screensaverstopper.png
[1]: /s/inc/downloads/ScreenSaverStopper.exe

---

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