(I'm not sure submitting my "idea" worked as it did not appear afterwards in the list of "all ideas" -- are "idea submissions" moderated, or perhaps not allowed after the GOTD offer day has passed? That's when people finally have had enough time to evaluate and leave comments! -- so it is repeated here.)

I was surprised that the sun "rays" have no angle adjustment to allow them to match the natural angle of illumination in the selected background image. After all, I found I could adjust the angle of the bubbles and others.

Also, I agree with most of the comments #12 (Ben) made, including that some sort of "preferences" is needed to allow separate selection of folders/directories for the examples, the SCR output files, the AWS, and the source of background images (did I miss any others?). However, the screensaver "SCR" files I created did not experiece any "stuttering" on my machine -- they worked fine, even when copied to and run on an Acer One netbook -- and the CPU load cycle use was quite low.

Finally (at least on my machine), when I did choose to create a SCR output file, I entered a title but not the extension ".SCR", since "SCR" was already being shown just below as the type of output file to be created. However, the file created as shown in an Explorer folder did not have any extension and hence Windows did not recognize it as a screensaver file without the ".SCR" as part of the name. Renaming the file to add the ".SCR" fixed that problem. If I explicitly included the ".SCR" as part of my typed-in name, of course, it worked OK; but normally, with most applications I don't have to do that extra step.

Finally, the price for this kind of software (likely most commonly used for "casual entertainment") seems a bit high; but otherwise, this is a very nice, fun and easy-to-use application -- thanks!

LOL now we can make our OWN screensavers instead of just downloading them every week =D

worked fine on win 7 32x nice little programme does what is says, thx GTOD :)

Installed without problems on my Win 7 64bit laptop. No viruses or malware detected by several different security programs before and after installing so it confirms in my mind that the warnings that other's received were false positives. I built and installed a couple of screen savers without any crashes. My only complaint is that there are not more effects and animations available to use. Nice find.

Downloaded, installed, registered OK.

Running it is a different matter:

"Animated Screensaver Maker has encountered a problem and needs to close.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Error signature

AppName: editor_s.exe AppVer: 2.0.0.0 ModName: editor_s.exe
ModVer: 2.0.0.0 Offset: 00040890"

@ Ben, #12

(To 1) Even easier seems to rename the corresponding registry key in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Thraex Software\AutoUpdator\Directory.

But pay attention to not delete the *registry* folder "AutoUpdator" because part of it is the "program" folder which is essential for ASM to work properly!

@ 26 no obtion disable update - get a firewall proram that gives you right to block, or gives permission, or requires to asks for permission to access internet - i.e. zone alarm or other firewalls!!
Seems like a program I could use except others say it doesn't have have add sound - which makes screensavers better!

# 13... I think you misunderstand... that is to preview the screensaver... I want to use an image from my image files... as things stand right now, I have to find the right one using Windows Explorer which DOES have the option to see them as Filmstrip or Thumbnails.

Ok, just downloaded the screensaver maker which went without a hitch. I've been toying around with it a bit and at first I was a bit disappointed. But then I found the effects you can add, like snow, grass blowing in the wind etc. I was pleasantly surprised.

Looks like this is a keeper, I can make my own holiday screensavers with pictures of my family and send it over to them or I can take a picture of my garden, add some light rays and voila, instant bliss when I leave my computer alone. :)

Thanks GOTD as usual for all your giveaways!

@ Evan, #23. You should be running activate with the program closed. If you're looking for a message about the program being registered under help --> about, there isn't anything there, you can tell by looking under help --> register. If it registered, it will say your license number is ----------, enter new code: .There won't be a license number there if it didn't register. Sometimes, if you run activate.exe first, before setup, that will work. Hope this all helps.

Paul

Downloaded and Acticated on my Win 7. Realli a nice application with feature rich interface. Thanx GOTD !

obviously nu#27 comment int have the latest definitions,, or had his sensitivety level set to low on his manual scan option.. gotd gives away some great stuff no doubt... i praise there work!! but they are not a security company, or a virus lab.. they cant detect every little piece of code hidden in a program.. hell even the virus companys cant do this... so dont just download something and say gee golly i thought it was safe because gotd offered it.. cnet does the same damn thing saying there downloads are spyware and virus free,, but anybody with a brain knows about 10 percent is to the contrary... for the most part you can trust products here,, there awesome.. but ont be foolish and assume its automatically 100 percent clean...

Many of my Win 7 folder icon became distorted after install. Did this happen to anyone else? Uninstall and restart did not fix the problem.

AVG didn't find anything wrong.

The options are too limited. I'd like to be able to define or paint areas.

This is good for abstract art.

Nice program with a lot of animation effects. Fun to use them on my own photos. Installed on Vista HP without a problem. Scanned the \pre_update.exe file with Norton, SAS & MBAM and it came up clean. It did try to phone home after the install, Mamutu picked that up and I just blocked it. Since we are supposedly not allowed any updates according to the installation agreement, I saw no point in allowing it to phone home.

Unless the software publisher is allowing some updates to the program that isn't mentioned in the standard GAOTD installation agreement?

#21: "I just wish there was an option to export the finished animation as an avi."

You could always research & experiment with screen capture to avi. What you see is generated, much like what you'll see in a game, so adding the necessary screen capture program would just bulk it up.

* * *

#23: "Windows XP SP3. Ran setup, then tried activating with program running, then with it closed. Would not register program. Rebooted, tried activating again, first with program open, then closed. Again, my copy will not register. Any suggestions?"

Activate.exe adds to the HKCU section of the registry -- if it doesn't have permission to write there, nothing happens. In XP you might right-click -> "Run As:" using the admin login if you're not logged in as Admin. If you are logged in as Admin, then it's possible your AV software is blocking Activate.exe from writing to the registry, or it may have set restrictive permission levels, maybe added a restrictive policy etc. If that's the case it isn't that easy to fix without just setting loose permissions for the entire HKCU section in regedit. Google/Bing for specifics if you think that might be the cause of your prob., & always backup before editing the registry.

* * *

#26: "... There are no options for disabling the so-called update, ..."

FWIW you could probably just delete the Thraex Software folder in Common Files, optionally deleting it's registry entries as well [search on Thraex in regedit].

* * *

RE: all the anti-virus stuff... The people who write malware often work like regular coders, using pre-packaged code to save themselves work. When/if a bit of code is useful & found in a lot of malware, regular software that uses that same bit of code tends to get flagged as if it was bad too -- guilt by association. At the same time, more & more AV software tries to look for suspect behavior, & using a 2nd app to phone home could be just as suspicious as a legit app that had been altered with malware attached/inserted. The AV software people will likely tell you that working that way is better safe than sorry, since if they waited till a virus was well spread, then added it to their databases, for anyone infected that's too late.

Running windows 7 64X. Program looks cool, but when I try and build a screensaver I get an "Out of memory." error.

I really like this screen-saver. installed it created one using my pics and it is great!!...I have to say, it's my favorite screen-saver ever.
Oh..for free, you can't find a better deal.

I really liked Animated Screensaver Maker last time it was on GOTD, but then after spending a few hours creating screensavers with it, I was *very* disappointed to find out they wouldn't run on most of the other PCs I tried them on -- so a quick word of warning: Before you spend a lot of time/effort, make a screensaver out of one of the samples & make sure it works where you want it to. One other note is that at least without install, testing one of the samples in another OS, it did not stretch to wide screen.

That out of the way, you import your image into Animated Screensaver Maker, apply FX, optionally add sprites that follow a path you set, & create a screensaver. An easy way to start is with a Windows wallpaper image, since there are so many available showing water or coastlines that you can add a quick ripple effect to, & that'll let you see how the app works.

Installation adds the program's folder with 11 files at ~8.6 MB. Samples are stored in a sub-folder of My Documents, an 11 MB file [common_res.dll] is added to Windows' system folder, while "Animated Screensaver Maker Uninstaller.exe" is added to the Windows folder itself. Finally the "Thraex Software" folder is added to Common Files -- it contains their Auto Updater. Registry changes aren't too bad. In XP [not 7] it registers "jpg;.jpeg;.jpe;.jfif;.bmp;.png", and in both Windows versions Activate.exe adds the license key to the User section of the registry -- if you have more than one profile set up, you'll probably want to install & activate in each one of them today, assuming you like & keep the software. All told I think the Thraex updater adds 2 keys, there are 4 new shell keys, one key for uninstall, & once you run activate, 2 User keys for the app itself. It would install but not run, throwing an error in both XP & 7 VMs [Virtual Machines] -- I suspect it has graphics hardware requirements to run, & stricter requirements to run well, as like I mentioned, screensavers would not run on every PC.

I installed on win xp.. Every time I try to use it it says the program has encountered a program and needs to close....

Re: #13 & #17 - I'm using Win7 (x64) on my laptop and have WinXP (SP3) on my desktop. I was leery about installing this on my laptop as the System Requirements list only Vista/XP. I will try it, though and change the compatibility mode to XP. I also share the wish to make screensavers for family & friends using their wedding - anniversary - family photos, etc. My concern HERE is: will a screensaver made with the program play on *any* Win Operating System, or are they limited to Vista/XP? It would be pointless to make something for someone that wouldn't work on their computer. I hate addressing concerns before downloading and trying the program. If these were addressed in the initial presentation, there wouldn't be a need.

John38111

Have not yet installed, but have scanned with Avast, IOBit, and SpyBot S&D. All clean. Now onto the program.

Avira flagged "pre_update.exe" during installation as a virus. I allowed Avira to remove the file and it did not affect installation or program functionality. Whether it is a false positive or not isn't my concern, it shouldn't happen at all with a normal installation package, and I don't appreciate a program phoning home without any notice or option during installation.

Whenever I open the installed and presumably activated program, two things happen that are really annoying - the program always opens full screen, which I have to manually minimize every single time it opens, and it again tries to run an update file, "Autoupdator.exe", but this file is not flagged by Avira. I had my firewall block that from connecting, again with no impact on program functionality.

There are no options for disabling the so-called update, or any program options at all for that matter, but the program does have some very nice effects and animations that I had no trouble using to create a few cursory screensavers, so without the unnecessary and intrusive phone-home problems, this seems to be a keeper.

Windows XP SP3. Ran setup, then tried activating with program running, then with it closed. Would not register program. Rebooted, tried activating again, first with program open, then closed. Again, my copy will not register. Any suggestions?

#6, I'm, not sure what "virustotal" is, but I can say that Avast! did not find any viruses or other malware in either the compressed or the uncompressed files, including the one you note. Sounds like a false alarm.

The program works really well with lots of animations you can add to your graphics including ripples, fog, sparkles, fire, falling leaves, etc, and with just a click. The animations are good quality except on my 2 year old laptop the fog effect was a little jerky. I just wish there was an option to export the finished animation as an avi. I know this isn't within the description, and screensaver maker is what the program claims it is, and it does this fantastically well.

For those who want to make their own eye-catching screensavers, this program is the one for you. But it won't do more than that. It's not a movie-maker.

WTFISTHIS

Only 1 of 43 tests reported it as Adware. That is known as a "false positive".

BTW, When Win-XP first came out. Norton AV (now Symantec) reported the XP upgrade disk as a virus because it was overwritting the entire OS. NAV had to issue a quick update.

No virus warnings here.

Avira also finds a virus in update, although the other programs seem clean. Deleting the infected file doesn't seem to cause any problems. I suspect they just used bad coding which causes a false positive.

I also downloaded the animated desktop GAOTD by this company some while back which works much the same.

Downloaded and installed on windows7 64 no problems, registration done quickly. I scanned before installing and there is no malware or virus found.

Very nice program, lots of different things to add. I too would like to have sound available.

Had one problem, I clicked to preview but couldnt get back to original screen. Don't know if this is a fault with the program or I need to reduce screen size, I will have to play with it later.

Thanks for the neat toy!
Have a great day all!

ATTN wtfisthis - please let us know the make and version number of your virus scanner so we can all avoid it. Thank you.

(hint: false positives are not helpful)

Excuse me WT (#6&7) but first of all Malware and a Virus are 2 different things. The Virus Total page came up CLEAN on something like 42 antivirus engines and only one called it adware/relevant.g - Have you ever heard the term "False Positive"? - May I suggest before you make accusations such as this that A. You get more proof. B. Get a handle that does not make you look like a reject from a trailer park.

Downloaded and installed ok on Win XP SP3 but kept crashing doing the simplest things such as opening the included examples etc.
Uninstalled within 10 minutes of starting.
No virus found by Comodo Internet Security when all scanned prior to and after installing.

@2: Doesn't the Preview button in the lower right accomplish what you want?

@6: My Avast 5 says it's safe.

I'm going to let my junior higher try this one out. I expect she'll get a lot of oohs and aahs from her friends. I find the interface pleasantly simple and intuitive, with a nice supply of effects. The two pictures on their web site I think are beautiful; makes me think that taking a few high quality, beloved shots of a memorable vacation, event or outing and converting to screen saver will be a big hit and nice present for friends and family. Thank you Desktop Paints and GOTD.

Although the software is basically nice I have several reservations.

1. Every time you start the program my firewall pops up telling me x:\Program Files\Common Files\Thraex Software\AutoUpdator\AutoUpdator.exe wants to contact the internet, which I obviously disallow. There is no option to disable this behaviour as is customary in well-behaved software. I, for the moment, had to rename the file in order to get rid of that. I prefer that over having my firewall blocking it by default just in case I would start it while having my firewall temporary disabled. I very much dislike such behaviour in software and I know I'm not the only one. It would probably have no detrimental effect on the software's functioning to delete this directory with that file.

2. At start-up it always maximises itself and it doesn't 'remember' its last exit size/location as it should.

3. The Add Animation window is annoyingly small causing the need to use a scroll bar when I have a huge screen that would allow a much bigger dialog window which would allow me to select an animation without having to use a scroll bar. I don't understand why developers don't understand this should be done differently.

4. When saving the screensaver it would save me a lot of clicks if there were a few buttons selecting the directory where the .scr file should be saved. "\Windows\system32" would be one for instance since that is where screensavers usually reside. Another would be a user-definable default path which you should be able to define in some options window. I mean... really... no 'Options' or 'Settings' window?

5. The created screensaver's animation stutters even when CPU use is modest and my 3D accelerated graphics card can handle animated screensavers which seem to be much 'heavier'.

6. I wanted to use the "Import image" option to add an image of the moon that I wanted to drift slowly across the sky. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to set a fixed level where the motion should occur resulting in the moon crawling over the foreground objects in the bottom of the screen or wherever it likes. This option should be added.

7. It would be nice if you could constrain certain animations to certain areas of the screen. Also a few more animations would be nice. Butterflies and hopping and pecking birds for instance. For such birds an area constraint would be necessary.

So: Nice... but still with ample room for improvement.

Hello,
This is an easy to use program for creating screen savers...
I too would like an option for adding sound and maybe an option for creating a wide screen saver, but it is fun like it is now anyways.
And by the way, McAfee didn't find any problems here...
Thanks ... Nice Program !
Animated Screensaver Maker is working fine here under Windows Vista Ultimate 64x SP2

And then to think that at the Dutch site of GAOTD there are some persons yelling all the time that GAOTD only had virus shit!!!! But I wrote an email to that page and told them that GAOTD has a LOT of good programs, and that people CAN and MAY make mistakes, that the persons behind GAOTD people are!!! They have to look at themselves in the mirror and not yell that hard at GAOTD!!!! This kind of behaviour makes me real mad! At the Dutch site many people are just shouting and screaming at eachother and at GAOTD too. Why can't the Dutch be like the American people who are writing here??
I am really glad that GAOTD is here and is doing all the many things and hard work they are doing!!! THANKS FOR BEING HERE FOR US!!!
GreetZ from Kirsten, The Netherlands.

Great app with lots of potential. Installed fine on 7/64, however Avast did not like something, but I'll have to check that out later - gotta run...
Thanks GAOTD

I agree with number 4, an option to add and remove sound would great, I have installed animated screen saver maker on my computer running Windows Vista 32 bit with no problems, it installed and registered quick and easy and works great, thank you GAOTD and Desktoppaints.com

http://www.virustotal.com/file-scan/report.html?id=39aacb912e972d1b7da5ed9382c579746dcf8bff770fcdea392dc80425a61b8d-1286100831

GAOTD why would you give away a program with a virus in it? The update.exe file in the installation program has a virus on it, this is what it tells me.

FILE NAME: C:\Program Files (x86)\Animated Screensaver Maker\pre_update.exe

Malware name: Win32:Malware-gen
malware type:Virus/Worm
VPS version: 101002-2, 10/02/2010

here is the virus totallink.

VIRUS TOTAL REPORT

Can you export them as a gif? If not Ill pass

It is a great program.But I'd like to add sound to the screensaver.

Needs a means to preview what you are going to use... like the thumbnails or filmstrip in Explorer. Due to my work, I have hundreds, which DO preview in the various apps that I use. Elsewise, it's quite good!

Great program!! Some nice effects and animations, and i'm pretty sure i'll come up with some nice results. I don't really use screensavers much myself, but for those that do there seems to be enough here to match some of the individual standalone screensavers which are offered. Thanks to gotd and the software developer