I don't quite understand. How do you start the screen-saver manually?
I've just checked that the following works under XP with build319:
- Control Panel, Display settings
- Screensaver tab, select avast antivirus, click Properties.
- Select a real screensaver (I use Starfield for experimenting) and confirm with OK
Now:
- Click Preview -> it works
- Wait for the screen saver to start after X minutes of idle time -> it works.
So?
Vlk