screensaver turning on when surfing

Hello!
I got a problem with my dad's mac. It started with his screen going black when he was using the mouse. He has changed the settings both for screensaver and energy saving to NEVER. However, they seem to randomly appear even while using the mouse.

Please, how could I help my dad? He just doesn't want nor the screen saver or the energy saving (black screen) to appear.

Thank you

Welcome to the Forum. First you will need to give us a bit of info - what Mac and which OS is on it.

alright. Thank you Collin, and of course I must supply this information:

It's a g5, powermac 12,1 system version Mac OS x10,4,11(85165)

Alright, the Never setting should have solved the problem - but it hasn't!

Download OnyX Titanium Software for Tiger, and repair Permissions. Then try resetting the Screensaver preferences to Never.

Then make sure that the Hot Corners are all set at -.

That was going to be my guess also but Hugh beat me to it!

Check the Hot Corners. If one is enabled for Screen Saver and you move the mouse to a that corner of the screen, the Screen Saver will kick in.

Ok, onyx has been installed now. Apparently he had to restore the whole operating system during the process? It sounded like that on his description; you could have warned me guys.

I have to tell you that my dad has not good understanding about computers, and has trouble differentiating between installing a program and starting it. However, he has managed to start onyx now, but could not find where to change permissions (I don't have physical access to his computer). It's all in swedish also, so I can't tell him the exact words to find. Could you guys tell me how to change permissions in that program?

Thanks for your help so far =)

Onyx is a utility. You install it like any other utility. You do not restore the whole OS installing ONYX. How could we warn you when that is not the case?

What do you mean by restore the whole OS?

As I said, onyx is installed now. I don't know what my dad did. The important thing now is to find out how to Repair permissions. In the onyx gui my dad cannot find it. Where to look?

I included a picture. There is the Automation Tab. I have repair permissions, Optimize the System and Execute Maintenance Scripts checked.

Do be warned that the Tiger version of Onyx might be a bit different layout to the version in my pic. I hope he installed the correct version for 10.4 Tiger.

Also you can run Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and repair permissions. Onyx will do that though and much more.

OnyX cannot work without the user logging in. That's because OnyX needs access to hidden system files. I wonder if your dad may be locked out, but your last post suggests he's got OnyX going.

I agree with dtravis that 'repair permissions' and 'run maintenance scripts' are essential; 'optimizing the system' should be update only - or it'll take forever!

OnyX 1.8.6 for Mac OS X 10.4 is the correct version for Tiger. What's puzzling me is the reference to "Swedish". Is your dad using the Swedish language version?

I sympathise with your predicament in helping an older person who's not familiar with computer operation 'long distance', it can be very frustrating. It's something I do regularly, and I find it helps to have the same setup, ie. OS version and application, as the person you're helping. Not always possible of course. Taking/sending screenshots of what you're trying to achieve is a big help, so try teaching your dad how to do that. If you need further assistance, just post back here.

ok, it seems to be working now. Thanks a lot for your help guys!

Might be worth getting your Dad to download this and if you install the full version on your Mac then next time you have an issue you could use Team Viewer to see his Mac and set it up for him. Have a practice before something goes wrong so he is used to the scenario.
Look here

and get him to download this;


Click for full size