Frequently Asked Questions

Launch a Browser and Quit (Windows)

I want to design my saver to have a hyperlink that when clicked will quit the saver and take the end-user to my website. How can I do this?

Check out our online docs: Creating An Interactive screensaver

Adding URLs to savers can be tricky on some Windows OSs. NT, 2000 and password protected XP/Vista run screensavers on the "security" desktop - a seperate and protected workspace that parallels the standard desktop.

Microsoft designed the security desktop such that it can't talk to or launch processes on the standard desktop and vice versa. Thus for these systems screensavers cannot launch a browser on the standard desktop.

Additionally, any window sub-launched launched at screensaver time, say for example a browser, ends up on the security desktop. If the user doesn't close the browser and before quitting the saver the browser process will get orphaned and run indefinitely. The user will NEVER see it again and there's NO obvious way to kill it. When the saver runs again it will always play iiself as the topmost window with the orphaned browser beneath it. If the saver continues to create these orphaned processes the computer will grind to a halt. Bad.

So here is our solution...

If you want to quit the saver and launch a browser use our STF.launchAndQuit(). When the saver gets a STF.launchAndQuit() command it hides the Flash animation, makes the screen black, waits for all of it's sub-launched windows, in this case a browser window, to close or minimize, then it kills itself. When the user closes or minimizes the browser windows, the saver quits and returns the user to the standard desktop.

If you create an interactive screensaver and do not launch any child windows, use our "STF.quitFast()" command. It will quit the saver immediately without worrying about any child windows.

Also note that the quit and launch behavior is subtly different when the saver is initiated by clicking the preview button. Previewing plays the saver on the standard desktop. Because when "previewing" there is no concern of orphaned browser windows on the security desktop, the saver launches the browser on the standard desktop and quits itself immediately.

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