Time for another annoying Vista issue… I recently realized that my screensaver never activates on Vista. It used to work just fine when I had XP on this box. But now for some reason Vista thinks my computer has a human being sitting in front of it all the time. The problem is caused by using a wireless mouse, even a Microsoft-brand wireless mouse like mine. Besides the obvious negative impact on my two LCD’s, this unfortunate problem has probably convinced several of my colleagues that I’ve been ignoring them when they ping via chat in the wee hours of the morning, since chat says I’m always online. Sorry guys.
Anyway, when I first diagnosed this problem there was no solution other than moving back to a wired mouse. Today, when doing a Windows update, I saw the following update that gave me some hope:
Microsoft – Other Hardware – HID Non-User Input Data Filter
And sure enough, after the update, things started working the way they’re supposed to again. So if you’re experiencing this problem, run to Windows Update and make sure you grab this one.