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Express Player Setup for Windows Screen Saver

  • Updated

Goal: Configure a screen saver for Windows PC’s using an Express Player URL from Carousel Cloud

Please note:

  • Express players are an add-on feature that may not be included with your current Carousel Cloud subscription. Please contact your Customer Success Manager for more information if needed.

  • Both Full Screen and Zone Alerts can be delayed up to approximately 1 minute. For this reason, we do not recommend express players for emergency alerts

  • Carousel Cloud supports these Windows devices running the following software:

    • The most current version of Windows

    • All other fully supported versions of Windows. 'Fully supported' means all security and feature updates are applied.

  • PC’s connected to multiple displays will only show the screensaver on the primary display. Secondary displays will display a black screen.

Overview of the Setup Process

  1. Obtain the Express Player URL from Carousel Cloud

  2. Configure and deploy (manually or via Windows MDM) the express player as a screen saver

  3. Done!

Windows Screen Saver Setup Process

  1. Obtain the Express Player URL from Carousel Cloud

    1. Log in to Carousel Cloud

    2. Click on the gear in the upper-right corner

    3. Click on 'Configure'

    4. Select ‘Players’

    5. Choose ‘Express Player Feeds’

    6. Click on the ‘How to Share’ button

  1. As shown below, click ‘Download’ on the provided installer

    1. This will download the Carousel Screen Saver installer

    2. You can use the same installer on any compatible Windows PC; it is not unique to the computer you are using

  1. Simply double-click the 'CarouselCloudScreenSaver-Setup.exe' file to install the screen saver on your computer

Please note:

You will have to allow the installer to make changes because screen savers are installed into the Windows system

Screenshot 2025-08-19 095629.png

  1. After the screen saver has been installed, you will need to set the appropriate screen saver settings in the Control Panel

  2. In the Control Panel, use the search box to search for 'screen saver' and then click 'Change screen saver'

  1. In the Screen Saver Settings window, select ‘Carousel Cloud’ from the list of available screen savers and then click ‘Settings…’ to configure it

  1. Lastly, copy and paste both the ‘Site Name' and ‘Player ID’ from step 2 into the 'Carousel Cloud Screen Saver Settings’ as shown below

  2. Choose 'Save'

  1. The next time the screen saver on your PC is activated, your selected Carousel Cloud express player feed will be displayed

Enterprise Deployment Information

Download

The screen saver installer is a static asset that can be downloaded from the following public location:

https://carousel-public-files.s3.amazonaws.com/CarouselCloudScreenSaver-Setup.exe

A sample PowerShell script is also available to demonstrate unattended silent installation and configuration. It can be downloaded from the following public location:
https://carousel-public-files.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Carousel+Cloud+Screensaver+for+Windows+Powershell+Silent+Installer+Script.zip

Installed Files

The installer lays down a .scr file:

C:\Windows\System32\Carousel Cloud.scr

Along with additional files in the Program Files folder:

C:\Program Files\Carousel Cloud Screen Saver\

Configuration file

%appdata%\Carousel Cloud\Carousel Cloud.cfg

The .cfg file’s content is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OptionsModel xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <SiteName>myserver.carouselsignage.net</SiteName>
  <PlayerID>d5b7d927-d9f3-4c21-8992-f5d9d29abcd6</PlayerID>
</OptionsModel>

The 'Site Name' and 'Player ID' can be found in Carousel Cloud>Configure>Players>Express Player Feeds>How to Share

The %appdata%\Carousel Cloud\ folder will also be used at runtime to cache screen saver data

Please note:

This is a user folder. The configuration file needs to be present for each user account from which the screen saver may launch.

Group Policy Setup

  1. Open the Group Policy editor

  2. Under User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Control Panel>Personalization, open ‘Force specific screen saver’

  1. Select ‘Enabled’, set the executable name to ‘Carousel Cloud.scr’

  2. Click ‘OK’

Troubleshooting

Here are a few options to try if you ever experience any problems with the Screen Saver:

  • Make sure the Site Name and Player ID are entered correctly in the Screen Saver Settings

  • Watch for any error messages when the Screen Saver is launched

  • Make sure you are using the most recent version of the Carousel Cloud Screen Saver.exe file

    • You can repeat the download and installation steps at the beginning of this guide to update the screen saver at any time.

  • You can reinstall the Carousel Cloud Windows Screen Saver by:

    • Removing it in ‘Add/Remove Programs’

    • The screen saver configuration is stored in %appdata%\Carousel Cloud and can be removed if needed during the re-installation process

    • Then follow the installation procedure provided in this guide

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