Windows 10: Windows 11 Screensaver Slide Show "An error is preventing this slideshow from playing"

I set the screensaver to use images on shuffle from a folder with thousands of images.Made sure in Power Settings -> Slideshow is Enabled.It works in preview, but I get the error message above when it actually pulls up the screensaver. It shows one or two images in the folder, then an error bounces around the screen. I've been using the screensaver feature since Windows 1995, not sure why it doesn't work now...Desktop, one NVME drive, brand new PC with brand new Windows 11 install. *Already ran updates*. Tried setting the screensaver time to different times - 1 min, 5 min. Same error.See at

:)

 

Screensaver stops working - error preventing slideshow from playing

I have used a version of this for the past 10 yrs w/o any issues on any OS -
Free Slide Show Screen Saver - gPhotoShow Free Edition

To set up: R click desktop/Personalize brings you to the Settings screen below. The folder selection screen will open and you can set timing and random settings, etc

 

Why is Slide Show stopping & showing ' error is preventing slideshow from playing'

Why is Slide Show stopping & showing ' error is preventing slideshow from playing'

 

Screensaver stops working - error preventing slideshow from playing

I have a specific folder in my pictures which I play screensaver slideshow from. My computer will play slideshow for a while (sometimes a few minutes, sometimes 10 minutes), then I get the following message: An error is preventing this slideshow from playing.

I see that this is a ridiculously common occurrence (going back at least to Win 7), but I have yet to find a solution. I've tried multiple suggestions that I've come across while looking into this, but nothing has worked.

Does anyone know of a solution for this? Or, if no solution, are there any good (free) screensaver programs out there I can use to play my pictures in a slideshow?

TIA