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Just what the title says! Windows 7 supports the ability to load images into the background of the login screen without the use of third-party software or manual hacks. This excellent tip was published by Rafael Rivera in his "Within Windows" blog. To change the logon desktop background, you just need to complete two simple steps.
(Thanks & Credits to the Within Windows blog.)
Step I – Creating a Registry Value
1. Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press ENTER:
2. Create a new DWORD value named OEMBackground
3. Double-click OEMBackground and set 1 as its value data.
4. Exit the Registry Editor.
Editor’s Note: I’ve observed that it also works if you create the OEMBackground value in the following Policy key:
-or-
Use the following Group Policy setting in Windows 7
1. Start the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
2. Go to the following branch:
3. Set the following option to Enabled
Always use custom logon background
4. Close the Group Policy Editor.
Step II – Include the Wallpaper Image (JPG)
Next step is to place the background wallpaper (JPEG file) in the following folder:
Note that the info folder doesn’t exist by default. You need to create the info and backgrounds folders manually.
Place the background image file (name it as backgroundDefault.jpg) into the above folder.
As for the file naming info and maximum supported file size, check out Rafael’s post Windows 7 to officially support logon UI background customization. Be sure to check out Rafael’s blog for more information and screenshots! And someone even wrote a small utility to change the Windows 7 logon background.
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wow… I have been able to do this on linux for as long as I can remember… and it’s a whole lot easier than this… more like changing your background image.
I am using the 64bit Windows 7 Ultimate build 7100.
I did a few testing with these methods. The only one that worked for me was the Group Policy method.
Note that I checked the regedit to see what it made and it put in the DWORD value (UseOEMBackground) set to value “1″ in this location. (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ System)
You still have to use Step II of this little guide, the part where you make the folders and place the image in there.
What is weird is that the registry location (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ System) was there to begin with and that DWORD value (UseOEMBackground) did not work when manually putting it in there, as I saw someone in Rafael’s Blog mention that DWROD value. I also noticed that this particular location will also disappear from the registry when you turn the Group policy back to being “Not Configured”.
Now the main method for listed where you set the DWORD value (OEMBackground) to “1” enabled in this location (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Authentication \ LogonUI \ Background) did not work at all for me. Taking from what I saw made in the other location while using the Group Policy I decided to add in the DWORD value (UseOEMBackground) into this location. It did not work either. I am not sure if this is because I am using Ultimate or not or if it has to do with being 64bit or not. All I know is that it does not work at all, no matter how I tried it. And I did try many different variations.
On the size and image type, what is strange is that the original background image is a Bitmap at 2.25MB. That size converts to 2305KB. Yet Rafael mentions that it has a limit of 256KB and the guides say that it only mentions the Jpeg format. I find this strange, especially since the original image is larger and a different format to begin with. There has to be a way to change the format and use larger file sizes. This size limitation is depressing.
[...] thanks to winhelponline.com for the Group Policy Editor [...]
doesnt work on build 7057