Windows 7 to officially support logon UI background customization
As you probably know, Windows 7 build 7057, a build recently leaked to the public, sports a new (yet ugly) login UI background. Delivering on the “more customizable” promise, Windows 7 now supports the ability to load images into the background of the login screen without the use of third-party software or manual hacks.
Figure 1 – Logon UI background image before and after customization.
Although this functionality was designed with OEMs in mind, it is pretty easy to turn on and off using regedit and some images lying around your hard drive.
First, a check is made to determine if the customization functionality is enabled or not. More precisely, a DWORD value named OEMBackground in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background key is checked. Its data, of Boolean type, defines whether or not this behavior is turned on, i.e. 1 for enabled, 0 for disabled. This value may not exist by default, depending on your system.
Afterwards, if customization is enabled, the primary monitor’s screen height and width are retrieved via calls to GetSystemMetrics. These values are used in the computation of the screen width (w)/height (h) ratio. For example, my desktop resolution is 1920x1200. The ratio, computed by the division of w/h, is 1.6:1.
The result of this computation is looked up in an internal table that drives what image to load on disk. Although I don’t have a large enough monitor to test, it appears resolutions higher than 1920x1200 will force the loading and zooming of an image of closest compatibility (i.e. same ratio, smaller image).
As this is an OEM feature images are derived from %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds. Like the registry value, this folder may not exist by default. The following files (sorted by width-to-height ratio) are supported in this folder:
- backgroundDefault.jpg
- background768x1280.jpg (0.6)
- background900x1440.jpg (0.625)
- background960x1280.jpg (0.75)
- background1024x1280.jpg (0.8)
- background1280x1024.jpg (1.25)
- background1024x768.jpg (1.33-)
- background1280x960.jpg (1.33-)
- background1600x1200.jpg (1.33-)
- background1440x900.jpg (1.6)
- background1920x1200.jpg (1.6)
- background1280x768.jpg (1.66-)
- background1360x768.jpg (1.770833-)
NOTE: Images must be less than 256kb in size. Thanks for pushing me to investigate, Jay C.
The backgroundDefault.jpg image is loaded and stretched-to-fit when a resolution/ratio-specific background cannot be found. The other resolution/ratio-specific files are self-explanatory. If the background cannot be loaded (e.g. image physically too large, incorrect ratio, etc.), the default SKU-based image is loaded from imagesres.dll. You’ll see a Windows Server-themed grayish background in there, too, suggesting this functionality is not specific to client SKUs.
Curious Corner - The RDP client, used in the screenshots above, is simply something I put together in C#. The System Center Virtual Machine Manager client provided by Microsoft doesn’t offer the ability to control whether or not my keyboard was hooked when in windowed-mode therefore equating to an unacceptable level of suckage.
It’s about time.
I can picture it now. A giant Dell logo or any other OEM logo in your face on the logon screen.
BAM!
Great find again Raf. They still haven’t made your fat offer to come to Redmond because you’re definitely stealing their thunder. :p
Cool. :D Didn’t realize there was yet another build leak.
Also, what’s the story with that RDP client? Looks like it’s .NET based but Google isn’t giving me any info.
This is great news! I hope they think to enable this within themes to make it even easier! It would be a great addition to a theme to be able to customize the login screen! Also, I couldn’t locate the “info” folder on my computer. It isn’t listed. :( I did the regedit too, so it isn’t that. :)
Just tried this now – There’s no key called OEMBackground in my registry there. Moreover, there’s no \info folder in my %windir%\system32\oobe folder, anyway.
Odd. I must have done something wrong, though I followed the steps exactly. Do I have to make the registry key and the folder?
@Zak, Where did you go in your registry? I found the registry key here. Although, I can confirm that there is no info folder.
can confirm that the reg key is there, but now folders under %windir%\system32\oobe\info\
I upgraded and am running 64bit. maybe because not clean install?
@Dan – This is simply a little RDP client I put together as the client provided by Microsoft, for Hyper-V virtual machines, doesn’t offer the ability to control whether or not my keyboard was hooked when in windowed-mode.
@derausgewanderte, @Darren Tebo, @Zak – I updated the article to indicate the registry value and folder may not exist, depending on your system. Go ahead and create them if they don’t exist.
Is the registry value DWORD?
@Zak – Yes, sorry. Updated article again.
Ok, thank you. However I tried that as well. No luck. :( The background doesn’t change when I put the image in there. :(
Can you provide any sample images to try out?
@Darren Tebo – Make sure you’re not adding an extra .jpg extension, the image matches the dimension of the file-name, the primary monitor resolution matches the image, and that the image is of jpg type. What resolution are you experimenting with? I can offer the flower I used in any resolution…
Ok, so I have to set the resolution to the resolution in the file name then? The flower image in 1680×1050 would be great. Thank you. :)
@Rafael No worries, I assumed it was DWORD.
It doesn’t work anyway – I think because my native res is 1680×1050. Despite having my own backgroundDefault and background1920×1200 in the info folder (1.6:1 is the ratio for 1680×1050 too), no change occurs. There is no background1680×1050 in the list of accepted files in the folder either, so I assume that this is what is wrong.
The problem may be that I had to create oobe\info\backgrounds myself. If it isn’t there to start with perhaps this doesn’t work.
@Darren – Yes. The dimensions of the image must match, otherwise it will fallback and attempt to load the backgroundDefault.jpg image. If that one is too big too, it will fallback to the baked in blue one.
The wallpaper I used can be obtained from http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/details/1829/simple_colors.html. A 1680×1050 image can be found at: http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/Dc270773/01829_simplecolors_1680×1050.jpg
Simply save that image as background1680×1050.jpg
Darren Tebo
http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/D7c82ceb/01829_simplecolors_1680×1050.jpg
Aha! Solved it. I used the shotgun approach and resized a version of the image I wanted to every file on the background*x*.jpg list, and one of them worked – hard to say which one without removing them one by one, but it is obvious that 1920×1200 won’t scale DOWN to 1680×1050, and backroundDefault if set to 1680×1050 won’t work either. One of the smaller sizes is being scaled up.
And sorry for filling up the comments on this page so much, Rafael. Thanks for this tip, its great.
you beat me Rafael :)
Thank you. I appreciate it alot and will try these out. :)
@Darren – My guess is background1440×900.jpg. Am I right?
Oh, I should get one at the 1440×900 resolution? Wow, this is confusing. Please Microsoft, add it to themes! LOL.
I’m not sure, delete them all except the 1440×900.jpg. Does it show then?
Nope, no luck. :( Can’t get this to display. :(
does it have to be the Windows\SysWOW64 folder for 64bit or system32?
Was wondering if you had ever figured this out. Glad to see that you have, nice work!
@Darren – I’m looking into it now. I must have missed something.
@derausgewanderte – \System32. The SysWOW64 folder is for 32-bit processes and binaries.
got it. thank you. it’s working now. had to use screen res exactly for my monitor and working now. thank you!!
Ok, thank you. I appreciate it. :(
oops, that was supposed to be a smile not a frown lol.
@derausgewanderte, how did you get it working? I am on 32 bit and set the wallpaper name to background. and it didn’t work. :(
I like the default login background…
Now if only someone could figure out how to hack punkbuster into working correctly in Windows 7 and not kicking for unknown Windows API.
I just noticed that it’s only working for me if I resize an image from a higher resolution using ms office picture manager. when I download an image at the correct resolution it doesn’t work. If I download a resolution to large for my monitor and then resize to the correct resolution in ms office picture manager it works. same for wallpapers under windows/web folder. odd…
This function needs to be available in the “Themes” section so that EVERYONE …… not just those who are “tech savy” and know how to work regedit can do this !
So it is now your next challenge Rafael to make sure microsoft get this done.
@derausgewanderte, I did that too. Still no luck. :(
@Darren – Make sure your image is less than 256kb in size. I just updated the article to reflect this new limitation.
@Rafeal, Ok, will do.
@Rafael, no luck. :( I can’t find an image small enough lol. Even the flower one was 800kb. :(
“I like the default login background…”
Me too. Way better than the Vista or beta 1 ones.
Awesome!
I bet Stardock is going swoop in and release Logon Studio 7 based on this.
ha, I was just darn lucky mine were smaller than 256kb.
I would bet that after what stardock did by charging for DeskScapes (based on DreamScene tech), that Microsoft may do this just to spite them. ;)
@derausgewanderte, could you send one for me to test?
Darren Tebo, I don’t think so. there is an excellent relationship between ms and stardock I think.
Darren Tebo, when you save as jpeg make sure the jpeg quality setting is set = or < 8
@derausgewanderte, I don’t know. That is not what I hear from a person I know that has a relative working for ms. Of course, then again, this is how rumors start so I am not really sure what to believe lol. I guess we would have to ask an ms employee. ;)
@Daren – I visited Stardock and met Brad personally. derausgewanderte is correct in stating they have a very close relationship, some ex-Stardock employees work at Microsoft now!
@Rafael, ok, np. :) I just was stupid to trust information like that lol. Thank you for clearing that up.
Rafael you are a wizard
Neat, but won’t a 256kb filesize limit be terribly restrictive (especially at 1920×1200)?
Awesome find mate. That’s really an interesting move by Microsoft and I really wonder to see that Microsoft is allowing so much customization and providing almost full control to users. Anyway brilliant find. :)
Did you create this RDP client?
waiting for more feature in windows 7 final edition. THere should be something different in windows 7 so that there is a specific reason to upgrade vista to Windows 7. because Windows Vista and Windows 7 are almost smiler. Yeah, windows & inclued multitouch feature pretty coool.. but it someone want to use that feature then one must have to buy Touch monitor that are really expensive. lets see what microsoft provide in windows 7 so that it puss me to upgrade my vista to 7………these logon feature are stupid bcz there is nothing new. anyone could de this though microsoft don’t put in windows 7. I am expecting something interesting………….
Great find Rafeal. Do you think it’s possible to get it to display lockscreen wallpaper on secondary monitors using this as well?
I have developed 7Logon# application to enable Customize Windows 7 Logon Background. try it! :p
http://blog.neuronaltraining.net/?p=3652
Is this a new feature in the new build (7057)? Does anyone know if it will work in 7000?
I’ve got it working now, on my 1440×900 monitor. I had to create the folders, though the reg key existed. Interestingly I can’t edit the .jpgs in the oobe/info/backgrounds location with IrfanView – don’t know if this is due to using x64 7057 – though previously IrfanView has handled everything I’ve asked of it, regardless of the Windows flavour. Whatever, so I edited the file elsewhere and transferred to the ~\backgrounds location.
The file was 250KB, the correct ratio but 1920×1200, and though named background1440×900.jpg, wouldn’t work. So I shrank it to 1440×900. Still wouldn’t work. Then I copied it and named the copy backgroundDefault.jpg, and resaved the original in such low quality the size was now just 13KB! This time it worked!
I rebooted and deleted backgroundDefault.jpg and it stopped working. I rebooted and restored that file, and deleted background1440×900.jpg and it still worked. So, basically the same file that didn’t work when named background1440×900.jpg, worked when named backgroundDefault.jpg. I wonder if it is because my monitor, though recognised and at the correct resolution, doesn’t have drivers for NT6.x? You know, in ‘Resolution’ it is shown, but under the ‘Monitors’ tab only the ‘Default Plug and Play’ type is recognised. Under earlier Windows versions it makes a difference to the resolution and/or refresh rate available.
Just tried it on 7000 (official beta) and it works. I followed the steps above using an image as both background1280×1024.jpg and backgroundDefault.jpg. I had to add the reg key and folders. If the background1280×1024.jpg is present it will use that, otherwise it uses backgroundDefault.jpg. Also once the reg key is added a simple log off is all that is required to test the new logon image from the folder.
why the hell wouldn’t they enable this for us to use inside of the general themes control panel! this is wicked
PLEASE! do you guys have the actual file for the windows 7 log-in background (the one that is pictured above) I want this picture everywhere on my desktop but i can’t find it hahah any help? if so email it to me at pic2021@live.com!
I would love a copy of your RDP client, used in the screenshots above, it would be very handy.
Hello Rafael,
We found that when the theme is changed, that the log on screen will revert back to default. A workaround is to reapply the registry setting back to 1 with a .reg file to make it easier to do.
Shawn
Suppose I have different background pictures in that folder, and I connect to the machine using remote desktop. Will I see different pictures depending on the resolution ratio I use in remote desktop?
I really think you need to make a quick and dirty application to noobify the process before someone else comes along and does (possibly charging for it as well), but I could understand if you dont because that could possibly interfere with your busy book writing schedule.
It won’t work for me. I tried it your way and the more simple explination (for link to YouTube Tut. click my name) and it won’t change. Help anyone?
Awesome man thanks a lot!! It worked the first time..
This is the pic of my Logon Screen:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/745503/Windows7Wallpaper1%20-%20Copy.jpg (Not a virus LOL)
@Nexus, if I was to write a program instead, I certainly wouldn’t charge for it. That would just be stupid lol. I know others would, but not I! :)
Help me. access denied to paste new image in the “C:\Windows\System32\oobe\Backgrounds”
They probably don’t put this in the themes control panel because it doesn’t deserve to be there. This seems like something that should be limited to OEMs or people who know what they’re doing. It’s just one of those things that doesn’t seem to be deserved to be changed by the general public.
David: You could make your own if you know VB.NET or C#.NET or whatever, I’m guessing he dropped in the RDP ActiveX control, set some properties, and away he went.
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/RemoteDesktopClient.aspx
Here’s an article on how to do it, though this program is a bit more complex than Rafael’s, obviously.
You fools why are you people trying to make Microsoft look like a crap???
Who is the idiotic editor of this article???
How dare u use the term ‘UGLY’ to describe the new logon screen in Windows Seven 7057.You fool i bet u don’t even know how to write a single program and u are talking about the operating system which is still in the beta phases. Never use such bloody language.If u don’t like it, it doesn’t mean that others too think the same.I think the new logon screen is a lot better than ur stupid looking face.Post ur apologies u freak.
@Raj, What?????? How about this? Don’t you dare attack Rafael!!!!! He is no fool by any means and he is a great programmer! Go do some damn research before posting. Get lost troll!!!!!
@Rafael, I am working on the login background changer program. I will let you know when I am done. :) Thought I would help out with this one. :)
any luck on anyone actually finding the picture that is currently used anywhere on their system.. i personally love it and i want to use it please help meeeeee
The program that I wrote to enable this feature is completed. Let me know if you want it at winlonghorn@adelphia.net. Thanks.
@Pic2022
%systemroot%\Windows\system32\oobe\background.bmp is the background from the logon screen, but it is only 1024×768, probably the only res that MS put in.
I love this idea, LogonStudioVista doesn’t even work on 7… Now I have a new way to get my Department of Defense background as my logon screen =D next step: ability to move the userpic around the login screen… that would make this feature extremely useful then
works for build 7000…. the only file name that works is backgroundDefault.jpg….value was in the reg….. had to create folders
RAF MAN!
When are you gonna get 7057 uxtheme patches up? i sent you the files a few days ago..would appreciate if you could patch em’ sometime.
thx!
So, for those corporate administrator folks out there (or for anyone who doesn’t like the fact that the logon screen you set changes BACK TO DEFAULT every time you change your theme, you can set it in policy (or the correponding registry entry). To do this, either gpedit.msc and navigate to: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon. It will be the “Always use custom logon background”. For those that prefer just updating the registry, this would be:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
“UseOEMBackground” DWORD = 1.
Those of us that do corporate images will probably use this to make sure our image version and logo are always on the logon screen regardless of which theme the user chooses.
@GILDude Thank you for that. I will add that feature to my program to prevent the changing theme from changing the background. :) This will come in handy for sure. :)
Done with that portion now. :)
Wow,
Windows Vista had an atrocious logon screen, and Windows 7 simplified it with their “light from above” blue background (a little nicer), and then the floral streamer blue background with Build 7057. Outstanding to know the customization means I can change it to anything I want without adding something else to my system.
Thank you Rafael for such a great find. Is there a registry key or something that tells the system to limit the file size?
@Richard B, that would be great to know. I am curious as well. :) It would be incredible to fix it so that it would allow larger sizes. I will do some hunting around to see what I can find. If I find something, I will let you all know and then lift the restriction from the program that I created. :)
The size limitation is hard coded.
That is a pain, but oh well. I can try to scale down some images. :-)
@Rafael Wow, that is a pain. :(
@Rafael So there is no way to open a dll or something and modify that? I guess we just have to ask them if that change is something that they will consider. :(
Works like a charm.
I decided just to use the ‘backgroundDefault.jpg’ file instead of fiddling with different resolutions, works 100%.
Windows 7 x64, build 7057.
@Raj
Please go sit in the corner with your imaginary friends.
@LOOP
“When are you gonna get 7057 uxtheme patches up? i sent you the files a few days ago..would appreciate if you could patch em’ sometime.”
You realize he has a life, right?
Guys I’m obviously an idiot, how the hell do I get this to work? I’ve tried everything…
What steps have you performed Ryan?
LogonUI changer. It’s not a virus, source included: http://windows7center.com/forums/showthread.php?t=552
When will RDP be integrated into the logon UI. With VMs running amuck, this would be a killer addition!
Dude, this is in freaking Portguese… how am I supposed to understand this…..
im happy coz found this site..damn good site….keep it up
Just spotted this new feature now, so I’m going to give it a go – thanks for the heads up on how to get it working!
what should i do to use all vista themes in windows 7,they are not working in win 7… :( i wanna make windows 7 start menu,full glass as i use in vista not colorful(not gray or red or blue),stupid win7 themes are only changing wallpaper not progress bar colors or button styles .how can i change shellstyle.dll version informations.because they are 6000.16386 shellstyle.dll,i must change them to 7000.0…
@pic2022
Email w/ background pic attached sent yesterday :)
@chris
try reshacker
i am sure that this will not work
For me I had a key OEMBackground in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background that had to be set to “1″ and that got it working. This was with 7057 x64
I got it working too. Thank you, Rafael. Good work on this. Have you found any other things like this we can play with on build 7057?
It works on 7057,
But on 7068 cannot.
here are some Windows 7 Themes that i made:
http://alkhan.deviantart.com/gallery/
is it true that build 7068 doesn’t support this feature anymore?
:-/
hey i was poking around windows 7 build 7057 ’starter’ and when you goto control panel, apperance, display,
the side bar of the windows shows “change welcome screen background” when you click it it brings up a window that says ‘choose a background for the welcome screen’ and has two options that say ‘use the baackground that came with my computer’ and ‘use windows background’ all that i can say is this changes the regestry value rafael said.
i was poking around windows 7 build 7057 ’starter’ and noticed that in control panel, aperance, display the side bar on the window had a option named “change welcome screen background” when that is clicked a menu pops up saying “select a welcome background” there are 2 options “use the background that came with my computer” and “use windows background” all that i can see is that this cnages that regestry vlalue rafael stated if you select option one it enables the custom background and option 2 disables it
as far as i can see there is no option to do this in build 7057 ultimate but im not sure about the other sku’s of build 7057
7068 does support the customizations, but I just installed 7077 and am trying to see if it works, but so far no luck.
Good stuff! Now I can use some hotties in pictures for a login screen :-D
DanielRemains,
I love the Loginscreen you use. I love what you did with the 7/v :-D
I finally got it to work in 7077, after trying some pics. Maybe I was not using the right size or something–oh well.
Is there a way to accomplish this on W2K8 Server?
definitely works on 7077.
where do you get the flower backround?
I use Build 7100 as x64 in german and don’t even have a single HKLM string. All I have are HKEY strings. Is the problem the german version or the RC build? Or is all I have to do is make the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background string?
How can I remove the LoginUI Background image? I just want a solid black.
Win7 rc (7100) has the value, changed it from 0 to 1, and it works :)
@Bydia,
So just make a big, black rectangle the size of your screen resolution in Windows Paint, save it as a JPG, and follow the procedure above!
@Sven I don’t have a HKLM either, I only have HKEY. I went into the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background and found the OEMBackground in there.
It was set to 0 by default for me. I also had to make the info\backgrounds folders in the Windows directory. After I made them I dropped my 1900×1202 .jpg in it, named it backgroundDefault.jpg and switched users. It worked. The picture was 177KB.
Hi everyone, I have also made a windows application to manage this for you. I call it the humble name “Locked Background Rotator” because you can add as many images as you like to the program and it will run minimized and change the background everytime you lock your computer.
The program consists of a image collector where you can add image files, one at the time or a whole folder with or without including subfolder. The images are latter used randomly to change the locked background picture. This is done thrugh scaling down the picture and adjusting the quality to fit the right size and dimensions.
You can specify the interval for the background to change, or let the program do so everytime you lock your computer.
The program can be minimized to the windows task area and there is a checkbox for making to program autostart. When autostarting it also starts minimized so that it wont disturb the user in his/her daily work.
Hope this helps those who arent so familiar with windows folders, writing privileges, image handling and registry editing.
Download version 1.0
Tyler u fool HKLM in short form of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
I just made another LogonUI background changer app, like almost everyone in this thread ^^
http://www.julien-manici.com/windows_7_logon_background_changer/
Technical infos : it is wpf/3d based, and requires admin privileges only the first time you run it (you can also run the provided cmd file as admin if you don’t trust my program and don’t want to give it admin rights). It’ll be open source when I’ll have fixed the performance issues.
For new versions and version info about Locked Background Rotator visit this adress:
Locked Background Changer Home
for dell computer change HKML to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. thanks for the tip off though
umm.. this isnt working. could you be a little more clear about what you should do and not just give all the unecessary details??
also what if you are using a wide screen display: 1200×800
nvm im just a little dislexic (not really) =). i didnt see the G in “backgrounds”. fixed my own problem
I build 7077 64-bit and the OEMBackground DWORD Value does not exist and the %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds directory does not exist. So maybe after 7057 they decided to do away with this feature
Hey, new version of my Locked Background Rotator.
Locked Background Rotator v 1.0.1
Changes:
* Fix: Timing issues. CPU was going high. Now it seems to run at nearly zero.
* Fix: Reads the windows screen bounds when resizing instead of fix size of 1200*1024.
If the image is smaller than the screen bounds then the original image is used.
* Feature: Adjusted the initial image quality to save att 100% jpeg quality and then reduce by five until
Image fits under 256 KB (otherwise it will not work as locked background).
* Feature: Start minimized option.
* Feature: Added “view image” as context menu.
* Feature: Reduced thumbnail quality and adjusted the size to show landscape oriented images;
* Feature: Double clicking the current image thumbnail will open the image for viewing.
* Feature: Clicking the tray baloontip will now restore the program.
* Feature: Clicking the tray icon once will show wich events will trigger the change, also calculates time left when
“change on time” is active.
# Bydia May 9, 2009 at 8:48 am
How can I remove the LoginUI Background image? I just want a solid black.
erm..
you are not serious right?
whats about placing a BLACK image there? are you rlly too ****** to get this idea on your own? oO
Does this work in RC as well? I’ve been trying and haven’t had any luck getting it to work. It just always falls back on the factory default one.
Great improvements as of today! You’re welcome to use my:
Locked Background Rotator v 1.0.4
Changes:
* Feature: Added tabs for different image sources. Collection, Folders, Deviant Art.
* Feature: Tab for specifying folder paths, from wich to auto include all images.
* Feature: Added history tab for viewing background change history.
* Feature: Preference box for specifying sources for random picures (same as tabs).
* Fix: Application crash on startup when last save file does not exist.
Have the RC1 of Win7 (x64) installed. The registry value already existed (although would have been no drama to add new reg key if it didn’t), and interestingly the value was already set to “1″ – enabled. Had to manually create the folder in the “oobe” directory, but no dramas there.
Interestingly did not work with file named as “background1440×900.jpg” but works just fine with the default name “backgroundDefault.jpg”. Dropped that one in the folder and everything is apples :)
Big THANKYOU for this little gem :)
NB: As an aside, ppl bitching about the hassle, you doooo realise you could simply open the default image …oobe\background.bmp in ANY image editor and simply place a new image over the top (will probably have to flatten as most image editor will paste as new layer) and save. Just make sure you run your image editor as Administrator, as the original is read-only and classed as system file. If you don’t want to mess with regedit, this gives another option :)
@Olof…..
Stop spamming this f@#king blog you moron!!
Fact: Win7 continues to cycle wallpapers during account lock…. WITHOUT the need for 3rd party app
Fact: Win7 gives all the tools, NATIVELY, to customise images being used for wallpaper and wallpaper cycles
Fact: This posting has NOTHING WHAT SO EVER TO DO WITH F@#KING WALLPAPERS, WTF ARE YOU ON ABOUT??
Get a life and stop f@#king spamming other ppl’s blogs with unwanted info…. loser!!
Whoever created this “Locked Background Rotator” should know that the application won’t work in startup as long as UAC is enabled. Your application needs elevation of permissions and so UAC system block it. You should find another way to make it work at startup. However don’t get down. It’s a good application.
Please don’t ask people to turn off their UAC. I sure think this “UAC” sucks, but for normal users (little knowledge) its a barrier againts threats.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
-Anon
Dear Elric, and complainer,
Elric:
If you tested my program you should be able to realise that the main feature is to change the background in lock mode – as this blog intends. As for the win7 cycle feature, my meaning with the program is that the backgrounds should sync. If the user wishes, again – the windows background is a plus feature and not the main thing.
My spamming was meant for those who seemed to have problems comprehending the manual procedure. Im just trying to help. I don’t make any money on this and if three posts are two to much, then im sorry…
complainer:
Thank you for your good input. I have in no way incurraged people to turn their UAC of. The program should run in administrator mode and then not have any problems with this, but I will be sure to test this more thouroghly. It could be that you have downloaded an old version. The manifest was missing in an early one.
Sorry for the spamm :(
We just released a free utility to do this too. It takes care of the image size, and registry changes.
http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/change-the-windows-7-logon-background-free-utility/
I was not able to get this to work with a 253 kb image (though it says here that 256 kb is the max). I reduced the image quality so that it was 182 kb (just what the preset was, no reason I chose that number) and it worked like a charm.
Can’t wait to be able to do this on all my lab computers at work. Now, just have to get the image where the Ctrl-Alt-Del is not in the white area of the image, so that it can be seen.
Thanks,
Can’t be bothered to filter through replies to see if this was covered, but to all the newbies complaining the directory doesn’t exist, CREATE THE DAMNED FOLDERS YOURSELF. They don’t initially exist as Win7 RC is NOT an OEM build, thus no OEM has created the directories!
Also, if after loading in image, if not showing up, check to see if Windows has switched of the ability (Windows sometimes does this as the folder didn’t exist when you first switched it on) – switch back on and should stay on.
As an aside, can also be done vie the Group Policy editor – see link below for details on that method.
By the way, have you released a copy of the screen capture tool you wrote… would be very handy. Cheers mate, great advice :)
@Raj – Raphael was not criticising MS, just saying that the new Login UI not to his (or other ppl’s) tastes… the beauty of being individuals. If you likeit, keep it – if you don’t, replace with an image you do like. Simple
The names of the files are misspelled. Could you change them in the text?
I have no patience to read through all of the posts to figure out if anyone has noticed and solved the problem. If you are copying and pasting the names from the text you have to change the “×” to “x” (1920×1200 to 1920×1200). This threw me for a loop, but Photoshop was nice to tell me that there were some wierd character in there.
To test, no reboot is required, just hit Windows+L.
great job. i also wanna know, is there a possibility that i can increase the size of the logon user account picture?
The above steps worked on a desktop that is not an OEM. However, they didn’t work on an OEM such as Dell E1505. There must be another registry key that needs to be altered or created for this to work on OEM
What will it take for Microsoft to place redundant copies of images with different resolutions so we can get truly crisp images right out of the box? Vista installs for a hefty 20 GB, and there is tons of space in the installation DVDs already. Why compute the aspect ratio where for 256 KB a pop, you can provide the most crisp image? And where is the 1680 x 1050 resolution, which the majority of users have today? The industry is on the eve of switching to high resolution 2560 x 1600 pixels with the advent of the Display Ports…. I wish the little guys at Microsoft had the power to poke their technologically inert superiors… geez!…
Great feature, but it’s a shame you can’t specify “tile” rather than “stretch” so that multi-monitor setups were supported. At the moment, additional monitors over the default monitor always appear black, even though the mouse can be seen on them.
Is there any way to disable font hinting on the login screen? I like pixelated text.
I was interested to find an existing background.bmp in /oobe/ which had the default background. modifying this seems to change the background also. Maybe the background wasn’t intended to be OEM only.
FYI, to get this to work on 64 bit, I had to add the key to this node:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
Add new DWord value (32 bit) named OEMBackground, value 1
@Rafael
Is it possible to use a similar tweak to customise the folder background?
When you use Windows Explorer, all the folders background are in glaring white.
Only way to get other colors is to go for the Windows Classic theme which mean you don’t get the glass effect.
@ Elton
I have just did this on my x64 version of windows 7 (build 7057) and I did not have to add that key you just stated.
So I don’t know where it went wrong for you..
Hmm, instead of guessing filenames and file size limits, why don’t you just read the fu** … ehrem … fine manual at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744353(WS.10).aspx
…where it is stated that “True or False. If this is set to true, the background image must be located in the Windows\System32\Oobe\Info\Backgrounds directory and must be named Background.jpg, where resolution = 800×600, 1280×1024, or whatever resolution the monitor on the target computer has. The file for the background must not exceed 250K. You can also add a default file, BackgroundDefault.jpg, which is used when a background for the target computer’s monitor resolution is not present.”
Beware, that Microsoft claims, the image must be under 250K – not 256K as stated in your fine article.
Please give credits for my contribution.
Hey jackass… eherm… I mean Mikko. That documentation is wrong.
Great job “Steve Wiseman”, yours is the simplest version to use that is posted here.
It is very reminiscent of the best version around found at tweaks.com (link below).
http://tweaks.com/articles/39468/customizing-logon-screen-background-in-windows-7/
Thanks! Worked perfectly on Windows 7 Enterprise RTM (90-Day Trial).
I already had the registry key, so I changed it, created the “info” and “backgrounds” folders and saved a “defaultBackround.jpg” at my LCD’s native resolution (1280×1024 – I know, I’m old school, I do have a second screen that’s 25.5″ 1900×1200 though) and as soon as I locked the screen it was there. No reboot required. Much nicer.
Personally I hate UIs where I have to edit the registry. It would be a hell of a lot easier if microsoft went and made a GUI like the program Logon Stuido. GUI’s are more helpful than having to tweak the registry.
Update: Registry key seems to have reset itself. I’ll try rebooting again as the system did crash due to an unstable overclock.
In Linux you can customize all stuff about login UI, not just the background.
I use windows from time to time ( for programming stuff, most).
I’m just more comfortable with Linux.
Hey Folks,
Somebody have tried to put the logon wallpaper on the second monitor?? My second monitor on the logon is always black… :S
Regards
I’ve been using 7 Ultimate, and this tweak works perfectly.
The only thing, though, is that I had to set the key “OEMBackground” as read-only to the system -to prevent having its value reset to zero after a restart.
Cheers
I am using the 64bit Windows 7 Ultimate build 7100.
I did some testing with a few methods. The only one that worked for me was the Group Policy method done through the (GPedit.msc).
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 make the folder location for the custom image and have the image listed as backgroundDefault.
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 mention that DWROD value up above in this Blog. 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 here in this Blog 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.
The images stored in imageres.dll — used in the logon ui background — do not exceed 256kb. I’m not sure where you are seeing 2.25MB.
I was disappointed a little when I saw it does not support 1680×1050 “natively”, but then I got an idea, tried it and it worked – I’ve used a JPEG image resized and cropped to exactly 1680×1050 and compressed it to meet the file size requirement, then I’ve copied the file to that folder as backgroundDefault.jpg and it works great! I didn’t try it with lower display resolutions but I really don’t feel like using one on an LCD screen ;-). Note that I have the final release of W7.
I’ve got Windows 7 Pro, and right now, I can’t even transfer anything to the ‘backgrounds’ folder I’ve created in Windows\System32\Oobe\Info\Backgrounds. It says I don’t have permission, but I’m the only user and admin on my comp.
funciona perfecto…gracias
so i changed the registry value from 0 -> 1. Then I put a image labeled backgroundDefault.jpg in
the oobe\inof\backgrounds.
Nothing happened, how do I fix it?
@Jeff
same here, tried a few times… 251k did not work, 244 did…
Works perfectly.
You can just try it out by going to Start>Switch User, and look which wallpaper will be nice for you.
An advice, use Paint.NET to resize your image. You can set in a scale of 1 to 100% which final quality you want and the final size. Photoshop is too crappy for this.
I’ve got mine working in a 1680×1050 resolution.
Simply put the .jpg in the \oobe\info\backgrounds folder and make sure it’s name is backgroundDefault NOT background*resolution*.
@Josh
You can copy files into the folder that you create it seems.
Just drag it and drop it, that’s what I did.
I had some issues with the screen as well with the jpg being 253 kb. I downsized it to 243kb and it worked fine. For those who have trouble, try this (I am using Windows 7 Ultimate Final release)
Works just fine. Is there a way to change the startup sound too?
Any idea why this doesn’t work on Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (RTM)?
I think that I followed well all instructions here. Is this a feature of the beta or RC version only?
BTW, I also made sure that %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds\backgroundDefault.jpg is not larger than 220KB.
Any idea?
Thanks!
To Rafael,
The original (default) picture looks like this file: %windir%\System32\oobe\background.bmp
To Frank,
I am using the Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (RTM), it works fine to change the picture.
Iin case anyone (like me) find the manufacturer (such as Dell) changed the logon screen to their own image and dont like it (like me), you can revert it back to the standard Microsoft background by setting the Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background\OEMBackground key from ‘1′ to ‘0′