Correction: Starter wallpaper more secure than I thought

Ha! I laugh at all the poor windows 7 netbook users!

I’m outraged. No, wait, I’m not. No, wait, I am. No, wait, I’m not.

Seriously, why would I care about Starter edition? I won’t be able to buy it anyway. It’s only for “developing markets”. Yawn.

I think the entire concept of a purposefully cripped operating system is something Microsoft ought to be embarassed of even considering. It’s one thing to leave out powerful features like Remote Desktop and domain/Group Policy from the “non-network” editions and replace them with something more appropriate like HomeGroup (or Simple File Sharing in the past) and Live Mesh, or allowing equally capable third party software like VNC. It’s another thing entirely to drop baseline OS features that have been present in practically every graphical environment since the dawn of the GUI.

Severely limited amount of open applications, restricted wallpaper, and I believe they had restricted *screen resolution* in past versions, as well (the only sane restriction was removal of SMB networking, and even that’s a slap in the face).

In short, this will be an OS nobody wants, and Microsoft is just screwing their OEMs by selling them this.

—

Off topic; Rafael, how do you get the logon wallpaper to show up under a Remote Desktop session as shown here: http://www.withinwindows.com/2009/03/15/windows-7-to-officially-support-logon-ui-background-customization/ ? It was mandatory in Windows NT 5.x where the disable wallpaper registry bit didn’t work for the logon account, and seems to have flipped the other way since Vista.

This isn’t an April Fools joke, apparently.

Wow.

Windows 7 Starter edition sounds great if you’re a library, internet cafe, or public elementary school, and want a pretty cheap Windows OS that does the most basic stuff, and doesn’t let users tamper too much with the system. Seriously, Starter provides enough for people that need to use Windows just the basics. I think most average consumers will opt for Home Premium if they know what’s best for them.

We need a competition to find a nice picture with a hash collision. Just for the hell of it. (and even though it probably isn’t possible)

I look forward to a large group of people deciding the default image is highly offensive to them, for some irrational reason, and Microsoft having to test & deploy a shell32.dll hotfix in order to change it on the grounds of cultural sensitivity. :-)

Can’t you replace the SHA-256 with an hex editor?

They will change the wallpaper. That fish is called the “Beta fish”. That’s why they put it in the beta. Therefore it won’t be good to have a beta fish on the final version.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Fish

Well is there a way you can manipulate the black wall paper. Maybe change the color or something.

I’ve got an idea.
Step 1.
SHA-256 new Background image.

Step 2.
Look for “talkative fishy” hash in shell32.dll

Step 3.
Replace hash.

Step 4.
Use replacer.bat to replace shell32.dll in safe mode, also replacing the one in the DllCache.

Step 5.
Also use the replacer.bat to replace img0.jpg

Step 5.
PROFIT

hey its starter edition, you’re only allowed open 3 apps at a time… what else would one expect, that said, who cares? i know i won’t see starter, i’ll be grabbing up premium or ultimate, many of us will not see starter, not even on netbooks

Thats like the unchangeable bootscreen. I hate it when Microsoft does not allow customization. But well, it’s just Starter Edition. I will probably not care at all.

But wait … what if they give starter away absolutely for free as a download? I wouldn’t want that to be my only OS, but it could make a nice VM!

@steven G: The app limit has been upped to 6 now
@quikboy: Good idea, Windows 7 on dirt-cheap media labs, and internet cafes… it would save alot of time that would be used to set policies if the system didn’t even have such policies.

How else will they test Windows Anytime Upgrade?

PortalCake: Or just find the instruction that references the hardcoded hash and change the if test so it always returns true (or false, whichever indicates the hash matches).

I honestly don’t see why we are spending so much time on this OS unless they decide to make it free…
Wouldn’t it be just as easy to replace the shell32.dll and other “infected” files from say… Home premium or basic?

I think that people who have the starter version can care less about the wallpaper. I bet someone would release a patch that would bypass the 3 apps limit. Hopefully, the would do this AFTER Windows 7 has RTM or Microsoft could block the patch before Windows 7 is officially release.

Come on people! this is just windows 7 starter, and windows 7 starter SUCKS! anyone in their right mind will get premium or ultimate unless they have a really cheap netbook in which case I laugh at them.

I couldn’t care less. My home pc will use the Ultimate edition – if I ever decided to get a netbook with Starter edition (well, I wouldn’t period, but for the sake of typing this) I wouldn’t care about that wallpaper. It doesn’t look too bad, and it’s better than what my current [work] laptop currently uses (Windows Classic theme with no desktop wallpaper).

How would you feel if you were locked in to using Windows Classic theme for Win 7 Starter?

So, uh, what if you replace img0.jpg AND shell32.dll?

Isnt starter for 3rd world countries??

north america and europe wont even be able to buy or get preinstalled starter edition.

home basic is ‘the worst’ we can get, isnt it??

May I suggest a domain name for your new joint venture?

istartedwindows.com

did they make a cheap ’starter’ edition for ‘developing countries’, to tackle piracy? i reckon limiting users like this will only accelerate it

Sup Raf?

Well, my thoughts are, what is the point? I can see the internet cafe, library, etc, but Windows 7 has a new locking system so that everything downloaded, settings changed, etc are not saved, right? I believe it is called PC Safeguard, or have they done away with that feature? So like in the first eight words I typed in this paragraph, what is the point really?

Think of this scenario: You buy a new PC with standard parts, nothing special like a gaming computer, just an everyday PC for word processing, internet mail, reading newgroups, and downloading music from iTunes, in fact I’m going to forget this train of thought. This is aimed towards people trying to learn computer skills, beginner computer users, in countries with less developemental status’ unlike Japan or America right? Well here is a better question. How the **** are they supposed to learn how to use a PC with limitations to the ammount of applications able to be running, or not even being able to do the BASICS of computing to begin with, such as changing a wallpaper? The wallpaper may be one small, very small, part of a computer users daily or even monthly, or longer, regime, but I can say this. With computers, you learn from experiencing multiple situations that lead to questions or you tinkering about the internet reading to find out what to do or what caused this thing to happen. How are people using this edition supposed to be able to experience these things when they cant run more than what is it, 3 or 6, applications at a time? Right there went the learning of what the hardware in your computer is capable of doing at one time, and possibly even more.

The wallpaper, being changable for as long as I can remember (Windows 3.1 for me), is a nice piece of the desktop I call relief. A little bit of personalization goes a long way, and can really make your desktop environment alot nicer, even if it is just a change of an image. I could understand maybe stripping out the Wallpaper Slideshow, but the ability to change wallpaper all together? Get bent on your Windows 7 Starter Edition Microsoft. I really do not know what you are thinking with it. By all means, try to explain, though I doubt you can give me an answer which is not something only a completely mental person could understand.

[...] Within Windows Posted by Marlon Medeiros Filed in Notícias, Windows 7  Tags: Notícias, Windows 7 No [...]

Can you elaborate on the shell32 bit? For example, which shell32 function uses the hash?

As for patching shell32 on disk – I hope those suggestions are jokes. If you patch a system file on disk, Windows Update will no longer recognize it and will thus no longer apply hotfixes to the file in question!

ilm: and thus, windows update won’t replace the file during an update, thus keeping such a hack in place…

I guess that does count as an advantage for some people.

FWIW, I have confused things slightly. I was really referring to this: http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/08/05/54603.aspx

…which is about how service pack installs will break when you modify a system file and not strictly about Windows Update. Though I would guess it applies all the same.

[...] Fonte | WithinWindows [...]

Looking at the thread, all I can say is The US and Canada as well as the Rest of the developed country’s have joinded the ranks of third world nations, Microsoft is just preparing us for our new status

Do not want.

some of you look confused: (as you go down the list, the previous editions features are included)

Starter (6-app limit, no wallpaper changing, no Aero) : OEM only, available worldwide
Home Basic (no Glass, no WMC) : OEM only, not available in US, Canada, Western Europe, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand
Home Premium (no RDP server, Fax/Scan, Location-Aware Printing, Domain-join): retail stores, web and OEM everywhere
Professional (no Bitlocker, AppLocker, BranchCache, no VM rights): retail stores, web and OEM everywhere
Ultimate (no volume licensing): limited retail launch, followed by promotional web, OEM everywhere (OEM/MS will bundle stuff)
Enterprise (only edition for volume deployment, XP downgrade bundled): Software Assurance, Enterprise/Govt./Ed. new purchase

Well, strictly speaking it is still 3 apps, but for some things, the limit is flexible. e.g. You can have AV software, multiple Live Essentials apps, Explorer-related apps like WMP, IE running in addition to 3 “other” apps. At least this is observed in 7077.

However, if you have evidence for a non-flexible 3-app limit, Rafael, I’d say you’re right and I’m not, because you are the most technically skilled guy in the room and know the ins and outs of MS software. I am just a enthusiast dabbling in technology intermittently. :-)

If they’re doing this it would make more sense if they just disallowed wallpapers and only allowed solid color backgrounds. The current wallpaper assumes you want a fish on your desktop.

Disallowing wallpapers would require more functionality to put it into effect; this method is better. I don’t get why people are outraged though. Why shouldn’t Microsoft reserve the right to disallow customization for entry level edition? Microsoft is a commercial entity and must generate revenue for it’s shareholders. One way to generate future revenue is to limit entry level products in the hope that users will want to pay to upgrade to the more featured products. It’s just business folks.

[...] the desktop wallpaper on the Starter edition of Windows 7 is disabled (and no, getting around it is not just a matter of renaming an image) then maybe “cool wallpapers” is actually going to be a feature item … ugh [...]

Видел что-то похожее в англоязычном интернете, в Русском инете про такие вещи как-то не особо часто сообщения увидишь.

I thought this limit would be so manufactures could force their branding on users. The hard-coded nature of this suggests it wont be, unless Microsoft are going t have different versions of Shell32.dll(!), which would be crazy.

Well if u hate the Aero Basic theme and the stupid wallpaper atleast there is one other choice for starter…. Windows Classic with Blue Color and no Wallpaper…

Check it out…
http://personal.mattatobin.com/screenshots/WindowsSeven/win7starterinclassicthemenobg.png

I have just completed a blog post on my own website with instructions on how to get the same results as the above screenshot…

Check it out:
http://blog.mattatobin.com/2009/06/09/windows-seven-starter-kill-wallpaper-and-have-classic-theme.binoc

After just installing Moblin2 (intel linux) on my notebook I can safely say that Windows 7 will never be installed on any notebook I own – In linux there are no stupid restrictions.

As for the image that MS is forcing their users to look at – It should be a image of a large smiley faced Tux pointing at you whilst laughing………..

Way to go MS !

-Hmm, anybody could find the way to create a working SHA-256 hash collision method?
Or somebody already did?
:)

Regards.

[...] was imposed by the use of a technical licensing policy named ChangeDesktopBackground-Enabled and re-enforced by a SHA-256 hash of the static image, to prevent img0.jpg [...]

if i had windows 7 starter the only thing that it would be startering is pissing me off

Such kind of “crippling” is so silly. Seems to me like ms has lost its mind. I feel that ms is going to be out the door once this cloud computing thingy takes off big time.

Ok, so I got a Samsung netbook yesterday with WIndows 7 Starter. So far, I’ve loved it…until I realized that you can’t change the wallpaper.

Now, it’s not like I got Windows 7 STARTER because I was too cheap to get the full edition. It’s just what comes with netbooks, and I really wanted a netbook for school. But for fuck’s sake, if you’re first going to disallow wallpaper changes and THEN booby trap it so that if it’s tampered with it turns black….just…WHY?!

I don’t see the point – is it supposed to be some incentive to get a full edition? Hello, it’s a NETBOOK, it won’t RUN the full Windows 7 edition well.

It’s low-handed blows like this that really piss me off…

Likewise, I bought my girlfriend a netbook today with Windows 7 Starter. I’m from the UK, so all the talk of Starter edition for developing nations is just nonsense. As mentioned above, most netbooks just ship with 7 Starter at the moment, its got nothing to do with being cheap.

But I cannot stress how disappointed she was that the wallpaper can’t be changed! The sales pitch was
‘exciting new Windows 7 Starter ships with your notebook!’
So, we bought it. Reality -
‘crappy watered down Windows 7 Starter ships with your notebook. You’ll be able to do f**k all’
Perhaps we’ll go out and buy XP, but I really don’t want to be filling MS’s coffers any more after this.

The audacity, the shame of Microsoft for going OUT OF THEIR WAY to make wallpaper changes impossible. F**king disgraceful. I have been a die-hard Microsoft fan for decades, I still think Office is one of the best pieces of software available, and up until XP, I was loving their OS work. But how misguided has MS become, in an increasingly competitive environment with Apple and the impending Google OS, MS choose to take steps back in the quality of their software?

Disgraceful. MS continue to lose swathes of their market share, and its lunacy if they don’t know why. Who on earth thought that taking away something simple like wallpaper customising was a good idea? There are two ways this can go 1) MS release a patch in response to overwhelming negative reaction or 2) MS lose yet more of their market share as more and more customers look elsewhere for what they want.

Grrrrrr, it all makes me so angry!!

From, Luke.
An ex-MS fan, growing increasingly fond of Google.

Could the original author please verify that the SHA256 is found in shell32.dll? I’m looking at it now and I don’t see it. Maybe the mechanism has changed?

Also links to anyone else working on breaking this are welcome.
Thanks.

(Background: Mother-in-law just got netbook yesterday, after waiting a couple of weeks for the Windows 7 release — now can’t change wallpaper and is considering going back to XP. Really why use 7 Starter over XP? The same netbook is already $30 cheaper with XP; I see nothing worth shelling out another $80 for 7 Home Premium)

SHA256 of img0.jpg in public retail release version, 6.1.7600.16385:
ba4f25bf16ba4be6bc7d3276fafeb67f9eb3c5df042bc3a405e1af15b921eed7

Also, if you alter img0.jpg, the wallpaper goes blank because this registry key gets blanked out:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper

But you can restore it to c:\windows\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.png and then you’re at least back where you started.

Of all the drawbacks of the Windows 7 Starter Edition, why did this have to be one of them? Really… It’s stupid and kinda pointless.
I think I’m going back to Windows XP.

So I went out and bought a Toshiba netbook this morning with Windows 7 Starter… First thing I did…like I’ve done on every computer I’ve had since Windows 3.1…try to change the background. Nope. I’m thinking this must be a joke…why would they lock this option down? I’m taking this stupid netbook back tomorrow.

as soon as word gets out sales will drop who doesnt change there wallpaper and who reallly wants to spend extra money just to change it surely they will go back on this. just got new netbook with win 7 starter managed to make the wallpaper the colour of my choice by going to clasic version then changing the name of the folder where the jpg is kept and changing back to the win 7 version

I got a new net book with win7 basic on it, did all the upgrades ect, backup disc ect, only to find I cannot change the wall paper,
but having read this post, have taken what matt wrote (http://blog.mattatobin.com/2009/06/09/windows-seven-starter-kill-wallpaper-and-have-classic-theme.binoc ) and change to the blue screen then right click on the desktop and right click gadgets,
then added the slide pictures now at least I have a pic on the desktop even if it is only a 1 inch sq but on a 10 inc screen is not to bad

It still amazes me how Microsoft repeatedly shoots itself in the foot; it’s like they can’t help but generate negative PR. It’ll be a matter of time before they update 7 starter due to consumer backlash. The number of customers that will have a negative experience with their netbooks and windows 7 can’t help their image. I mean you would think they learned from vista.

wow just got a laptop with starter…i like the running program hat that you cant change the walpaper! not to mention that they put the gayest background on it (not to affend n e 1) does anyone know the number to complain?

This is not good. Small things like these irk many customers who don’t even then buy the advanced versions. Customers today are very touchy about these things. Even though it may not be “required” feature for the intended uses the starter edition is expected to be used (net cafes, libraries, terminals for online banking at banks etc) , its absence will work as a “hygeine” factor i.e. it induces dissatisfaction. For example, consider the scenario where the a PC with the Starter Edition is used in a library and the library is unable to change the wallpaper so they could put there logo in there. And they simply “can’t”!!!! Utter stupidity……

Windows7 Starter Edition runs GREAT on my SUPERB Samsung netbook N130.

Very cheap netbook but VERY solid hardware and the keys are bigger than on other netbooks, you can write nice. Battery lives 4-6 hours (if you disable wlan if you dont need it).
To increase performance (opening windows) disable visual effects, but anyway, windows7 really ROCKS.
Time to change my good old loved xp OS.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Regedit go to key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper put the path of the image first, then righ click permissions->Put yourself as owner, then unchek the inherit button delete all users, then add the user ‘everyone’ and give read only permissions SOLVED :D

How can everybody be so blatant and blind??????? It’s there for f*cks sake!!!!!!!

Two easy ways:
1. Double click on a picture and Windows Photo Viewer will launch. Right-click and choose Set As Desktop Background.
2. Just open Windows Explorer. Use thumbnail view, then right-click on a picture and choose Set As Desktop Background.

Just got a scrapped away HDD and installed 7 starter on a P4 1.5 with 512 (shared VGA memory, have to install VIA/S3G WinXP driver for display but that worked, WHQL indeed). Screenshot at http://tinyurl.com/7wallpaper

Previous link was way too small can’t figure out which link point to the bigger pic I’ve uploaded full-res pic:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7355/7starter.jpg

No SHA calculation or registry hack or 3rd party software ever needed. Win7 RTM build 7600 Starter Edition.
Using in-built Explorer function and bundled Windows Photo Viewer (hey, associate GIF to it, seems M$ forgot to do so..)

Who does look closely will notice that my clock was messed up so don’t let it cloud your thinking.

srg84’s solution works. Thank you.

@Rafael:

This is a real copy. Downloaded from MSDN, intgrated x86 & x64 editions. There’s a bunch of guide on how to do that, perhaps in the process some of the ‘required’ files from other editions were being copied to the starter edition, I don’t know.

All you have to do is copy everything, unlock the editions by deleting ei.cfg and burn. Details:
http://www.windowsvalley.com/blog/create-windows-7-aio-all-in-one-dvd-or-merge-all-editions-of-windows-7-in-single-dvd/

Also here, but seems it has been removed by Microsoft:
Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (Microsoft Store, now removed) http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool

But what I do know is, before activation, the wallpaper cannot be set, only after activation it does. Although I signed up with both MSDN and beta test programs I have all RC and Beta releases, but so far I only tested Starter Edition with RTM build 7600. Maybe I have time I’ll reformat and reinstall an older release. I already messed up product keys for different editions :P

As for the screen resolution, I’m using a WS 1440×900, and during instalaltion it’s 640×480 in 8-bit color, can’t see any button, minimize and close button, progress bars etc. But I keep going and download appropriate video driver, surprisingly old WinXP driver works on mine. And one more thing: You DO NEED AN OLD SYSTEM, OR underpowered system, as per requirement (See Win7 requirement changes on official Win7 page).

For summary: Need 260GB or less (used 160GB, partitioned for only 80GB, used abt 6GB). 1GB RAM or less (used 512). 2.0GHz CPU or less (used 1.5GHz Pentium 4). So the system DOES satisfy the requirements.

You might be one of those who confused Starter Edition with Home Basic!
Starter Edition is sold worldwide and for less capable systems. Home Basic is not for retail, only OEMs for less developed countries. Take a look at official page, there’s a Starter, Home Prem, Prof and Ultimate.

For the sake of argument, I’ll probably re-try the RC build, if the activation for it still available, later. For now I’m trying to enjoy this crippled release for a few more hours or days :)

How about this screenshot? When clicked on ‘Change Desktop Background’ …
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/9725/clipboard01k.jpg

Still not convinced about a real starter edition? This is the real deal. I don’t know how anymore real can it be. FYI I’ve tested betas, rcs and rtms on a lot of machines already, and my gut says this starter edition does look as starter as it can be ;) compared to Premium or Professional or Ultimate.

And how does a ‘real’ starter edition System Properties window should look like. Anyone with a screenshot?

If you’re concerned about how ‘original’ your DVD-ISO Image (I downloaded mine from Technet) you can compare the checksum.

To convert editions, and the checksum verifies (told you that all needed is one iso download!) you can use:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/10/31/windows-7-iso-image-edition-switcher-free-download-for-direct-convert/

I didn’t use that one, I did by hand last time (and integrated x86 and x64) but a simpler way now exists. Have your ISO ready and patch to a universal x86 or x64 (one ISO for each architecture):
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/11/01/create-windows-7-universal-iso-with-all-editions-selection-on-install-with-ei-cfg-removal-utility/

Hope this clarify about genuity of installer being used. Now back to the issue of setting wallpaper… :)

@Rafa
- Change Background Link: exists even before activation, but can’t be used either.
- Set As Background: Menu item exist only after activation. Can’t try other workarounds (how to de-activate, change serial? I have only one btw…)
- AIO: yes used that (the one I made myself). Still have MSDN original. Will try that later.
- Licensing hacks: Nope. Not required yet. Have all the required DVD and product keys. So I don’t think it’s an issue with hacks.

Does AIO considered as a hack? Let’s say I messed up some other editions files with other editions installation. But for godsake it’s just WIM files.

Anyway thanks for suggestions, my top priority is to reinstall RC first and figure it out, then probably older Betas providing the activation codes are still valid… only this slow PC took longer to install than using newer PCs.. about two hours.

And oh, I tried srg84’s registry method and it works. So just in case I messed up the registry I created another User account and try it there and it works. Actually it doesn’t require the read-only part at all. You just need to logoff and then re-login but thats a pain in the ass.

So to me (for now) all the fuss about Win7SE wallpaper issues are either in the past or some kind of (un)intentional bug…

@Rafael:
That means I *really* have to reinstall, since this copy is already activated. Damn.

Quote: “I’ve reverse engineered the code that checks your license”
My license? How do you get your hands of…

Or do you mean ‘that kind of license’… :)
Well honestly, this one isn’t using any kind of activation hacks, so me too has to ‘reverse engineer’ or.. actually reinstall… heh..

P/S: I wonder about your earlier statement about screen resolution. Seems I don’t have any issue about that one too. Am I downloading from a wrong Microsoft server or… BTW I’m using retail (7600.16385.090713-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD) not OEM so in my knowledge editing ei.cfg is sufficient enough or do I have to redownload the real starter DVD again, what do you think? Forget the AIO DVD of course…

As I said before the solution is prevent deleting this registry key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper”, the discussion is over.

————————————————————————————————————————————
Regedit go to key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper put the path of the image first, then righ click permissions->Put yourself as owner, then unchek the inherit button delete all users, then add the user ‘everyone’ and give read only permissions SOLVED :D

————————————————————————————————————————————

@srg84: that doesn’t help me much can you give more detail…. right click on what? can you give screenshots on your workaround?

of course, right click on “Desktop” See the creenshots :)

http://img40.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=77453902.png

OMG I must’ve done something horribly wrong here :O

@Rafa: You’re right, it’s OEM. My bad I thought it was retail. That was the rest (Home, Pro, Ultimate). I just noticed the product key was OEM.

Probably there’s a mixup with OEM versions awhile back when I’m juggling through different versions of beta and rc DVD images but what the hell… my Win7SE works better.

As I said before, I never thought of having to install the edition but all the PIDs for RTM I got was a Starter and a Ultimate. The rest was for either Beta or RC so, I never installed SE before. (So from which image does exactly this one emerges? Likely I have to find that out.)

That’s why I just stumbled upon this page just a few days ago after figuring out about the wallpaper restriction. Only later did I noticed that Rafa is the boss and the article was more than six months old, and refers to older release, duh ;)

I’ll stop talking now until whether I figured out what actually happened or is that function come from a Windows Update applied or I have reinstall from original dvd or reinstall and compare with older Beta/RC.

That would take some time to accomplish and in the meanwhile I’ll keep checking this page often (or not often).
Wonder if that a simple wallpaper issue would cause someone to reformat and reinstall OS from scratch, would this happen to a lot of people or just some ;)

@srg84: Thank you so much. I have another question though. When when I uncheck the “Include inheritable permissions from the object’s parent” it asks me if I want to “add,” “remove,” or “cancel”…. which one do I pick? Here are some screenshots… and thanks again for your response….

Is this the button I have to uncheck:
http://i33.tinypic.com/2hobds3.png

Then I get this message:
http://i36.tinypic.com/260skr4.png

OMG it worked… I clicked remove… (now I understand why you said “unchek the inherit button delete all users”) then added “Everyone” as read….

Thanks… it is really simple when I look back at it

Please guys, help me! I’m a pretty techy guy but no matter how itry to follow these steps srg has left I can not get it to work! I’m about to return this damn netbook if I can’t fix at least this! If you guys have a blog with any step by steps or anything a little more detailed I would greatly appreciate it! (in fact so would every other win7 netbook user!)

Help!!

Step by Step:

1. Open regedit (aka registry editor; you can access it from the star menu by typing “regedit” in the search box…)
2. Go to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\” folder and click on it
3. On the right hand side find there are a bunch of entries. Find the key named “Wallpaper” and double click on it and put the path of the picture you want as your new wallpaper (example path is “C:\Users\Bob\Pictures\new_wallpaper.jpg”)
4. Right-click on the “Desktop” folder in regedit that you found in step 2 and click Permissions.
5. Click “Advanced”
6. Go to “Owner” tab, highlight your name in the box that says ‘Change owner to’ ( There are only two choices the other is Administrator )… once your user name is highlighted click “OK”
7. Click on “Advanced” again
8. Uncheck the button that reads “Include inheritable permissions from the object’s parent”… click “Remove” when prompted
9. Click “Add”
10. Type “Everyone” and click “OK”
11. Check Allow “Read Control” and click “OK”
12. Click “OK” again
13. Highlight “Everyone” and check to Allow “Read” and click “OK”
14. Restart Computer and enjoy new Wallpaper

@Gabe: Thanks for the more in depth explanation. It makes sense, but I can’t get it to work for some reason. I did it fine on my friend’s laptop, but its not working on my netbook.

Thx Gabe, I couldn’t reply yesterday.

Thanks srg84 and Gabe!
It worked perfectly, greetings form Chile!

It works for the first time, =]

but when I want to change the path for wallpaper, it fails!

I am worried about this, help~

@Kin:

So I thought the same thing as well, but basically what the steps have done is remove the ability to do anything but “Read” that piece of info. That means modifying that piece of info is not possible as well… unless you change those permissions. So….

If you want to change the wallpaper again ****after you have gone through the steps above once*** just do the following:

1. Open regedit
2. Go to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\” folder and RIGHT-CLICK on it, and go to “Permissions” (just like step 4 above)
3. Check the box to Allow “Full Control” and click OK
4. Now you can go to “Wallpaper” on the right hand side and change the path to the wallpaper you really wanted
5. Right-Click “Desktop” folder again and go to “Permissions”
6. UN-CHECK the box that says Allow “Full Control” and click OK
7. Go to Start Menu, Log Off —-> Log On again… and you should have a new wallpaper again

Hi,
Well firstly thank you for your indepth explaination, I followed it carefully but I now have a black screen and no wallpaper at all, do you have the steps to turn it back to the standard walpaper even, because I have attempted these steps to change it to my own walpaper a few times now and had no look, maybey because Im using a netbook?. And when I was changing it in the fisrt place I didnt take note of orignal walpaper registry link?
Cheers
Dee

Yea, sure… Windows 7 Starter Edition is only for emerging markets, like Americans ordering mini laptops from Dell…. Even if it were just for emerging markets, the markets aren’t going to emerge very quickly if Microsoft keeps pullling idiotic nonsense like this. I think I’d still be pissed/annoyed even if I did live in Sri Lanka.

The default entry in the wallpaper key is:

%windir%\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg

I’m surprised that this has been so locked down that not even the OEMs are going to the effort of setting their desktops for a market that likely would accept that as predictable. I have a netbook that I picked up for troubleshooting wifi and as something for transporting files, This is a lot handier than running around with my big laptop which charges through its battery far faster. I also plan to set this up to dual boot into Linux, but I’m getting the impression that this is not likely going to put the Windows side to much use.

And to think, how many times did I edit win.ini on Windows 3.1 to set up a new background on a box with a grand 4 MB of RAM? Locking down the wallpaper is definitely not going to impact the performance on a netbook, as Microsoft would have locked a single colour background rather than a graphic if that was the case.

Thanks gabe :)

thanks a lot for that information, it really helped me to change that stupid wallpaper. was a question of principle for me actually))I’m soo happy now after I’ve done that. I think you r the ones who have that information…Thankies))

Thanks a lot… this works like a charm.

Gabe’s idea is good, but this will prevent any other settings at the “Desktop” key from being changed.

I have written a little tool which can change the wallpaper without permanently locking that key, and it will also restore your new wallpaper if it gets somehow reset to default: http://cherrytree.at/wpchanger

srg84 and Gabe: i followed your instructions to the letter; however, after restarting and logging on all i got was a black screen although i can still see the arrow key. my netbook is a samsung N130. does anybody hav any ideas how to fix this?

Deirdre i know how you feel…

Cherry: Your program works great. Simple.

YellowLizard: I have a Samsung N130 too.

thanks Cherry! Works great and easy to use.

Thnx cherry great app… the best ever … keep up the good work …
THNX a lot !!

Somehow this altered method isn’t functioning on my asus netbook either, must still be something holding it in check. Sigh. I still can’t believe what they were thinking disabling something so basic, morons.

OH SHIT. I didn’t realize it was that illegal. I removed the download, but the tool has spread extremely fast, so I am very afraid what Microsoft could do now!!!

Same with mr yellowlizard … how to fix this ? I use Asus eeepc… help please

I have a NetBook as a second computer and it has Windows7 Starter. I honestly need it for internet and that’s about it. I could care less about the background. It’s not a bad OS. Anyone who says it sucks has never used it!!!

[...] développeurs sont même allé jusqu’à insérer une signature dans l’image qu’ils utilisent afin qu’on ne puisse pas la remplacer [...]

What sucks here is not the OS. It is the rather obvious ploy to get users to upgrade. I’ve noticed that M$ has lowered the price of this OS across the board (vs Vista), in hopes that this marketing strategy (crippling features to drive upgrades) when coupled with lower prices will drive sales. The problem is, there’s nothing cheaper than free. There are very few users who buy the OS directly. Most pay for the OS OEM with their machines, the rest “know a guy” with an enterprise copy or a hacked copy. This is exactly what I’ll be doing, if I bother to install windows at all on the netbook I just bought with windows 7 starter. Basically it isn’t as much the software as the “principal”. And frankly, M$ is just calling us dumb by saying that disabling “themes” makes the OS run better. I used to run Stardock themes on top of XP running on a 1.8 single core P4 with 512MB of RAM so even the opacity argument wouldn’t hold water when running on a duo-core 1.6 Atom with 1+GB of RAM. I love the concept of a netbook, the technology is possible to make great ultra-portable computers, but the hardware and software manufacturers would rather we buy the premium products and limit these machines for fear that they will hurt their sales of higher end products. Like the American car companies who limited production and quality of more efficient compact cars and station wagons to force consumers to buy minivans and SUVs. Didn’t work out so well for them or the American people. Will Windows 7 Starter cause us to have to bail out M$? No. Is the business model behind ignoring real demand to artificially create the demand you want a viable one long term? No. So the next question is how far off is a M$ bailout really?

Yes, I can change the wallpaper. Thanks!

i just bought my netbook, and try hardest to change my wallpaper..but,not working..now i can put my photo as my wallpaper..thanks a lot….

Cherry: You have removed it from your website. Can you please send it to me: tsaktuo@tvnet.lv

Thanks!

@Cherry can pleas send it to me alington1@gmail.com

Damn you Gates!!! I’m a XP user, thank God, but I bought a laptop with starter for my mum, and ai tried do change the wallpaper, as she asked. then I tought “I’m stupid, why can’t I change the wallpaper? it’s not possible!! then I came and red this articles!!! WHAT?? stupid limitation. I tried Stardock and no results to! any other ways? thanks.

i wont to know why i cnt i put a desktop picture of my children on my laptop using windows 7 starter this is a crap version i much rather have windows xp again

(*&^ – I just bought my wife an HP netbook for Christmas – $349 and I can changle the bloody wallpaper.

THIS SUX !

Hi…. if wpchanger is still available from anyone, please email to john.allinson (at) hotmail.com

Thanks….. this will get me out of trouble with my wife’s new netbook that I bought for Christmas ….

John A.

@Cherry please send your great work to me abepantyhose@yahoo.com.sg

Will someone please forward me this program at chadalan7@gmail.com

Well, I got a netbook for the holidays, and i was pretty happy about it. But later on I found out that I coudnt even change the background. I mean ill be pretty upset about it for a couple of hours, but thats pretty much it. I love changing the background pic, it represents my personality very much…

hahahaha this sucks! but its not my moms fault that her fifteen year old. . . me . . . would have know not to buy this stupid windows starter but i have to give it to her to buy me a notebook. ehhhh who even looks at the background like ohh im going to stare at this and hate it. wow. dont mess with it either. just go back and switch over thats what im going to do. plus my mom likes to but my love so she wont care. :)

The screen has all blacked out for me :S :P I cant even get into regedit anymore :S

please send program to skoboten@yahoo.com thx.

I am having the same big problem as yellowlizard, abiza, and Damn.

I followed Gabe’s instructions step-by-step. When I reset the computer, and it loaded up, after the log on screen all I get is a completely black screen except for the cursor. Ctrl+Alt+del can get me into task manager, but that’s it. The computer is basically a paper weight now because I have no idea how to get back into windows where I can actually see anything, or reverse the steps in Gabe’s instructions.

Can anyone help us here? I’ve got a brand new MSI Wind U123 paperweight…

Update 1:

actually, after the first time, i wasn’t able to get back into Task Manager for some reason. The option was there, but nothing happened when I clicked it.

I tried to enter safe mode, and that did the exact same thing with black screen except for the cursor.

However, I was able to reset, press F8 on system loading, and select an option to repair my computer. I picked windows restore and it restored to before I did the regedit. Now I have a working computer again. (yay)
But… a black wallpaper that I’d like to change, but I’m afraid of it happening again.

Update 2:

Well I found a solution that I like. I came across a very light program (doesn’t even install, just run the single file everytime you want to change wallpaper to a new one). It’s called Starter Wallpaper Changer.

It’s much lighter than installing Stardock MyColors and it doesn’t force a theme on you either. Couldn’t be any easier to use.
I was cautious running an exe file, but I did a virus scan before running and it came up clean. It worked and I’m not having any problems.

I went back into the registry to see if the program did what Gabe had posted, and basically it did the all same things, but without blowing up my computer. The desktop folder in the registry is set to “everyone” and with read access. The wallpaper registry key is set to the file extension of the wallpaper. While I’m pretty sure I followed the steps exactly, maybe I did something slightly wrong the first time, and the consequences were big. Luckily the system restore worked, but I recommend this program.

I’m not sure if it’s legal or not to be posting the link, or using the program, so I made a second post for it.
Here is the link that I found to the Starter Wallpaper Changer:

http://www.mediafire.com/?rgn2ymnmwdw

If the forum moderator doesn’t want the link posted, then you can just delete this post.

I was psyched to find this website because i thought my brand new laptop was broken since i was unable to change the wallpaper. I tried the Starter Wallpaper Changer and all i got was the black screen. It tells me to log off in order for the screen to work and then fails. I’m thinking that i’m doing it wrong, can someone give me step by step directions maybe. Sorry for the inconvenience.

thanks for the instructions!!! i followed em and now i can change the wallpaper lol
im gonna download the wallpaper changer and i hope it will work, if not i know now how to
thanks guys!!!

Hello,

Just for the sake of it, i thought i’d explain my position. Last week (well abit more than a week now but who gives a shit) i bought a Toshiba netbook for 500 after cashback ( I better get my fuking cash back i’m still waiting for it). Anyway, the situation arises like this. My second day into Windows 7 starter, i’m already fuking hating every single thing about it.
It gets worse.
On my third day, ( it was a dark and stormy day) i took a big runny shit due to drinking few too many beers the night before and sat on my chair. I turned my Netbook on, waited for it to load impatiently whilst blaming the loading time on Windows 7 when it struck. Soon as i pressed right click, BANNGGGGGG.

How the FUK do i change my wallpaper?

FINEE i said, i’ll go to the fuking image i want and go to set as Background or whatever the FUK IT WAS BACK IN THE GOOD OLD FUKING DAYS.

BANNGGGG NOOOOO, WHERE THE FUK IS IT? I’m starting to panick.

Thats all i can remember but let me just say the most important thing.

I am absolutely flabbergasted. I cannot believe ( even after getting pocession of the Starter Wallpaper Changer) that the user does not have the ‘privilege’??? to change his own WALLPAPER? WHOEVER MADE THIS FUKING DECISION DESERVES TO GET A HORSES COCK STUCK SO FUKINGMOTHERFUKING FAR UP HIS OR HER ASSHOLE THAT THEY’LL BLEED TO DEATH SLOWLY WHILE SOMEBODY ELSE JUST WATCHES AND HOPEFULLY GETS BORED AND PUTS A FUKING BULLET INBETWEEN THEIR FUKING EYES SO THEY CAN NEVER MAKE SUCH A FUKING MORONIC AND INDESCRIBABLY FUKING DUMB DECISION IN THEIR MEANINGLESS FUKING EXISTENCE. IMAGINE WHAT THEIR FUKING CHILDREN MUST THINK ABOUT HAVING PARENTS WHO MADE THE DECISION TO RELEASE A FUKING VERSION OF WINDOWS THAT DOESN’T ALLOW ONE TO CHANGE THE FUKING WALLPAPER!!!!!!!????? ROFLLL..LOLLL.. I LITERALLY CANNOT FUKING BELIEVE IT. THIS IS SUPPOSE TO BE A COMPUTER???? ROFLLL. I SWEAR TO FUKING GOD, WHAT THE FUK HAS THIS WORLD COME TO. I NEVER THOUGHT I’D LIVE TO THE DAY THAT TO CHANGE MY WALLPAPER WOULD BECOME SOME SORT OF A PRIVILEGE IN ANY FORM OF COMPUTER OR DEVICE.
FUKINGG DOGS… FUKING RATS… I WOULDN’T EVEN WASTE MY SPIT ON THEIR DOG FACES. FUKING MAGGOTS.

THEY ARE THE MAGGOTS THAT LIVE ON A DEAD RAT IN THE SEWERAGE. NOT THE GUTTER, BUT THE SEWERAGE.
HOPEFULLY, IF THERE IS A GOD OUT THERE, JUST ONE OF PIECES OF MY SHIT WILL JUST FALL ON THEM. HOPEFULLY IN ONE OF THERE EYES. FUKING MAGGOTS.
AND AS FOR WINDOWS 7.
WHAT A SHAME FOR WINDOWS. BITTER TASTE, STILL I’D RATHER LEAVE IT IN MY MOUTH THAN SPIT ON THEM WHILE SOMEBODY BURNS THEM ALIVE.
THEN I’LL SPIT IT OUT ON THERE DEAD BURNT BODIES BUT ONLY AFTER THEY BECOME CHARCOAL JUST INCASE THE’RE SOULS FEEL SOME KIND OF RELIEF. PIECES OF SHIT.

and as for the Windows Wallpaper Changer, my thanks and appreciation for the effort. To everyone who found the link, shared the link and made the program. Also for the forum who gave me the opportunity to show my dissatisfaction.

Ive recently bought a netbook for the simple use of going on the net. Its a good little netbook which has Windows 7 starter on it and It does the job, so cant really complain about the basic ability it seems to have.

But i agree, Microsoft taking away the customers ability to change their own wallpaper does seem a touch silly and petty if you ask me. I even took the time out to ring the technical support as i thought it was broken and thats when i was told you CAN NOT change it on Windows 7 starter.

Now i dont have the beta fish, thank god!! i just have a blue wallpaper with the windows logo which i think looks better than the fish! also somewhat less depressing! Bus i really can not understand why Microsof have done this.

I can live without changing my wallpaper as i now use the pictures i want in my screen saver almost like a slide show instead but thats not the point the option should be there as so many people do it.

Bad move Windows, my next laptop will be a Mac i think!!

Hello I used the link that help us please posted for the wallpaper change and i was stoked but now three days later i have just gotten the blue screen of death! are you kidding me I would have lived with the wallpaper if i wouldve known id get that.. ok so im not that computer smart and i guess i wa a little naive for thinking that it wasnt gonna mess my system up but now i dont want it i tried to put in the address for the default picture and i cant get it back if i delete the application that was downladed will it just go back to normal?? please help..lol

Just got an HP100 Mini with Windows 7 starter. Can’t file share or stream to my home wireless networked XP computers, can’t change the desktop background. HUH?.
Downloaded Linux Ubuntu 9.04 and installed. WOW. Fully functional, easy to use, no arbitrary functional limitations and it FREE, so I don’t have to give MS any more of my hard earned money to upgrade from a crippled OS.

Thanks srg84 and Gabe!
It worked perfectly, and I get to change the wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter Edition.
Anyone can do that! Just find Gabe messages posted at November 15, 2009 at 4:20 am and November 26, 2009 at 2:33 am.

thank gabe and srg

works a treat and it is nice to not have to look at that abysmal background.

to all having problames where just a black screen appears after the edit:
make sure you add the file extension (e.g. ‘.jpg’) after the image name.
so for a jpeg image called cool1, make sure you type ‘\cool1.jpg’ not just ‘\cool1′

it took me the best part of half an hour and about seven tries to figure this out :D

Is Wisconsin a emerging country? I just bought my Acer netbook at a local Walmart! Stupid americans…

T_T.. just got a new netbook.. I never thought it would be in starter pack.. T_T

I have just purchased a sony netbook today and all that advertising said was windows 7 , It has 7 starter and a pale blue screen with windows logo in white .And no Great Britain is not a emerging nation either !

Hi all,
I have just purchased Asus Eee PC Seashell 1005PE. This one is also equipped with the Windows 7 Starter, however, there is an application called Eee Docking, which allows you to change the background image (Eee Docking > Eee Tools > System Setting > Background Image).

Gabe
I have a netbook and want to follow your instructions. do you mean I just type over the location of the wall paper I want in place of the wallpaper “key”? I am not tech inclined and afraid of doing something wrong. It is a new netbook and I wished I was told about the desktop. I guess having the picture slideshow or screensaver is out of the question..

Mabel
Yes click on to existing wallpaper path should light up blue then back space delete and add new path. New path must be 100 per cent spot on or you will get black screen. It took me 5 attempts due to missing out a forward slash. You can get exact path by clicking on photo thumnail to use, then right click,properties then securities it will be written near to top. Dont forget JPG on end.
You will have to have an Administrator account type to perform the op.

Windows 7 Starter has a host of problems — this desktop limitation is just one of them. There are some applications that might be important to yoou (e.g., Kodak Easyshare software) that you simply cannot run with it. Clearly, it is another idiotic, inferior product from our friends at MS; expect a wonderful series of Justin Long commercials making fun of it.