Windows 7: How to override wallpapers on specified dates?

Thorvan · 15 Oct 2009

I want my desktop wallpaper to change automatically on specific dates (say, my wife’s birthday or New Year’s eve). How do I do that? I have searched Google extensively and tried dozens of wallpaper managers and desktop calendars, but oddly enough I have found nothing that offers the simple functionality I want.

To clarify, let me state what I am NOT looking for:
• I am NOT looking for a sequencer that merely rotates wallpapers at pre-set time intervals.
• I am NOT looking for a sequencer that merely changes wallpapers at certain times of the day (morning/afternoon/evening). There’s a Microsoft program that does just that (it’s just called “Wallpapers”) but this is NOT what I need.
• I am NOT looking for a desktop tool that merely adds a calendar to my desktop.
Instead, I want my desktop background to function as sort of a reminder or alarm: when a specified time and date comes (say, Christmas) display the appropriate wallpaper (say, Santa) for a specified time interval.

There is a Microsoft program for Windows XP, called PowerToy Wallpaper Changer, that offers something like the option I want: it’s a checkbox called “override wallpaper on special days” (you can't chose the time of day, though). Unfortunately, this program does not work on Windows 7 (The PowerToy stores the wallpaper file, toyhide.bmp, in the Windows\System32 folder, rather than saving the file on a per-user basis. For same reason, Windows 7 does not allow the PowerToy to create or delete the Toyhide.bmp file, so it gives the error messages CreateFile, WriteFile and CloseHandle. I have attempted various solutions, like having the Wallpaper Changers run automatically on start up with administrator rights, but nothing has worked so far).

So my questions are:
1) Is there a there a way of making the Microsoft PowerToy Wallpaper Changer work correctly on Windows 7?
2) Failing, that, is there a third-party application that offers the PowerToy’s functionality of “overriding wallpaper at special days”?

Thank you,

Thor

infomouse · 06 Mar 2010

sorry for digging this thread up, but i was wondering if anyone ever found a way to make this happen?

if not, can anyone recommend a background switcher that is actually random (the default windows 7 one seems to repeat quite a bit before going through them all)

DocBrown · 06 Mar 2010

[QUOTE=infomouse;610084]sorry for digging this thread up, but i was wondering if anyone ever found a way to make this happen?

if not, can anyone recommend a background switcher that is actually random (the default windows 7 one seems to repeat quite a bit before going through them all)[/QUOTE]

Do you have Shuffle turned OFF ?

infomouse · 06 Mar 2010

k yeah now i understand the problem... lol
shuffle is off now

any ideas on how to implement the wallpaper override?

Windows 7: How to override wallpapers on specified dates?

How to override wallpapers on specified dates? problems?