Windows 7 - Desktop Background - Specify and Prevent Change

Hello Aphine, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Where do you have the wallpaper saved at that you are using?

If it was in say one of your administrator's account user folders before, then the other user would not have had permission to access it leaving them a blank wallpaper instead.


Try having it saved in a C:\Users\Public folder instead, and use that path in the tutorial.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks a lot for the prompt and accurate answer! It worked! You were right. I was trying to access with the admin account a directory from the guest.
You have one more fan now.

You're most welcome Aphine. I'm happy to hear that it's working now.

Thanks a lot for this great tutorial.
Will you please combine it with http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/62038-desktop-background-allow-prevent-changing.html ?

Hello Need4steer,

There's no need to since this tutorial also prevents the desktop background from being changed when enabled.

The other tutorial is to just "allow or prevent" changing, while this one is to "specify and prevent". I had only left them separate since one may prefer one over the other, but they can both be used together as well.

I specify the desktop image to be at a network location, it shows, but then is overwritten by the active desktop image, which is still changeable via the right-click set as desktop background.

By itself, the Desktop Wallpaper does NOT prevent the right-click change from taking place. Its the ONLY setting set on the ONLY gpo, on a new win 7 test box.

Hello 1134, and welcome to Seven Forums.

How does it work if the image is saved at a local location, and is done as outlined in the tutorial instead?

Regarding steps for "Specify Default Desktop Background Using Registry Editor"
Would this not only change the background Image for the currently logged in user.

Considering the key you are modifying is "HKEY_CURRENT_USER"

I would think you would have to modify the Default user Hive in c:\users\default\ntuser.dat , and that would only apply the change for new users after the change is made... would not affect currently existing user accounts.

Again I could be wrong.

Hello Lopan, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Option One and Option Two makes changes to the group policy setting in the registry, so it will affect all users (new and existing) on the computer.

That's correct, anything changed in the C:\Users\Default folder is applied to new user accounts when they are created. It will not afffect currently existing accounts.

Hi Brink, I'm afraid I have to follow Lopan. I was trying OPTION 2 by editing the register, but as Lopan mentioned in CURRENT USER you only change it for the user with wich you are currently logged on. This does not work for other users or new users who will log-on in the future.
I tried the same tutorial in LOCAL MACHINE but this does not work either.

I'm applying this on Windows 7 Pro 64bit in our company domain. I saved the wallpaper in "C:\Users\Public\Public Documents" but it keeps showing the default Windows 7 wallpaper. I already changed the wallpaper at log-in screen (which is actually in LOCAL MACHINE) and this works fine.