Desktop Slideshow

How to Create a Desktop Slideshow in Windows 7

   Information
This will show you how to create a slideshow of wallpaper images (pictures) on your Windows 7 desktop. You will have the option to select how often the pictures change and to shuffle them.

The default folder that Windows 7 uses to store the pictures in is located at:
C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper.

   Note
The Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic editions do not include the Desktop Slideshow feature.

Lets talk about Windows 7 Starter - Windows 7 Team Blog - The Windows Blog

Instead, you will need to use the tutorial in the link below to have a Desktop Slideshow in the Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic editions.

How to Change the Desktop Background in Windows 7 Starter Edition

   Warning
If you checked the Turn off all unnecceassary animations box in the Ease of Access Center, or uncheck the Animate controls and elements inside windows option in the Visual Effects settings, then this will also remove the fade effect between wallpapers in the desktop slideshow.

You must also be using a Aero theme to be able to use and set the desktop slideshow.





Here's How:
1. Right click on a empty space on the desktop and click on Personalize.

2. Click on the Desktop Background link at the bottom of the window. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: The name in gray under Desktop Background is the current desktop background file name.
Personalize.jpg
3. You will now see this window. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: You may need to scroll down or enlarge the window to see all available options like below.
change-2.jpg

Desktop_Background.jpg

4. Select a Picture Location
A) Click on the drop down arrow menu to select from the list of available picture folder locations, or click on the Browse button to navigate to the picture folder or library location. (see screenshots above)

B) Select the picture folder and click on Select Folder.
5. Select Desktop Background Pictures
A) Select more than one picture by right clicking on an available picture, or clicking on the check box (to check) in the upper left corner of the picture. (see screenshots below and below step 3)
Select_Images.jpg
6. Select the Picture Position
A) Click on the drop down arrow menu, and click on the picture position you want for the desktop background images. (see screenshots below and below step 3)
Options.jpg
7. Select How Often to Change Pictures
A) Click on the drop down arrow menu, and click on how often you want the pictures to change. (see screenshots above and below step 3)
8. To Shuffle the Pictures
A) Check the Shuffle box to shuffle the selected pictures to change in a random order. (see screenshot below step 3 and below step 6)
NOTE: Uncheck the Shuffle box to have the selected pictures change in order.
9. To Pause Slide Show when on Battery Power
A) Check or uncheck the When using battery, pause the slide show to save power box for what you would like. (see left screenshot below step 3)
NOTE: This option is only available if you have a PC that has a battery (ex: laptop), or a destop with a UPS and it's data cable connected.
10. Click on Save changes to apply the changes. (see screenshots below step 3)

11. Close the Personalize window when done. (see screenshots below step 2)

12. Open your Advanced Power Plan Settings. Under Desktop background settings for Slide show, make sure that you have the setting as Available for both "Plugged in" or "On battery" (if available), and click on OK. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: The "On battery" option is the same setting in step 9 above.
Slide_Show.jpgPower_Options-2.jpg
13. You will now have your selected images (step 5) change automatically on your desktop for how often (step 7) you set it to.

   Tip
You can now also right click on your desktop, and click on Next desktop background to change or scroll your desktop background to the next image you had selected (step 5) in the slideshow.

The keyboard shortcut for this is:
Shift+F10 and press N

Next_desktop_background.jpg


That's it,
Shawn








 
Last edited:
At least it's not to much trouble to right click and click on "Next desktop background".

Plus, if you remove the image from the folder, it won't show up anymore.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
At least it's not to much trouble to right click and click on "Next desktop background".

That's not the point. I load files at startup and I wanted the wallpaper to change automatically without my having to do anything.

I ended up taking the easy route and using John's Background Switcher - John’s Background Switcher for Windows | John's Adventures Has great options for multiple monitors.

BTW - if you don't want to do a full-install, you can extract it with universal extractor and run it directly. I ended up turning off "Start Automatically When Starting Windows", and turning on "Always Switch the Background When Starting Up" and launching it from a batch file.

Plus, if you remove the image from the folder, it won't show up anymore.

Sure - if you know the name of the file to delete, which without 3rd-party software requires the registry key you provided above.

Again, thanks for the help!!!
 

My Computer

OS
WinXP SP2
The desktop slideshow should automatically change for you based on what you set in the Change picture every setting.

I thought you just wanted to know how to manually change the image without having to wait for the time set in Change picture every.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
The desktop slideshow should automatically change for you based on what you set in the Change picture every setting.

Yes, it does, except I wanted Change picture every logon. There isn't a way to do that. The best I could do with native Win7 would be to set it for every 2-3 hours and wait for it to change, or manually change it as you said, or figure out how to get the AHK script working. (But that isn't native Win7, although since I use AHK for other things anyway ...)

I thought you just wanted to know how to manually change the image without having to wait for the time set in Change picture every.

Nope, but now your reply makes more sense to me.

Anyway - I'm all squared away now. Thanks again for the assistance!!!
 

My Computer

OS
WinXP SP2
If you like, you could change the Change picture every time to say "1 minute" or what you like to have it change more often.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops
OS
Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
CPU
from 1.6GHz Duo to i7
Monitor(s) Displays
2x HP w2207
Hard Drives
5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals
Keyboard
with trackball - no mices
Mouse
Trackball mice
Internet Speed
DSL 6000
Back
Top