Log On Screen - Change

How to Change Log On Screen Background in Windows 7​

   Information

This will show you how to change the default Windows 7 log on screen background to a custom image of your choice. The log on screen consists of the Welcome, Ctrl+Alt+Del, Shutdown, Lock Computer, Switch User, Log On, and Log Off screens.

   Tip

If you need or want the default Windows 7 log on screen background image, then you can click on the Download button below to get it. It is normally located at C:\Windows\System32\oobe\background.bmp by default in Windows 7. While this is the looks like the log on screen background image, it is not the location to change the log on screen background image of.
Download

   Warning

The custom image that you use must be a .jpg image less than 256 KB in size, or this will not work.

EXAMPLE: Default Log On and Ctrl+Alt+Del screens







EXAMPLE: Custom Log On and Ctrl+Alt+Del screens

OPTION ONE

Using the "Windows 7 Logon Background Changer" Program

NOTE: This will let you easily change the default Windows 7 log on screen automatically with a stand-alone exe program called by our member Julien (aka: link8583). You can use OPTION FOUR below to restore the default Windows 7 log on screen, or just select the image using this program.1. If you have not already, download the latest version of Windows 7 Logon Background Changer.

2. Extract (drag and drop) the Win7LogonBackgroundChanger folder to your desktop, and run the Win7LogonBackgroundChanger.exe file in it.
NOTE: This is only a standalone EXE file, and does not install on your computer.

3. Click on Run in the Open File - Security Warning dialog box.

   Tip

If you click on the Settings button, you could click on the Prevent other users from changing the background option to prevent standard users from being able to run this program to change the log on screen until the next time you change it. This option will give them a UAC prompt for them to have to type in an administrator's password before being able to run the program.

4. Click on the Choose a folder button at the top. (see screenshot below)

5. Navigate to and select the folder that contains the image you want to use for your log on screen background, and click on OK. (see screenshot below)

6. Select the image you want to use in the bottom row to have it displayed in the main window of the program, then click on the Apply button at the top. (see screenshot below step 4)
NOTE: You can click on the arrows boxed in red below to scroll through the available images. If you select an image that is over 256KB in size, it will automatically be reduced in size to be below 256KB.

7. If prompted, click on Yes to apply. (see screenshot below)

A) If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

8. When it's finished, your log on screen has now been changed. You can press Ctrl+Alt+Del to test it. Click on Cancel to return to the desktop.

9. When finished, you can close the Windows 7 Logon Background Changer program.
WARNING: It is important to wait until the program has completely finished creating the images and applying the background before closing the program or testing it.

10. Depending on how light or dark your background image is, you may want to change the log on screen text shadow to make it look better as well.

OPTION TWO

Using the "Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7" Program

NOTE: This will let you easily change and restore the default Windows 7 log on screen automatically with another stand-alone exe program. 1. If you have not already, download the latest version of the Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7 program, and save it to your desktop.

2. Open the downloaded tweakslogon.zip file, extract (drag and drop) the TweaksLogon.exe file to your desktop, and run the program.

3. Click on Run in the Open File - Security Warning dialog box.

4. To Change the Log On Screen in Windows 7A) Click on the Change Logon Screen button. (see screenshot below)

B) Navigate to and select the JPG image that you want to have as the new log on screen background, then click on Open. (see screenshot below)

   Note

If the selected image is to large, then click on OK after clicking on Open to have it automatically resized for you.

C) Go to step 6.

5. To Restore the Default Log On Screen in Windows 7
NOTE: I find that this step doesn't work to well in this program. If you find the same, then you can use OPTION FOUR below to restore the default Windows 7 log on screen. A) Click on the Restore to Default Logon Screen button. (see screenshot below)


6. Click on OK. The log on screen has now been changed. (see screenshot below)

7. If you would like, click on the Test button to see how the new logon screen looks in case you change your mind and wish to change it again.
NOTE: This will take you to the Lock screen. You can log on again to your user account to be right back where you were without anything being closed.

8. When finished, close the program.

OPTION THREE

To Manually Change the Log On Screen in Windows 7

NOTE: This was discovered by Rafael Rivera at Within Windows. You should also visit his website for more detailed information on this.1. Unhide file type extensions.

2. Click on the Download button to download the file below.Use_Custom_Log_On_Screen.reg



Download



3. Save the .reg file to the desktop.

4. Right click on the extracted .reg file and click on Merge.

5. Click on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK when prompted.

6. Save the custom .jpg image you want to use to the desktop with the name backgroundDefault.jpg.
WARNING: The custom image that you use must be a .jpg image less than 256 KB in size, or this will not work.

7. Check to see what your primary display screen resolution is. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, mine is 1920 x 1280.

8. Open Paint, and click on the File icon (top left corner), Open, and navigate to and select the .jpg image from step 6.
NOTE: You can open Paint by typing mspaint.exe in the Start menu search line and pressing enter.

9. In Paint, click on Resize, dot Pixels, uncheck Maintain aspect ratio, then resize the .jpg image to the screen resolution size in step 7. (See screenshot below)

10. In Paint, click on the File icon (top left corner), Save as, then save the new .jpg file to the desktop with the exact file name below with the screen resolution size of the image.
NOTE: For example, since by screen resolution is 1920 x 1280, I will resize the image to this size and save it with the name background1920×1200.jpg.

   Warning

The custom image that you use must be a .jpg image less than 256 KB in size, or this will not work. The backgroundDefault.jpg (step 6) image will be Streched to Fit and used by default if Windows 7 cannot find or use the correct screen resolution image file created in this step. These are the only sizes supported by the log on screen.

• background768×1280.jpg
• background960×1280.jpg
• background900×1440.jpg
• background1024×768.jpg
• background1024×1280.jpg
• background1280×768.jpg
• background1280×960.jpg
• background1280×1024.jpg
• background1360×768.jpg
• background1440×900.jpg
• background1600×1200.jpg
• background1920×1200.jpg

11. When done, close Paint.

12. In Windows Explorer, navigate to
C:\Windows\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds. (See screenshot below step 13)
NOTE: If you do not have any of these folders (ex: info and backgrounds usually), then create a new folder for the missing folder and rename it to the missing folder's name. If you are prompted by UAC when creating and renaming the folders, just click on Yes to approve.

13. Copy and Paste the .jpg files from step 10, and from step 6 into the C:\Windows\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds folder, then close the window. (See screenshot below)

14. You're logon screen is now changed. You can press Ctrl+Alt+Del to test it. Click on Cancel to return to the desktop.
NOTE: You can now delete the .reg and .zip files on the desktop if you like.

15. You can now hide the file extensions again if you like.

16. Depending on how light or dark your background image is, you may want to change the log on screen text shadow to make it look better as well.

OPTION FOUR

To Restore the Default Log On Screen

NOTE: This will restore the default Windows 7 log on screen if it was changed from either OPTION ONE, OPTION TWO, or OPTION THREE above.1. Click on the Download button to download the file below.Use_Default_Log_On_Screen.reg


Download



2. Save, and the .reg file to the desktop.

3. Right click on the extracted .reg file and click on Merge.

4. Click on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK when prompted.

5. You're logon screen is now changed back to the default one. You can press Ctrl+Alt+Del to test it. Click on Cancel to return to the desktop.
NOTE: You can now delete the downloaded .reg and .zip files if you like.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Change the Windows 7 Log On Screen Text Shadow
• How to Enable or Disable Secure Logon CTRL+ALT+DELETE in Windows 7
• How to Automatically Log On a User Account at Windows 7 Startup
• How To Change or Remove the Windows 7 Log On Screen Text Branding
• How to Add and Change the "System" OEM Support Information in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable the Windows 7 Log On Screen Saver
• How to Make Windows 7 Require a User Name and Password at Log On
• How to Add or Remove Ease of Access Center from Windows 7 Log On Screen
• How to Change Your User Account Picture in Windows 7
• How to Change the Windows Logo on the System Properties Page
• How to Change the "Welcome" Text Message at Log On in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Fix Windows 7 Logon Screen Showing Only "Other User" and Last Logged On User Icon
• How to Change the Font on the Log On Screen in Windows 7

 

[Dixon Butz]

Also can can you make it remember the last folder used?

 

[myzr7]

if you're talking about my program, then thank you ^^

I'm going to create other apps with that kind of user interface, once I'll be able to make this one run smoothly on low end graphic cards.
Early preview : http://www.julien-manici.com/comingsoon/

Today I tried this Logon background changer on my old sony it has a radeon 9200 card, program worked great. It did all the work that I used to do, build new folders and resizing. It was cool.Many thanks to link8583

Plus if I want a change then thats a snap too.
View attachment 12580

 

[Night Hawk]

It went right on the 64bit RC here and worked like a champ! I'll be giving it a go on the 32bit as well. Great find! No more renaming and overwriting one for another!

 

[link8583]

I think I failed to wait until the process had completed the first time before I signed out to test it.

It was bound to happen ^^ I should have put a progressbar and a warning if the user closes the app before it had the time to create all the jpeg files (5-20 seconds)
This will be fixed soon

I have one suggestion. When I choose a folder (my pictures) it picks everything in there, a lot of which is not good enough. It would be great if one could pick an individual item from that folder.

that would ruin the nice gallery on the top of the window, wouldn't it?

Nevertheless the programme is brilliant, thanks.

thank you too

One feature that is missing is a "Test" button. Could that be added?

I thought the preview was enough...
You mean a fullscreen preview? I'm too lazy to do it ^^

Also can can you make it remember the last folder used?

I can do that! it's just 2 lines of code.

Today I tried this Logon background changer on my old sony it has a radeon 9200 card, program worked great. It did all the work that I used to do, build new folders and resizing. It was cool.Many thanks to link8583

Plus if I want a change then thats a snap too.
View attachment 12580

nice user picture!

Great find! No more renaming and overwriting one for another!

yeah that's the idea behind this application
it's not just eye-candy

 

[garysgold]

Excellent job, Link8583. Couldn't be any easier. Thanks.

and Welcome to Seven Forums.

Gary

 

[Night Hawk]

I guess it's still only a one time application on the 64bit 7 for some reason.

Description:
Stopped working
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: CLR20r3
Problem Signature 01: win7logonbackgroundchanger.exe
Problem Signature 02: 1.0.0.0
Problem Signature 03: 4a1b4f08
Problem Signature 04: PresentationFramework
Problem Signature 05: 3.0.0.0
Problem Signature 06: 49d44a46
Problem Signature 07: 624f
Problem Signature 08: e1
Problem Signature 09: System.Windows.Markup.XamlParse
OS Version: 6.1.7100.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

 

[link8583]

I guess it's still only a one time application on the 64bit 7 for some reason.

Description:
Stopped working
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: CLR20r3
Problem Signature 01: win7logonbackgroundchanger.exe
Problem Signature 02: 1.0.0.0
Problem Signature 03: 4a1b4f08
Problem Signature 04: PresentationFramework
Problem Signature 05: 3.0.0.0
Problem Signature 06: 49d44a46
Problem Signature 07: 624f
Problem Signature 08: e1
Problem Signature 09: System.Windows.Markup.XamlParse
OS Version: 6.1.7100.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

I think you're facing the same problem as someone yesterday in this topic.

the solution was:

can you go to "C:\Windows\System32\oobe\Info\backgrounds"
and tell me:
-if the folder exists
-if there are files inside, how many, and if you can see them all with a picture viewer (or if some of them are corrupted or have a 0 byte size)

a solution could be to delete the backgrounds folder content

the problem comes from a bug in my program that I will fix soon
sorry for the inconvenience

(technical explanation: the first time you run the program, it creates a few 0 octet sized jpg files; if you exit without having chosen a wallpaper or if you closed it before it had time to create backgroundDefault.jpg, the next time you open it, it will try to load the 0 octet sized backgroundDefault.jpg to show you the current logonui wallpaper, and of course, .net will make my program crash because this file is not a well formed jpg file...
it's a really stupid bug that will be solved with one line of code )

 

[Night Hawk]

When first going to use it and not getting anywhere I realized the previous image in that location might be the problem and nuked it. When going back now after seeing it work I found ... :shock: 13 copies with different resolutions of same?!

That confirms it! To see it work again you first have to remove the first that did work out in order to choose the next in line there.

 

[link8583]

When first going to use it and not getting anywhere I realized the previous image in that location might be the problem and nuked it. When going back now after seeing it work I found ... :shock: 13 copies with different resolutions of same?!

there are 13 files because there are 12 resolution specific images, and 1 default image used if your resolution doesn't match any of the 12 resolutions.

these resolution don't have the same ratio, and my program crops your source image accordingly to the ratio.

backgroundDefault.jpg has the same resolution as your primary screen at the moment you used my application ; that's especially usefull if you have a 1280x800 resolution like me, because windows won't try to read an hypothetic a background1280x800.jpg file, it falls back on background1280x1024.jpg instead (that's a bug in Windows 7 RC! it doesn't try to use the closest ratio, which is background1280x768.jpg, however it seems to be a random issue), and then if this file does not exists, it will finally use backgroundDefault.jpg... that's why I did not include background1280x1024.jpg)

it is usefull to have all these files because if you change your resolution (i.e. if you have connected an external monitor to your laptop or a videoprojector, or if you have a tablet pc and rotated the screen), windows can find the resolution matching picture and use it.
Without that, it would scale and distort the backgroundDefault.jpg image if the ratio of the resolution is not the same as the previous one.

 

[Night Hawk]

Actually I run a 1400x900 resolution here. But I figured there was a reason like that for matching things up when each one was different in that regard.

At least we now know that when going to use another image all 13 have to be removed first to avoid seeing that error until you have that part corrected. But that still simplified the process rather then the need to rename the next one to be used each time to overwrite the existing. What's a little effort anyway?!

Besides if you don't give people something to do they'll get bored too fast! :roflmao:

 

[link8583]

I just updated my application to fix the issue discussed earlier (the 0 byte backgroundDefault making the app crash when started)
It now also remembers the last selected folder.
I didn't have time to do more today.

 

[Night Hawk]

Well once you have everything fixed on it we'll have to give a good second lookover!

That would actually have to nuke the existing files already in the background folder as well as remember the source of the images used.

 

[Ex_Brit]

I just updated my application to fix the issue discussed earlier (the 0 byte backgroundDefault making the app crash when started)
It now also remembers the last selected folder.
I didn't have time to do more today.

Thanks for all your efforts. Much appreciated.

 

[Seith]

thanks, i used the program ~ very user friendly and nice.

 

[Elrogos]

Hi, I wonder if anyone could help me, here is my problem:

I tried to change the startup background last night as this guide describes, I didnt use any program but the manual method. Downloaded the .reg file, created the folders, etc... it seemed to work with ctrl+alt+del/switch user (did not try restarting the PC); but this morning I started the computer and it wont let me log on Windows as I could not select any user (I have my account and the guest one activated), the avatar images just didnt show no matter how long I waited, the only thing there was the custom background, the "Windows 7 Ultimate" text and the language select upper left corner (wich seemed inactive as I couldnt click on it either).

I ve been trying to solve it in safe mode; it lets me log in this way (showing custom background and all), finally decided to download the "use default" solution, merged the .reg, deleted the folders I previously created, etc... It will now show the default background, but on normal startup wont show the avatars yet :/.

Im gonna try to use the program to change it, but I would really appreciate if anyone nows whats wrong as I formated yesterday and it would be a pain in the *** to re-install and re-download everything again.

FYI:

Windows 7 RC (7100), spanish version
The image i used was resized to 1920x1080 by me, and made sure it was under 256KB (was ~210KB iirc).

Thanks.

EDIT:

Phew, I made back to regular login, this is what I did:

Noticed that on custom image reg there is this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System]
"UseOEMBackground"=dword:00000001

but on default the key is deleted completely. I manually added it again and set it to 0, the default background appeared and the avatars showed up after 3 seconds.

 

[link8583]

Hello,
I just released the source code of my logon background changer app (I promised that a long time ago!), along with a new release more polished.
Windows 7 Logon Background Changer (Julien-Manici.com)

 

[Brink]

Hello,
I just released the source code of my logon background changer app (I promised that a long time ago!), along with a new release more polished.
Windows 7 Logon Background Changer (Julien-Manici.com)

Program looks even better. Great job.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello,
I just released the source code of my logon background changer app (I promised that a long time ago!), along with a new release more polished.
Windows 7 Logon Background Changer (Julien-Manici.com)

Thanks mate; yours is the the best one I've seen.

 

[Night Hawk]

You should give this one a good Digg reference as well!

 

[green98ls]

this program worked great for me before. I just reinstalled Windows 7 64 bit RTM, same exact version/install as before but without the 100mb sys reserve partition.

Now when I try to run the program it has an error

EDIT - nevermind I figured out the issue, i didn't have .NET framework 3.5.1 installed. remove post if you want