[Guide] Remove XP's wallpapers!


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Windows XP by default contains random .bmps in your Windows folder and low-resolution wallpapers in the wallpaper folder. I never use any of these, so why not rid of them?

I made a batch file that quickly deletes all of these.

This is meant for XP only. I tested it on Windows XP Home, Pro, and MCE (English-language versions only with SP3).

Disclaimer: Not responsible for damage, misuse, or whatever else may occur from using any of this. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

There's 2 methods:

a) Make a batch yourself (for those that have the knowledge)

or

b) Download the batch.

Method a:

Paste the code into a text file. Rename from .txt to .bat and run.


@ECHO OFF
ECHO This will delete the wallpapers included in Windows XP.
PAUSE
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Blue Lace 16.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Coffee Bean.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\FeatherTexture.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Gone Fishing.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Greenstone.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Prairie Wind.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Rhododendron.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\River Sumida.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Santa Fe Stucco.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Soap Bubbles.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Zapotec.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Ascent.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Autumn.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Azul.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Bliss.bmp"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Crystal.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Follow.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Friend.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Home.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Moon flower.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Peace.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Power.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Purple flower.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Radiance.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Red moon desert.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Ripple.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Stonehenge.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Tulips.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Vortec space.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Wind.jpg"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper\Windows XP.jpg"
[/CODE]

Method b:

- Link to already made batch file: http://www.mediafire...mruzuynmh8br656 (less than 1kb).[/size]

or

- download below if you're logged in.

[size=4]Notes:[/size]

[size=4]- The batch assumes your Windows installation is C:\Windows.[/size]

[size=4]- The normal wallpaper directory is C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper. You can place wallpapers in there if you want.[/size]

[size=4]- Media Center Edition comes with a few extra wallpapers that are not deleted.[/size]

[size=4]- Non-english versions of XP may contain other/extra wallpapers.[/size]

[size=4]- Feel free to post your thanks and/or problems!

Lastly: I know XP is old. I don't care. Comments such as "WHY NOT JUST UPGRADE" are NOT wanted and are annoying.[/size]

Delete XP Wallpapers.zip

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Two little points:

1. unless you are REALLY hurting for space, removing those won't help much. It will only save you about 6MB.

2. Your batch file could be far shorter by simply using the following commands:

DEL c:\windows\*.bmp
DEL c:\windows\web\wallpaper\*.jpg

It would achieve the same result.

Two little points:

1. unless you are REALLY hurting for space, removing those won't help much. It will only save you about 6MB.

2. Your batch file could be far shorter by simply using the following commands:

DEL c:\windows\*.bmp
DEL c:\windows\web\wallpaper\*.jpg

It would achieve the same result.

1) Ugh, bet it's not about space! I guess he's after de-cluttering the badly sorted wallpaper picker in XP :/

2) I beg to differ: I often save my wallpapers in the pre-defined wallpaper directory of my OS. Your suggestion would remove all *.jpg-based walls I put in there, too.

Glassed Silver:mac

  • Like 1

1) Ugh, bet it's not about space! I guess he's after de-cluttering the badly sorted wallpaper picker in XP :/

2) I beg to differ: I often save my wallpapers in the pre-defined wallpaper directory of my OS. Your suggestion would remove all *.jpg-based walls I put in there, too.

Glassed Silver:mac

Good points. I really don't know many people who put their wallpaper there though. Most people I know would simply store them in My Documents or My Pictures. As for point #1, I guess some people are just a little more OCD about that than I am.

Do people even use XP these days?

The current usage is still over 30%.

This is like telling us how to clean our Ford Model-T's. :shiftyninja:

Soldiers33 + Dot Matrix = reading comprehension fail.

Lastly: I know XP is old. I don't care. Comments such as "WHY NOT JUST UPGRADE" are NOT wanted and are annoying.

Whenever I used to do a clean install of XP when building a computer for a customer (many moons ago now), one of the things I used to do was remove all of the wallpapers and tiles, apart from the 'Windows XP' one.

Dunno why.

  • 6 months later...
  • 1 month later...

You really should use 'del %systemroot%\... , because one does not necessarily install windows in c:\windows. My present installs are i:\fensterh (home), and i:\fensterp (pro).

It pulls some wallpapers from allusers\personal\pictures or something. That's where 'blue hills.jpg' lives, for example.

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