[Guide] Remove XP's wallpapers!


Recommended Posts

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

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1044645-guide-remove-xps-wallpapers/
Share on other sites

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.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Microsoft admits one of the most crucial Outlook features is currently broken by Sayan Sen Microsoft is making some decent progress when it comes to Windows 11. Recently we have confirmed reports of some rather useful improvements landing in the next version of the OS, 26H2, wherein GPU driver TDR crashes may finally be fixed, plus the company is also allowing users to disable web content on the Search. On the Outlook front though things have not been so rosy. Last month in May we reported several problems affecting basic functionalities on the app. These included a problem where documents would open blank or corrupt themselves. Following that, Quick Steps, a very useful feature, would no longer work correctly, and finally, Microsoft acknowledged a problem wherein images would fail to load up properly inside the email. Microsoft had resolved those bugs later and almost exactly a month after we reported on them, the company has now admitted a new similarly basic issue, this time on Macs. Users recently started noticing that Outlook would no longer display email threads properly as the original message itself was not displayed. An affected user Tsoumpas, C (ngmb) nicely described the problem in a forum post they made on Microsoft's site. They wrote: "Description of the issue: After updating Outlook for Mac [Version 16.110 (26061317)] on 18/6/2026, replying to any email no longer includes the original message in the reply window. Prior to the update, replies correctly contained the original email text below my response. Expected behavior: The original message should be included in the reply, as in previous Outlook versions and according to the configured reply settings. Actual behavior: The reply window contains only a blank composition area (or only my response), with none of the original email text included." Obviously this must be a highly frustrating for users as noted by several in that thread. The post, at the time of writing, has also been upvoted by more than 40 users indicating that is a fairly widespread bug. Thankfully Microsoft seems to have acknowledged the problem right around that time as it opened a new issue on its official website. In the support article, the company recommends switching to Outlook for Mac from the legacy app, where the problem appears to be happening.
    • PotPlayer 260622 by Razvan Serea PotPlayer is an extremely light-weight multimedia player for Windows. It feels like the KMPlayer, but is in active development. Supports almost every available video formats out there. PotPlayer contains internal codecs and there is no need to install codecs manually. Other key features include WebCam/Analog/Digital TV devices support, gapless video playback, DXVA, live broadcasting. Distinctive features of the player is a high quality playback, support for all modern video and audio formats and a built DXVA video codecs. A wide range of subtitles are supported and you are also able to capture audio, video, and screenshots. A comprehensive video and audio player, that also supports TV channels, subtitles and skins. Its been described on the Internet as The KMPlayer redux, and it pretty much is. Daum PotPlayer 260622 (1.7.22963) changelog: Removed Kakao TV Added pause function when navigating via the navigation bar Significantly improved internal stability Fixed an issue where colors appeared strange during RGB24 processing Improved playback for some HTTP streams Improved sync processing for the built-in audio renderer Fixed an issue where certain MP4 files behaved abnormally during playback Download: Daum PotPlayer (64-bit) | 54.7 MB (Freeware) Download: Daum PotPlayer (32-bit) | 61.1 MB View: Daum PotPlayer Home Page | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Tixati 3.44 is out.
    • Speccy 1.34.084 by Razvan Serea Speccy will give you detailed statistics on every piece of hardware in your computer. Including CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Graphics Cards, Hard Disks, Optical Drives, Audio support. Additionally Speccy adds the temperatures of your different components, so you can easily see if there's a problem! Processor brand and model Hard drive size and speed Amount of memory (RAM) Graphics card Operating system At first glance, Speccy may seem like an application for system administrators and power users. It certainly is, but Speccy can also help normal users, in everyday computing life. If you need to add more memory to your system, for example, you can check how many memory slots your computer has and what memory's already installed. Then you can go out and buy the right type of memory to add on or replace what you've already got. Download: Speccy 1.34.084 | 20.5 MB (Freeware) View: Speccy Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • ImgDrive 2.2.7 by Razvan Serea ImgDrive is a CD/DVD/BD emulator - a tool that allows you to mount optical disc images by simply clicking on them in Windows Explorer. If you have downloaded an ISO image and want to use it without burning it to a blank disc, ImgDrive is the easiest way to do it. ImgDrive features: One-click mounting of iso, cue, nrg, mds/mdf, ccd, isz images Runs on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions Mount ape, flac, m4a, wav, wavpack, tta file as AUDIO CD (16-bit/44.1kHz) Mount a folder as DVD/BD Mount images in command line Does not require rebooting after installation Support up to 7 virtual drives at the same time Support multi session disc image (ccd/mds/nrg) A special portable version is available Translated to more than 10 languages Support File Type: .ccd - CloneCD image files .cue - Cue sheets files of ape/flac/m4a/tta/wav/wv/bin .iso - Standard ISO image files .isz - Compressed ISO image files .nrg - Nero image files .mds - Media descriptor image files ImgDrive 2.2.7 changelog: Added command line parameter to set number of drives Added AACS-Auth support for HD DVD Bumped kernel driver version to 2.2.7 Download: ImgDrive 2.2.7 | 692 KB (Freeware, paid upgrade available) Download: ImgDrive Portable 535 KB View: ImgDrive Home Page | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Dedicated
      tuben earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Week One Done
      mnsgroup earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Conversation Starter
      sumytbe earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Year In
      B4dM1k3 earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      DarkWun earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      522
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      199
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      94
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      82
    5. 5
      neufuse
      69
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!