[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

    • It's expensive, but I bet it will still sell out just like the Steam Deck and the Steam Controller
    • This is listed as a preview in WU for me. I usually don't grab them as previews; what's your opinion on it so far?
    • Pale Moon 34.3.1 by Razvan Serea Pale Moon is an Open Source, Goanna-based web browser available for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Android, focusing on efficiency and ease of use. Make sure to get the most out of your browser! Pale Moon offers you a browsing experience in a browser completely built from its own, independently developed source that has been forked off from Firefox/Mozilla code, with carefully selected features and optimizations to improve the browsers speed, resource use, stability and user experience, while offering full customization and a growing collection of extensions and themes to make the browser truly your own. Features: Optimized for modern processors Based on proprietary optimized layout engine (Goanna) Safe: forked from mature Mozilla code and regularly updated Secure: Additional security features and security-aware development Supported by our user community, and fully non-profit Familiar, efficient, fully customizable interface Support for full themes: total freedom over any elements design Support for easily-created lightweight themes (skins) Smooth and speedy page drawing and script processing Increased stability: experience fewer browser crashes Support for many Firefox extensions Support for a growing number of Pale Moon exclusive extensions Extensive and growing support for HTML5 and CSS3 Many customization and configuration options Pale Moon 34.3.1 changelog: Pale Moon will now exclude local resources from CSP checks, aligning it with the rest of CSP handling. Fixed an issue where the devtools JSON viewer would, in some cases, make erroneous requests to remote servers. Updated libpng to 1.6.58+apng. Updated NSS to 3.90.12 (UXP), addressing multiple security issues. Fixed several intermittent and rare crashes. Security issues addressed: CVE-2026-12318 (CWE-125), CVE-2026-12322, CVE-2026-12292 (DiD), and multiple other issues that did not have a CVE designation at the time of patching. Download: Pale Moon (64-bit) | Portable 64-bit | ~40.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Pale Moon (32-bit) | Portable 32-bit Links: Pale Moon Homepage | Add-ons | Themes | Extensions | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Onwards to Windows 12 then lol.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Grand Master
      Jaybonaut went up a rank
      Grand Master
    • One Year In
      Philsl earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • First Post
      Tom Schmidt earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Month Later
      D0nn13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      421
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      177
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      124
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      77
    5. 5
      Xenon
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!