changing the wallpaper in windows 7 starter

By pyehac
in Tips, Tweaks & Customization

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Grand Master

pyehac

Posted
Posted

Yes, I bought a netbook with Windows 7 starter preinstalled - I had a budget if I wanted a *counts* 4th computer and didn't have enough money to spring for a netbook with '7 Home Premium.

Is there any possible way to change the wallpaper in Windows 7 starter? (all my google-fu has brought up is results saying how starter edition sucks, etc)

(plus, its fun to hack than to buy - and if anything else fails, I'll upgrade to Home Premium.)

Proficient

Madoshi

Posted
Posted

%windir%\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg

that should be the location of the default (and only) wallpaper. from what i read in a Google search, this filename is hardcoded and you cannot change it's path. not sure how accurate that is though.

there is a registry entry:

(1) HKCU\ControlPanel\Desktop\Wallpaper

this one was set to C:\Users\Wolf\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\TranscodedWallpaper.jpg and i changed it to C:\Users\Wolf\Pictures\test.jpg which after a logoff/logon resulted in a black desktop (no pic). i found that changing the wallpaper via "Personalize Desktop" reset it back to what it was. so you might try searching for / fooling around with that filename.

and

(2) HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\General\Wallpaper Source

this one was set to C:\Windows\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg; i tried changing it to C:\Users\Wolf\Pictures\test.jpg with no effective change after a logoff/logon. after changing the wallpaper to one of the ones included with Windows (see above) the value reset to C:\Users\Public\Pictures\Sample Pictures\Hydrangeas.jpg (the one i selected)

i do not know if these will take effect if changed.

my guess would be to try to overwrite that file (img0.jpg) with a Jpeg of the same dimensions. from what i read, you will have to change the permissions on the file to allow yer self to overwrite it.

i searched my Windows 7 partition (i am using Home Premium but this may help anyways) and it seems that img0.jpg is in another location - possibly a backup that gets automatically copied or something. it is in some odd-named folder that seems to be machine-specific, so just open the C: drive and search for img0.jpg.

remember, i do not have access to Starter so what i have said is almost a complete guess. good luck and hope this helps!

Grand Master

M_Lyons10

Posted
Posted
cool..

hey did they still have that 3 app limit in starter

and what netbook did you get?? please do tell

I was pretty sure that Microsoft announced that they were dropping the 3 app limit... Might be wrong...

I had really hoped they would drop the wallpaper limit. It didn't make sense to me...

Grand Master

pyehac

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I had really hoped they would drop the wallpaper limit. It didn't make sense to me...

Yeah. I guess they wanted to extort money from people who wants the basic features on netbooks.

I got the Gateway LT2030U netbook - yes, it has the same features as the others, but the Eee netbook my local best buy had was 'their version' (specifically the 1005HAB- no bluetooth :( ). Yes, I know I could have bought online since I knew 10.1" netbooks has the keyboard space I require, but I need the netbook tomorrow for note taking (I did a few test rounds, and I can still type at about 50wpm with no errors).

And so far, Aero runs fine, but I kind of missed Aero peek.

Mentor

GreenMartian

Posted
Posted
%windir%\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg

All your information was correct, only missing a slight detail. Microsoft also hardcoded the hash of the original img0.jpg in shell32.dll and will blank out your desktop if the hashes don't match.

There were talks about hacking the stored hash, but I've never seen it done successfully.

Proficient

Madoshi

Posted
Posted
Yeah. What's the point of this really?

money ;)

i see this as: do one of those Windows Anytime upgrades and gain the ability to have a desktop wallpaper, else buy a new computer or a new copy of Windows 7. MS wins in any event.

EDIT: so why not grab a shell32.dll from Home Edition?

Mentor

GreenMartian

Posted
Posted
EDIT: so why not grab a shell32.dll from Home Edition?

Again, I don't know. A lot of talk of doing that (replacing the whole dll from another edition / overwriting the hardcoded hash), but I've never seen a successful attempt on the net. I just assumed it wasn't possible...

What hash algorithm does shell32 use?

SHA-256.

Collaborator

StarLion

Posted
Posted

Little bit of information from Within Windows

Microsoft was cute enough to embed code within shell32.dll that check if the seal has been tampered. More technically speaking, Windows generates a SHA-256 hash based on the image's contents and compares it to a hard-coded hash

Full post: http://www.withinwindows.com/2009/03/31/co...than-i-thought/

Community Regular

sweetleaf

Posted
Posted

Step by Step:

1. Open regedit (aka registry editor; you can access it from the star menu by typing ?regedit? in the search box?)

2. Go to ?HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\? folder and click on it

3. On the right hand side find there are a bunch of entries. Find the key named ?Wallpaper? and double click on it and put the path of the picture you want as your new wallpaper (example path is ?C:\Users\Bob\Pictures\new_wallpaper.jpg?)

4. Right-click on the ?Desktop? folder in regedit that you found in step 2 and click Permissions.

5. Click ?Advanced?

6. Go to ?Owner? tab, highlight your name in the box that says ?Change owner to? ( There are only two choices the other is Administrator )? once your user name is highlighted click ?OK?

7. Click on ?Advanced? again

8. Uncheck the button that reads ?Include inheritable permissions from the object?s parent?? click ?Remove? when prompted

9. Click ?Add?

10. Type ?Everyone? and click ?OK?

11. Check Allow ?Read Control? and click ?OK?

12. Click ?OK? again

13. Highlight ?Everyone? and check to Allow ?Read? and click ?OK?

14. Restart Computer and enjoy new Wallpaper

  • 1 month later...
Neowinian

elladan

Posted
Posted
Step by Step:

1. Open regedit (aka registry editor; you can access it from the star menu by typing ?regedit? in the search box?)

2. Go to ?HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\? folder and click on it

3. On the right hand side find there are a bunch of entries. Find the key named ?Wallpaper? and double click on it and put the path of the picture you want as your new wallpaper (example path is ?C:\Users\Bob\Pictures\new_wallpaper.jpg?)

4. Right-click on the ?Desktop? folder in regedit that you found in step 2 and click Permissions.

5. Click ?Advanced?

6. Go to ?Owner? tab, highlight your name in the box that says ?Change owner to? ( There are only two choices the other is Administrator )? once your user name is highlighted click ?OK?

7. Click on ?Advanced? again

8. Uncheck the button that reads ?Include inheritable permissions from the object?s parent?? click ?Remove? when prompted

9. Click ?Add?

10. Type ?Everyone? and click ?OK?

11. Check Allow ?Read Control? and click ?OK?

12. Click ?OK? again

13. Highlight ?Everyone? and check to Allow ?Read? and click ?OK?

14. Restart Computer and enjoy new Wallpaper

Thanks a million, it worked perfectly.

BUT I can't change the new wallpaper again... why? When I try to modify the picture from step 3, it says "Error Editing Value. Cannot edit Wallpaper: Error writing the value's new contents." Please tell me how I can switch it to something else, as the picture I chose wasn't the right resolution and it looks weird.

  • 1 month later...
Neowinian

13x31

Posted
Posted

Thanks a million, it worked perfectly.

BUT I can't change the new wallpaper again... why? When I try to modify the picture from step 3, it says "Error Editing Value. Cannot edit Wallpaper: Error writing the value's new contents." Please tell me how I can switch it to something else, as the picture I chose wasn't the right resolution and it looks weird.

1: While in regedit, right click the "desktop" folder ("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\") and click permissions

2: Highlight "Everyone" and check to Allow "Full Control" then click "OK"

3: Change your wallpaper as in step 3 of the original walkthrough

4: Go back into permissions and uncheck Allow "Full Control" then click "OK"

5: Restart and enjoy your better looking paper!

Something I found while changing my wallpaper: The picture must be a .JPG otherwise you end up with the lovely black screen instead of your picture ;)

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted

Of all the things to lock down in Starter... I'm still amazed they chose the wallpaper. Honestly, I'd rather have a 3-app limit than being forced into using one wallpaper.

Of course, I'd never use Starter in the first place. I'd use Home Premium or anything above it.

Mentor

+Heartripper Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted

I read in a blog about this: Starter Wallpaper Changer

it's free and no-install. You select the image and click 'Apply'. To restore the original click 'Restore' :)

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