Windows 7 Logon Background Changer

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

Windows 7 marks a momentous occasion, a leap, as it were, in user interface customization. Now, with the power of Windows 7, you, YES YOU, can change the background on your Logon screen...

I'll give you a minute to soak that in.

Ok, now, in all seriousness, thi is a pretty neat feature that Microsoft FINALLY implemented into their OS. The only problem is, they made it more complicated than the average user is going to want to deal with. You know how I am, if it can be easier, then I make it easier.

I wrote a quick (yeah, right) C# app that'll greatly simplify the process. Sorry Windows XP or Vista users, this is only for us Windows 7'ers. Here are the steps:

1. Load up the program:

Simple enough...

2. Click "Check":

This will check if you have the Registry value enabled for this to work. If the value is there but disabled, it'll ask if you want to enable it. If it's not there, it'll ask if you want to create it.

3. Click "Select...":

Choose an image. For some reason you're limited to JPG images under 256KBs, but you can probably decrease the filesize in Photoshop if you know what you're doing.

4. Click "Apply":

That was easy.

Of course, your steps won't look exactly like this, since I already have the required registry value enabled. You will probably get a message saying that the OEMBackground isn't present or is disabled, tell it to create it or enable it. Then you'll probably also get a message saying that the output directory doesn't exist, it'll be automatically created. Then, in case the output directory already does exist and you already have a custom logon background, you'll be asked if you want to overwrite the original, and if you say no, you'll be asked if you want to rename it. If you say no to that, I insult you. Seriously, try it.

Anywho, this was a fun one-night project. I might add some more to it later, like detecting if the image is smaller than the screen size and letting you know it'll be stretched or scaled, stuff like that. I also forsee one problem, but I'll wait to see if it arises before I do anything about it.

Here's the download:

(Ver. 1.0.1)

Comments?
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

Windows 7 marks a momentous occasion, a leap, as it were, in user interface customization. Now, with the power of Windows 7, you, YES YOU, can change the background on your Logon screen...

I'll give you a minute to soak that in.

Ok, now, in all seriousness, thi is a pretty neat feature that Microsoft FINALLY implemented into their OS. The only problem is, they made it more complicated than the average user is going to want to deal with. You know how I am, if it can be easier, then I make it easier.

I wrote a quick (yeah, right) C# app that'll greatly simplify the process. Sorry Windows XP or Vista users, this is only for us Windows 7'ers. Here are the steps:

1. Load up the program:

Simple enough...

2. Click "Check":

This will check if you have the Registry value enabled for this to work. If the value is there but disabled, it'll ask if you want to enable it. If it's not there, it'll ask if you want to create it.

3. Click "Select...":

Choose an image. For some reason you're limited to JPG images under 256KBs, but you can probably decrease the filesize in Photoshop if you know what you're doing.

4. Click "Apply":

That was easy.

Of course, your steps won't look exactly like this, since I already have the required registry value enabled. You will probably get a message saying that the OEMBackground isn't present or is disabled, tell it to create it or enable it. Then you'll probably also get a message saying that the output directory doesn't exist, it'll be automatically created. Then, in case the output directory already does exist and you already have a custom logon background, you'll be asked if you want to overwrite the original, and if you say no, you'll be asked if you want to rename it. If you say no to that, I insult you. Seriously, try it.

Anywho, this was a fun one-night project. I might add some more to it later, like detecting if the image is smaller than the screen size and letting you know it'll be stretched or scaled, stuff like that. I also forsee one problem, but I'll wait to see if it arises before I do anything about it.

Here's the download:

(Ver. 1.0.1)

Comments?
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[snailthatflies]

thats cool.... but why megan fox?
_________________


Si vis pacem, para bellum

[Poisonblood]

bewbs, thats why


Im gettign windows 7 soon, thanks dude.

And I had an idea, for the extra's page, make a blog section ;)
_________________

[Poisonblood]

bewbs, thats why


Im gettign windows 7 soon, thanks dude.

And I had an idea, for the extra's page, make a blog section ;)
_________________

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

Please redownload if you plan on using this more than once, I fixed an issue with overwriting the original file if it's present. Upgraded to Ver. 1.0.1.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

Please redownload if you plan on using this more than once, I fixed an issue with overwriting the original file if it's present. Upgraded to Ver. 1.0.1.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[snailthatflies]

i woulda called it version 1.0.1 mark 2.......... but thats just me
_________________


Si vis pacem, para bellum

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

But the first version was 1.0, and this was a very small update, thus only a minor revision change, not even worth a version change.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

But the first version was 1.0, and this was a very small update, thus only a minor revision change, not even worth a version change.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[snailthatflies]

i got an idea, why dont you make your own OS?
_________________


Si vis pacem, para bellum

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

Because it took me 6 hours to write a program that changes a value in the registry in an existing OS and copies a file to a folder. It's beyond my scope of abilities by a huge leap.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

Because it took me 6 hours to write a program that changes a value in the registry in an existing OS and copies a file to a folder. It's beyond my scope of abilities by a huge leap.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[KJdog23]

Very cool. Wish I could test it but I do not have Windows 7.
_________________

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

It turns out the tool will run on Windows Vista, due to a misunderstanding of Windows version numbers. I'm putting out an update now to fix that. The tool won't actually DO anything on Vista since Vista doesn't have the built-in capability to change the logon background.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk

[HaLo2FrEeEk]

It turns out the tool will run on Windows Vista, due to a misunderstanding of Windows version numbers. I'm putting out an update now to fix that. The tool won't actually DO anything on Vista since Vista doesn't have the built-in capability to change the logon background.
_________________


~HaLo2FrEeEk