How To Change The Windows Classic Login Screen Wallpaper

Posted November 5, 2004
Filed under: TechTalk |

Changing the login screen wallpaper is one of my all time favorites. It is also a great administrative feature to use when wanting to display information to users logging on (like login instructions). Keep in mind that the wallpaper image must be bitmap (.bmp) and windows must be set to the classic login prompt. This will not work with the Windows XP welcome screen so if you have Windows XP you need to change to classic login prompt. You can do this in Control Panel > Users.

To change the classic login screen wallpaper you must alter the following registry values:

Location of System Key: HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

Value(s) to Modify: Wallpaper, TileWallpaper

Correct Data Type: REG_SZ

Click on the “Wallpaper” value and enter the path to the bitmap (.bmp) image (Ex. c:\windows\image.bmp). Set the “TileWallpaper” value to “1″ to enable or “0″ to disable. After you have made the changes restart your computer and enjoy your new Windows Classic Login Screen Wallpaper.