Easily change your Logon Background in Windows 7!

Rafael from WithinWindows has done it again. He has discovered a new logon UI background customization trick that Microsoft has put in Windows 7 for OEMs. It requires a registry change and a few folder changes but does it without the need of any third party tools or hacks.

login-customized-thumb

This does require a bit of work to get it working. First of all, you’ll have to enable the functionality in the registry by creating ( if missing ) a DWORD value named OEMBackground in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background and enable its value to 1 or to 0 if you want to disable the functionality. Or you can just use this registry file I created, to quickly enable it.

After you’re done, you’ll have to check if this location exists in you Windows installation %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds. If not, create it. Than use an image which is the same size as your desktop resolution and use the following file names, depending on the resolution of your image.

  • backgroundDefault.jpg
  • background768×1280.jpg  (0.6)
  • background900×1440.jpg  (0.625)
  • background960×1280.jpg  (0.75)
  • background1024×1280.jpg (0.8)
  • background1280×1024.jpg (1.25)
  • background1024×768.jpg  (1.33-)
  • background1280×960.jpg  (1.33-)
  • background1600×1200.jpg (1.33-)
  • background1440×900.jpg  (1.6)
  • background1920×1200.jpg (1.6)
  • background1280×768.jpg  (1.66-)
  • background1360×768.jpg  (1.770833-)

If your resolution isn’t present in this list, don’t worry. Windows will pick a resolution closest to your desktop resolution. Also, keep in mind that the image must be less than 256kb in size.

Now, let’s see if and when Rafael finds a method to customize the Windows 7 boot screen. ;)

About the Author

Technology enthusiast, Internet addict, photography fan, movie buff, music aficionado.

5 comments

  1. 256k isn’t very big for a high resolution image, what’s the reason for the limit?

    1. Larger images could potentially slow down your startup. Maybe that’s why they’ve put such a limit.
      I’ll actually try to find out why from some Microsoftie.

  2. I reckon it may be to prevent OEM’s from filling the logon background with random junk, multiple logos and the like.

    It’s a shame logon screens will vary between OEMs, but the 256K limit should ensure that no OEM is able to make a particularly awful background and ruin the UX!

  3. Pingback: How to change the Windows 7 Logon UI button set | Windows Seven 7

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