Friday, April 22, 2011

Change Windows 7 logon background

Whether it’s just for fun or your company wants to brand their Windows 7 logon background, here’s how:

Prepare the system:

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background" /v "OEMBackground" /t REG_DWORD /d "0x1" /f
mkdir c:\windows\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds

Now, at least place the following file in c:\windows\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds.

  • backgroundDefault.jpg

This will be the “fallback” image, so if none of the following files is found the image above will be stretched to fit your current resolution.

Optionally you can place the following files:

  • background768×1280.jpg
  • background900×1440.jpg
  • background960×1280.jpg
  • background1024×1280.jpg
  • background1280×1024.jpg
  • background1024×768.jpg
  • background1280×960.jpg
  • background1600×1200.jpg
  • background1440×900.jpg
  • background1920×1200.jpg
  • background1280×768.jpg
  • background1360×768.jpg

Remeber: file size cannot exceed 256 KB (so i’ve heard, not tested)….