I know this has been hashed over before, but this situation is a
little different.

I’m running Windows XP, Version 2002 with SP3. This is on myemployer’s
computer.

I want the text under the desktop icons to be on a transparent
background instead of a solid background. I have done the following:

1. The “Use drop shadows” box under Control Panel / System / Advanced
Tab / Performance Section / Settings Button / Visual Effects is
checked. No other checkboxes are checked.

2. The "Lock Web items on desktop" under Desktop / Arrange Icons is
not checked.

3. Live Web content is disabled; all boxes under Display /
Properties / Desktop Tab / Customize Desktop / Web Tab are unchecked
and “My Home Page” has the “Make available offline” box unchecked.

4. My Desktop wallpaper is a BMP file that reside in the C:\Windows
directory.

Recently, the IT department pushed out a new desktop policy. I used
to be able to fix the icon labels problem just by going into the
registry and making a few small changes to the Explorer policies, but
not anymore. Something else has changed with the new policy.

So, what else would I need to change in the Registry to make the solid
background go away? I have full Administrator rights to my
workstation and I’m not afraid to go into the Registry and/or Policy
editor to make changes. I figure if I can identify what Registry keys
need to be changed and how, I can build a little .reg file that I will
run at startup.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer, but please don't
suggest the fixes listed above in 1,2,3 & 4. Any time I have asked
for help with this problem, or looked on forums that seems to be the
standard answer and it doesn't work.

-WVMontani
Any thoughts? Thanks.

WVMontani wrote:
> I know this has been hashed over before, but this situation is a
> little different.
>
> I’m running Windows XP, Version 2002 with SP3. This is on myemployer’s
> computer.
>
> I want the text under the desktop icons to be on a transparent
> background instead of a solid background. I have done the following:
>
> 1. The “Use drop shadows” box under Control Panel / System / Advanced
> Tab / Performance Section / Settings Button / Visual Effects is
> checked. No other checkboxes are checked.
>
> 2. The "Lock Web items on desktop" under Desktop / Arrange Icons is
> not checked.
>
> 3. Live Web content is disabled; all boxes under Display /
> Properties / Desktop Tab / Customize Desktop / Web Tab are unchecked
> and “My Home Page” has the “Make available offline” box unchecked.
>
> 4. My Desktop wallpaper is a BMP file that reside in the C:\Windows
> directory.
>
> Recently, the IT department pushed out a new desktop policy. I used
> to be able to fix the icon labels problem just by going into the
> registry and making a few small changes to the Explorer policies, but
> not anymore. Something else has changed with the new policy.
>
> So, what else would I need to change in the Registry to make the solid
> background go away? I have full Administrator rights to my
> workstation and I’m not afraid to go into the Registry and/or Policy
> editor to make changes. I figure if I can identify what Registry keys
> need to be changed and how, I can build a little .reg file that I will
> run at startup.
>
> Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer, but please don't
> suggest the fixes listed above in 1,2,3 & 4. Any time I have asked
> for help with this problem, or looked on forums that seems to be the
> standard answer and it doesn't work.
>
> -WVMontani
> Any thoughts? Thanks.

I don't know why #1 doesn't work for you, works for me and everyone else I
know. If worse comes to worst, you could always arrange your bit map to
"center" so you have a border around it and then set Display Properties,
Appearance, Advanced, Desktop color to something you like. As long as you
keep the icons on the border, the background color will be whatever you
selected and it will appear to be transparent.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Sep 2, 10:28*am, "dadiOH" <dad...@invalid.com> wrote:
> WVMontani wrote:
> > I know this has been hashed over before, but this situation is a
> > little different.
>
> > I’m running Windows XP, Version 2002 with SP3. This is on myemployer’s
> > computer.
>
> > I want the text under the desktop icons to be on a transparent
> > background instead of a solid background. *I have done the following:
>
> > 1. The “Use drop shadows” box under Control Panel / System / Advanced
> > Tab / Performance Section / Settings Button / Visual Effects is
> > checked. *No other checkboxes are checked.
>
> > 2. The "Lock Web items on desktop" under Desktop / Arrange Icons is
> > not checked.
>
> > 3. Live Web content is disabled; all boxes under Display /
> > Properties / Desktop Tab / Customize Desktop / Web Tab are unchecked
> > and “My Home Page” has the “Make available offline” box unchecked.
>
> > 4. My Desktop wallpaper is a BMP file that reside in the C:\Windows
> > directory.
>
> > Recently, the IT department pushed out a new desktop policy. *I used
> > to be able to fix the icon labels problem just by going into the
> > registry and making a few small changes to the Explorer policies, but
> > not anymore. *Something else has changed with the new policy.
>
> > So, what else would I need to change in the Registry to make the solid
> > background go away? *I have full Administrator rights to my
> > workstation and I’m not afraid to go into the Registry and/or Policy
> > editor to make changes. *I figure if I can identify what Registry keys
> > need to be changed and how, I can build a little .reg file that I will
> > run at startup.
>
> > Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer, but please don't
> > suggest the fixes listed above in 1,2,3 & 4. *Any time I have asked
> > for help with this problem, or looked on forums that seems to be the
> > standard answer and it doesn't work.
>
> > -WVMontani
> > Any thoughts? Thanks.
>
> I don't know why #1 doesn't work for you, works for me and everyone else I
> know. *If worse comes to worst, you could always arrange your bit map to
> "center" so you have a border around it and then set Display Properties,
> Appearance, Advanced, Desktop color to something you like. *As long as you
> keep the icons on the border, the background color will be whatever you
> selected and it will appear to be transparent.
>
> --
>
> dadiOH
> ____________________________
>
> dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
> ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
> LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
> Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

That's not a fix; that's a work-around. But thanks.

It has got to be a registry and/or policy setting that affects the
icon backgrounds. Something is not allowing the fixes above to work.
Is it an Active Desktop policy? Is there a registry key that blocks
or overrides making the above changes? Those fixes seem to work on
Windows installations that are pretty much "straight out of the box."
But evidently there is something in the latest security policy that is
not "straight out of the box" that is not allowing me to make changes.
That is what I need to figure out.

-WVMontani