Force wallpaper change

[Guest]

I have a question that I'm hoping someone can assist with... I’m currently
working on pushing out some system changes to numerous point-of-sale units we
manage (not in a domain) and need to figure out a way to force the system to
update the wallpaper.

We basically modify a JPG file with the revision number and revision date
and simply overwrite the file each time it’s pushed. The problem is that the
system doesn’t reflect the change unless someone manually goes into the
Display Properties, selects a different wallpaper, then selects the one we
updated again.

Is there a way to force the system to refresh itself (via registry or
command line)? I found the section where the system stores the wallpaper
name (HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop) and tried writing a couple scripts to
change it to a different file, then change it back again but the system still
didn’t refresh. In fact it didn’t even register the change on the screen at
all.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Bob I]

IIRC, overwriting Internet Explorer Wallpaper.bmp file with the desired
image will cause the desired image to be displayed the next boot.

 

[Jon]

I have a question that I'm hoping someone can assist with... I’m currently
working on pushing out some system changes to numerous point-of-sale units
we
manage (not in a domain) and need to figure out a way to force the system
to
update the wallpaper.

We basically modify a JPG file with the revision number and revision date
and simply overwrite the file each time it’s pushed. The problem is that
the
system doesn’t reflect the change unless someone manually goes into the
Display Properties, selects a different wallpaper, then selects the one we
updated again.

Is there a way to force the system to refresh itself (via registry or
command line)? I found the section where the system stores the wallpaper
name (HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop) and tried writing a couple scripts to
change it to a different file, then change it back again but the system
still
didn’t refresh. In fact it didn’t even register the change on the screen
at
all.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

If you want to write it yourself, then you'll need to use a language, such
as VB or C++, that enables you to make system api calls. These threads would
get you started on that route.

http://www.google.com/search?num=50..._qdr=all&q=+"SystemParametersInfo"++wallpaper

You may have problems with it, if you use a .jpg file, rather than a .bmp
file, so that is another consideration.

Otherwise, you could use a 3rd party wallpaper changing program, of which
there are numerous free ones around.
eg 'Wallpaper changer' is a good one.

http://www.wallpaperchanger.de/

Jon

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Method 1 - Courtesy of Torgeir Bakken, MVP.

Click Start, Run and type:

RUNDLL32.EXE user32.dll,UpdatePerUserSystemParameters

This command-line refreshes the desktop wallpaper.

Method 2: Using a program that uses the "SystemParametersInfo" API call to
apply the desktop wallpaper dynamically. (as Jon said). I wrote this program
some time ago, and you may use it if you're interested.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/wprefresh.exe

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


I have a question that I'm hoping someone can assist with... I'm currently
working on pushing out some system changes to numerous point-of-sale units
we
manage (not in a domain) and need to figure out a way to force the system to
update the wallpaper.

We basically modify a JPG file with the revision number and revision date
and simply overwrite the file each time it's pushed. The problem is that
the
system doesn't reflect the change unless someone manually goes into the
Display Properties, selects a different wallpaper, then selects the one we
updated again.

Is there a way to force the system to refresh itself (via registry or
command line)? I found the section where the system stores the wallpaper
name (HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop) and tried writing a couple scripts to
change it to a different file, then change it back again but the system
still
didn't refresh. In fact it didn't even register the change on the screen at
all.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!