Cannot change desktop background using Display Properties

  • Thread starter Thread starter CoEd
  • Start date Start date
C

CoEd

I am unable to change my desktop background using "Display Properties."
Here's what I'm doing: I right click on the desktop background and select
"display properties", then the "Desktop" tab. On this tab, I am given the
option of selecting a file to set as my desktop background. However, when I
attempt to select a background file, the box freezes and nothing happens. I
can change the color of my desktop, but cannot select a photo as my
background. I have done this successfully many times before, so I'm certain
that this is a software glitch. I have tried working around this glitch by
selecting a photo in My Pictures, right clicking, and choosing "set as
desktop background." This does not work either. My screen blinks, but
nothing changes. (I currently have a default blue background as my desktop).
When I boot up or down, my old desktop photo does blink on for a second
before being "covered up" by the default blue. Any ideas where I can begin
in addressing this problem? Your help is greatly appreciated!
 
Open registry editor and go to

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

Set the value of wallpaper to point to the complete path of the image file
you want to use as your wallpaper.

Will need a detailed analysis tio find out why the UI fails. Does it time
out andthen you an error message or do you see any errors recorded in
eventlogs.
 
Thank you for your help Mr. Singh. Here's what happens when I select
"Display Properties" and then the "Desktop" tab: It does not time out, nor
give an error message. Rather the button to "browse" to select a picture file
(to use as the desktop) is "greyed out." So, I am unable to even select a
file to utilize.

Some more information: I created a NEW user account and discovered that the
above problem is unique to the ADMIN user account. New accounts that I
create ARE able to use "Display Properties" and ARE able to browse to select
a photo to utilize as the desktop background.

Should I port all of my documents over to a new user account?

Any additional ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Joe

gsjutla said:
Open registry editor and go to

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

Set the value of wallpaper to point to the complete path of the image file
you want to use as your wallpaper.

Will need a detailed analysis tio find out why the UI fails. Does it time
out andthen you an error message or do you see any errors recorded in
eventlogs.
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


CoEd said:
I am unable to change my desktop background using "Display Properties."
Here's what I'm doing: I right click on the desktop background and select
"display properties", then the "Desktop" tab. On this tab, I am given the
option of selecting a file to set as my desktop background. However, when I
attempt to select a background file, the box freezes and nothing happens. I
can change the color of my desktop, but cannot select a photo as my
background. I have done this successfully many times before, so I'm certain
that this is a software glitch. I have tried working around this glitch by
selecting a photo in My Pictures, right clicking, and choosing "set as
desktop background." This does not work either. My screen blinks, but
nothing changes. (I currently have a default blue background as my desktop).
When I boot up or down, my old desktop photo does blink on for a second
before being "covered up" by the default blue. Any ideas where I can begin
in addressing this problem? Your help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
check if this is applicable in your case.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/regentry/93252.mspx?mfr=true
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


CoEd said:
Thank you for your help Mr. Singh. Here's what happens when I select
"Display Properties" and then the "Desktop" tab: It does not time out, nor
give an error message. Rather the button to "browse" to select a picture file
(to use as the desktop) is "greyed out." So, I am unable to even select a
file to utilize.

Some more information: I created a NEW user account and discovered that the
above problem is unique to the ADMIN user account. New accounts that I
create ARE able to use "Display Properties" and ARE able to browse to select
a photo to utilize as the desktop background.

Should I port all of my documents over to a new user account?

Any additional ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Joe

gsjutla said:
Open registry editor and go to

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

Set the value of wallpaper to point to the complete path of the image file
you want to use as your wallpaper.

Will need a detailed analysis tio find out why the UI fails. Does it time
out andthen you an error message or do you see any errors recorded in
eventlogs.
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


CoEd said:
I am unable to change my desktop background using "Display Properties."
Here's what I'm doing: I right click on the desktop background and select
"display properties", then the "Desktop" tab. On this tab, I am given the
option of selecting a file to set as my desktop background. However, when I
attempt to select a background file, the box freezes and nothing happens. I
can change the color of my desktop, but cannot select a photo as my
background. I have done this successfully many times before, so I'm certain
that this is a software glitch. I have tried working around this glitch by
selecting a photo in My Pictures, right clicking, and choosing "set as
desktop background." This does not work either. My screen blinks, but
nothing changes. (I currently have a default blue background as my desktop).
When I boot up or down, my old desktop photo does blink on for a second
before being "covered up" by the default blue. Any ideas where I can begin
in addressing this problem? Your help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I checked the registry using REGEDIT. The value
of REG_DWORD was 0, meaning that the "No Changing Wall Paper" policy was NOT
enabled. So this isn't the problem. (Thank you, however, for the valuable
suggestion).

Following your previous suggestion, I used REGEDIT to edit the following
registry entry: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop to point to the
complete path of the image file I wish to use as a wall paper. Still the
wallpaper will not change for this user.

I created a second user account and this one allows me to change without
problem.

Any more suggestions? Your help is greatly appreciated!
Joe

gsjutla said:
check if this is applicable in your case.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/regentry/93252.mspx?mfr=true
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


CoEd said:
Thank you for your help Mr. Singh. Here's what happens when I select
"Display Properties" and then the "Desktop" tab: It does not time out, nor
give an error message. Rather the button to "browse" to select a picture file
(to use as the desktop) is "greyed out." So, I am unable to even select a
file to utilize.

Some more information: I created a NEW user account and discovered that the
above problem is unique to the ADMIN user account. New accounts that I
create ARE able to use "Display Properties" and ARE able to browse to select
a photo to utilize as the desktop background.

Should I port all of my documents over to a new user account?

Any additional ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Joe

gsjutla said:
Open registry editor and go to

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

Set the value of wallpaper to point to the complete path of the image file
you want to use as your wallpaper.

Will need a detailed analysis tio find out why the UI fails. Does it time
out andthen you an error message or do you see any errors recorded in
eventlogs.
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


:

I am unable to change my desktop background using "Display Properties."
Here's what I'm doing: I right click on the desktop background and select
"display properties", then the "Desktop" tab. On this tab, I am given the
option of selecting a file to set as my desktop background. However, when I
attempt to select a background file, the box freezes and nothing happens. I
can change the color of my desktop, but cannot select a photo as my
background. I have done this successfully many times before, so I'm certain
that this is a software glitch. I have tried working around this glitch by
selecting a photo in My Pictures, right clicking, and choosing "set as
desktop background." This does not work either. My screen blinks, but
nothing changes. (I currently have a default blue background as my desktop).
When I boot up or down, my old desktop photo does blink on for a second
before being "covered up" by the default blue. Any ideas where I can begin
in addressing this problem? Your help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Problem solved! I deleted a registry entry in
HKCU\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\policies\system - and that
solved the problem. Thank you so much for leading me in the right direction
and referring me to Microsoft Technet. Your help was invaluable. Thank you!
J

CoEd said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I checked the registry using REGEDIT. The value
of REG_DWORD was 0, meaning that the "No Changing Wall Paper" policy was NOT
enabled. So this isn't the problem. (Thank you, however, for the valuable
suggestion).

Following your previous suggestion, I used REGEDIT to edit the following
registry entry: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop to point to the
complete path of the image file I wish to use as a wall paper. Still the
wallpaper will not change for this user.

I created a second user account and this one allows me to change without
problem.

Any more suggestions? Your help is greatly appreciated!
Joe

gsjutla said:
check if this is applicable in your case.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/regentry/93252.mspx?mfr=true
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


CoEd said:
Thank you for your help Mr. Singh. Here's what happens when I select
"Display Properties" and then the "Desktop" tab: It does not time out, nor
give an error message. Rather the button to "browse" to select a picture file
(to use as the desktop) is "greyed out." So, I am unable to even select a
file to utilize.

Some more information: I created a NEW user account and discovered that the
above problem is unique to the ADMIN user account. New accounts that I
create ARE able to use "Display Properties" and ARE able to browse to select
a photo to utilize as the desktop background.

Should I port all of my documents over to a new user account?

Any additional ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Joe

:

Open registry editor and go to

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

Set the value of wallpaper to point to the complete path of the image file
you want to use as your wallpaper.

Will need a detailed analysis tio find out why the UI fails. Does it time
out andthen you an error message or do you see any errors recorded in
eventlogs.
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


:

I am unable to change my desktop background using "Display Properties."
Here's what I'm doing: I right click on the desktop background and select
"display properties", then the "Desktop" tab. On this tab, I am given the
option of selecting a file to set as my desktop background. However, when I
attempt to select a background file, the box freezes and nothing happens. I
can change the color of my desktop, but cannot select a photo as my
background. I have done this successfully many times before, so I'm certain
that this is a software glitch. I have tried working around this glitch by
selecting a photo in My Pictures, right clicking, and choosing "set as
desktop background." This does not work either. My screen blinks, but
nothing changes. (I currently have a default blue background as my desktop).
When I boot up or down, my old desktop photo does blink on for a second
before being "covered up" by the default blue. Any ideas where I can begin
in addressing this problem? Your help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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