Poll of the Day > Is there a way to change someone's background permanently?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So that they cant change it back or its really difficult to?

talking about desktop background on a windows pc btw

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Without altering how the menus work? I doubt it.

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You could destroy their monitor or video card, but that would also change their foreground.

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Yes, that can be done with a Group Policy.





In Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education, you can also do this locally with GPEDIT.MSC.

For Windows Home, you have to modify the Registry using REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies, right-click on the folder and select New, Key. Name the key System and press Enter. Right-click on the right side of the window and select New, String Value. Name the string Wallpaper and press Enter. Double-click on the new Wallpaper and enter the path to the wallpaper you wish to use, then click OK.

OPTIONAL: Right-click on the right side and select New, String Value. Name the string WallpaperStyle and press Enter. Double-click on WallpaperStyle and change the value to one of the following:
0 - Centered (default)
1 - Tiled
2 - Stretched
3 - Stretch to fit
4 - Fill

WARNING: If you monkey around with REGEDIT you can SERIOUSLY screw up your system if you don't know what you're doing.

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Do you need them alive?

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captpackrat posted...

WARNING: If you monkey around with REGEDIT you can SERIOUSLY screw up your system if you don't know what you're doing.

Pretty sure it won't be his system that he's screwing up.

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Zeus posted...

won't be his system that he's screwing up

It sounds like TC means to pull a prank on someone.
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captpackrat posted...

Yes, that can be done with a Group Policy.





In Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education, you can also do this locally with GPEDIT.MSC.

For Windows Home, you have to modify the Registry using REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies, right-click on the folder and select New, Key. Name the key System and press Enter. Right-click on the right side of the window and select New, String Value. Name the string Wallpaper and press Enter. Double-click on the new Wallpaper and enter the path to the wallpaper you wish to use, then click OK.

OPTIONAL: Right-click on the right side and select New, String Value. Name the string WallpaperStyle and press Enter. Double-click on WallpaperStyle and change the value to one of the following:
0 - Centered (default)
1 - Tiled
2 - Stretched
3 - Stretch to fit
4 - Fill

WARNING: If you monkey around with REGEDIT you can SERIOUSLY screw up your system if you don't know what you're doing.

Lovely, this is what I was after.

How do I undo all that afterwards if I want to lol

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Just disable the policy.

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FatalAccident posted...

Lovely, this is what I was after.

How do I undo all that afterwards if I want to lol

Disable the policy, or delete the keys you added in the Registry.

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@captpackrat posted...

Yes, that can be done with a Group Policy.





In Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education, you can also do this locally with GPEDIT.MSC.

For Windows Home, you have to modify the Registry using REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies, right-click on the folder and select New, Key. Name the key System and press Enter. Right-click on the right side of the window and select New, String Value. Name the string Wallpaper and press Enter. Double-click on the new Wallpaper and enter the path to the wallpaper you wish to use, then click OK.

OPTIONAL: Right-click on the right side and select New, String Value. Name the string WallpaperStyle and press Enter. Double-click on WallpaperStyle and change the value to one of the following:
0 - Centered (default)
1 - Tiled
2 - Stretched
3 - Stretch to fit
4 - Fill

WARNING: If you monkey around with REGEDIT you can SERIOUSLY screw up your system if you don't know what you're doing.

Out of curiosity, can I ask where you learned how to do all this?
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You could always do something like this.



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EclairReturns posted...

Out of curiosity, can I ask where you learned how to do all this?

(Actually, I knew it could be done with group policy since I've seen it done at various businesses, I just had to look up the specifics.)

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captpackrat posted...

"The Power of Google"

captpackrat posted...

knew it could be done with group policy

captpackrat posted...

seen it done at various businesses

I see. I asked because I wondered if there was a book that sysadmins learned this sort of stuff from.
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EclairReturns posted...

I see. I asked because I wondered if there was a book that sysadmins learned this sort of stuff from.

I just picked it up as I went along, but there are literally thousands of books on Active Directory, Group Policy, and Windows Server administration.

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captpackrat posted...

picked it up as I went along

You mean along your studies in a major that involved computer administration or in a position in which such knowledge would be incredibly useful, if not necessary?
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