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Is there a way to change the desktop wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter Edition? I wanted to do that on my new netbook, just to find out that there is no "Customize" option in the control panel. Microsoft obviously wants to keep the netbook users rather rigidly from customizing their machines. It isn't even possible to edit the picture itself in the C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper\Windows\ directory, due to lack of rights. From what I can tell only the user "Trusted Installer" would have enough rights to do so...

Update: With your help I found two programs that are able to bypass Microsoft's limitations:
Starter Wallpaper Changer (Thanks to Sopan and javier. I'm using this program now)
Wallpaper Changer for Windows 7 (Thanks to Sathya) (This one was taken down for EULA limitations)

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Small note, if this is against the license agreement and someone who cares finds out, you could be in trouble... – RCIX Dec 27 '09 at 2:34
Interesting.. and disappointing. I just read the EULA of windows 7 starter. I thought blocking the user via software from changeing the background would be all Microsoft does. But apparently RCIX, you're right. They ban it also by license.. Here's the respective snippet (hope I don't break any agreements by posting this one here... ;P) – V. Schreiber Jan 9 '10 at 21:40
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"Unless applicable law gives you more rights despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly permitted in this agreement. In doing so, you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it in certain ways. You may not • work around any technical limitations in the software; • customize the desktop background;" (C:\Windows\System32\license.rtf; Paragraph 8) Reverted the Desktop back to the original... – V. Schreiber Jan 9 '10 at 21:41
This post is now locked due to spam. – Diago Feb 19 '10 at 23:17
Microsoft keeps disappointing me... – MaxMackie Jun 18 '11 at 2:27
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protected by Jeff Atwood♦ Jun 7 '10 at 7:00

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9 Answers

up vote 16 down vote accepted

I have a program that is made by me that can change your background.

Here is the link:

Instructions are given below:

  • Download the program. save it on your computer.
  • Click on the application. Click Yes on the security alert.
  • Click on Browse. Now select the image that you want to make your background.
  • Click OK.
  • Then click Apply.
  • Exit the application.
  • Log out and log back in.
  • Voila!!! You have successfully changed your background on a Windows 7 Starter!!!

NB: The path for the new wallpaper must not have an accent, or possibly other special characters, in it. E.g. my home directory contains the character 'é', which is encoded improperly when the path is stored in the registry, causes a black background rather than the new wallpaper to display.

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up vote 5 down vote

Resetting permissions on the file and overwriting will not work, as shell32.dll has code which compares the image with a SHA-256 hash. The only option other than tampering with the files yourself in a hex editor is using Stardock MyColors, though you must use an entire theme.

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You're right about resetting the permissions. I tried this one and managed to overwrite the image, just to end up with a black desktop background. Unfortunately, changing the wallpaper with myColor doesn't work very well. I can do it, if I apply a complete theme for all icons and design elements in windows. Applying just a single wallpaper has no effect. In other words I can choose between the free themes from myColor or the standard Windows set. – V. Schreiber Nov 14 '09 at 14:29
Thanks for the clarification! I'll update my answer. – John T Nov 14 '09 at 14:36
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up vote 3 down vote

Nope, Windows 7 starter will not let you change the background. You'll need to upgrade to Home Premium or higher

EDIT: I take that back, there is a way to do it, but you'll need to use a third-party tool like Windows Blind in order to do it. I wouldn't recommend it, however, because most netbooks are short on resources already. A third-party theme manager would just take up more of those resources

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up vote 2 down vote

From here:

"You can use Stardock MyColors to change Windows 7 Starter wallpaper. It entirely bypass that restriction."

This site also has some workarounds. Basically, find the file:

%windir%\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg

and as an Administrator, reset the permissions and overwrite.

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Except the file will have to have the same SHA-256 hash as the existing one. It's possible :) – Phoshi Nov 18 '09 at 18:47
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up vote 2 down vote

Does this program help you change the Wallpaper ?

Wallpaper Changer for Windows 7 Starter

Microsoft had the great idea to forbid changing the wallpaper in the Starter Edition of Windows 7, so that people would buy more upgrades. But that's really annoying. I mean - you have got a nice netbook with Windows 7 installed, and now you probably want to customize it and add a cool wallpaper! Who wouldn't? But - oh no - there is no way to do that! Crap, isn't it?

I was annoyed too, but I started investigating, thinking and trying, I simply wanted to find a way to change the wallpaper without installing a huge software like Talisman Desktop Pro, which eats up a lot of performance.

And I was successful! I finally figured out a solution and created a little tool which does everything for you, so I can share that solution with everyone suffering from the same problem! I don't want you guys to be as frustrated as I was!

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Mh. The program starts correctly, but applying a wallpaper has no effect. But then, I changed the wallpaper with Sopan's program first. Maybe that overwrote some settings, this tool needs to funciton. Anyway: Thanks for the link. Maybe someone else could try to see if this wallpaper changer works with them. – V. Schreiber Dec 12 '09 at 13:17
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up vote 1 down vote

One of the simplest things that you can do would be to just purchase a Windows Anytime Upgrade package from Microsoft. For $79 USD you can take your starter edition and bring it up to Home Premium with out having to do a complete install of anything. You should then have a much nicer experience with Wnidows 7 and not have to muck around in the registry or get frustrated because you can't do something.

Students have an even sweeter deal, they can upgrade to Windows 7 Premium for only $29.99 until January 3rd of '09. Goto the website win741.com and click on buy to see the full details.

Hope this helps you.

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Hi Chris. Thanks for the info about the Anytime Upgrade. But being a student, those $80 are quite a lot for the functionality I'm looking for. Right now, I'm still curious about other possible solutions. But L'll keep it in mind if I run into more limitations of that kind. – V. Schreiber Nov 14 '09 at 17:17
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up vote 1 down vote

Download Oceanis_Change_Background_W7.exe, there is also an explanation on how to use it.

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up vote 0 down vote

I have an Asus Eee model netbook, and it has an Asus utility to change the wallpaper. The utility shows as a dropdown icon at the top center of the screen, and it gives the option to use alternate wallpapers as well as activate the wallpaper slideshow. You might want to check if the manufacturer of your particular netbook offers anything similar.

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up vote 0 down vote

Click right button on necessary wallpaper file -> set as desktop background. I did it on my Asus netbook.

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it doesn't work on starter edition - its one of the artificial differentiations between that and regular versions, alongside aero not working - apparently someone else reported asus as a utility to work around that. – Journeyman Geek Dec 9 '11 at 7:42
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