need help with stinkin' black wallpaper problem

Hi Guys,

I have a customer with 64 bit W7 home something or other, Premium
I think. He got himself into something! The last thing I have not
conquered is his stinkin' black wall paper. I am only able to
change it to another solid color, but the next logon changes
it back to black.

Anyone come across this and what did you do to fix it?

I have been keeping a running list of what I did to fix
the problem, along with references as to where I got the
fix action. So far, all four fixes have not resulted
in joy.

Any tips?

Many thanks,
-T



Windows 7 Black Background issue:


Fix #1:

How to Enable/Remove Background Images to have Only Solid Colors in
Windows 7

From:
http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-c...ackground.html
From:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...available.html

--> Control Panel
--> Ease of access
--> Ease of access center
--> Make the computer easy to see
--> at the end of the page, in the section labeled "Make
things on the screen easier to see"

To Be able to Use Images for your Desktop Background

A) Uncheck the Remove background images (where available) box, and
click on OK.
NOTE: This is the default settting.

To Only Be able to Use Solid Colors for your Desktop Background

A) Check the Remove background images (where available) box, and
click on OK

Note: sometimes, marking/unmarking, applying, unmarking/marking,
applying will correct a corruption

Fix #2:
From:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...e-0f67707ce36e

--> Open a file manager:
--> Browse to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\
--> rename TranscodedWallpaper.jpg (not to an image file)
--> insure contents of "slideshow.ini" are empty. Only the
header "[Slideshow]", without the quotes,
should be present. Note that after altering
"slideshow.ini", a reboot is required.


Fix #3:
From:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...0-ba42d533a04c

1. <win><r> regedit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Policies


2. Then right click on Policies > New > KEY > name it as “ActiveDesktop”.

3. Next in Right Hand Side, right click > New > DWORD > name it as
“NoChangingWallPaper”.

The DWORD value 1 will restrict change in desktop wallpaper. To allow
change give it value as 0.




Fix #4:
From: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=731202


1. <win><r> regedit

2. Go to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\" folder and click on it

3. On the right hand side find there are a bunch of entries. Find the
key named "wallpaper" and double click on it and put the path of the
picture you want as your new wallpaper (example path is
"C:\Users\Bob\Pictures\new_wallpaper.jpg" )

4. Right-click on the "Desktop" folder in regedit that you found in
step 2 and click Permissions.

5. Click "Advanced"

6. Go to "Owner" tab, highlight your name in the box that says 'Change
owner to' ( There are only two choices the other is Administrator )…
once your user name is highlighted click "OK"

7. Click on "Advanced" again

8. Uncheck the button that reads "Include inheritable permissions from
the object's parent" … click "Remove" when prompted

9. Click "Add"

10. Type "Everyone" and click "OK"

11. Check Allow "Read Control" and click "OK"

12. Click "OK" again

13. Highlight "Everyone" and check to Allow "Read" and click "OK"

14. Restart [reboot] or Relog into windows and Tadaaaaa!

If you ever want to change the background again after this, you don't
need to redo all these steps, just rename the new wallpaper to have the
same name as the one you're using at that time and move the file to the
same folder, replacing when prompted. Then redo step 14.

On 16-Jun-11 2:17 PM, Todd wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> I have a customer with 64 bit W7 home something or other, Premium
> I think. He got himself into something! The last thing I have not
> conquered is his stinkin' black wall paper. I am only able to
> change it to another solid color, but the next logon changes
> it back to black.
>
> Anyone come across this and what did you do to fix it?
>
> I have been keeping a running list of what I did to fix
> the problem, along with references as to where I got the
> fix action. So far, all four fixes have not resulted
> in joy.
>
> Any tips?

Why not take the easy way out & set up another user account? Then if he
has any, transfer his documents & favorites to the new account. Then
delete the old account and opt to delete the files for that account as well.

Todd wrote:

> Hi Guys,
<snip - want us to do his work for free that he charges his customer>

I feel for your customer. If they knew how to access Usenet, they
wouldn't have to waste money paying an "expert" that has to come here to
save face.

On 06/15/2011 10:48 PM, BobbyM wrote:
> Why not take the easy way out & set up another user account? Then if he
> has any, transfer his documents & favorites to the new account. Then
> delete the old account and opt to delete the files for that account as
> well.
>

Tried that, no joy. :'( Sorry I did not include that in my
original letter. I had forgotten.

Thank you for the help!

-T

On 06/15/2011 10:48 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> Todd wrote:
>
>> Hi Guys,
> <snip - want us to do his work for free that he charges his customer>
>
> I feel for your customer. If they knew how to access Usenet, they
> wouldn't have to waste money paying an "expert" that has to come here to
> save face.

Hi VanguardLH,

If you had reads my original post, you would have found I have done
a considerable amount of research. I do not mind asking my colleagues
for help. Or sharing my knowledge either. And my customers don't
pay for my research unless they commission it. I was the guy who
sat in the front of the class and endless peppered the professor if I
did not understand. I got the "A" and the guys in the back that
"groaned" whenever I asked a question, got the "C". The professors
would always check with me before continuing. It was like having
a private tutor. There is no loosing face by asking for help.

Remember, in this field, "arrogance" and "condescension" is like wearing
a neon sign above your head flashing "I am an ignorant poser". Those
who really know what they are doing are the exact opposite of what you
displayed. They are gentle souls who love to share their knowledge
about the technology.

Be more careful how you choose your words next time.

-T

On 16-Jun-11 2:54 PM, Todd wrote:
> On 06/15/2011 10:48 PM, BobbyM wrote:
>> Why not take the easy way out & set up another user account? Then if he
>> has any, transfer his documents & favorites to the new account. Then
>> delete the old account and opt to delete the files for that account as
>> well.
>>
>
> Tried that, no joy. :'( Sorry I did not include that in my
> original letter. I had forgotten.
>

If that didn't work, then you must have corrupt system files. Did you
run an sfc /scannow or windows repair?

Todd wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> I have a customer with 64 bit W7 home something or other, Premium
> I think. He got himself into something! The last thing I have not
> conquered is his stinkin' black wall paper. I am only able to
> change it to another solid color, but the next logon changes
> it back to black.
>
> Anyone come across this and what did you do to fix it?
>
> I have been keeping a running list of what I did to fix
> the problem, along with references as to where I got the
> fix action. So far, all four fixes have not resulted
> in joy.
>
> Any tips?
>
> Many thanks,
> -T
>
> Windows 7 Black Background issue:
>
> Fix #1:
> Fix #2:
> Fix #3:
> Fix #4:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Have-...7-105334.shtml

“If you do not activate the software within the grace period you will receive
persistent notifications, including a message from the system tray every
60 minutes that reminds you to "Activate Windows Now", a persistent desktop
notification that Windows is non-genuine, a non-genuine message that appears
when the Control Panel is launched, and the desktop will be set to a
plain black background,” Kochis added. “While you can change the plain black
background to any background you choose, if changed the background will reset
to a plain black background every 60 minutes. This experience will continue
until the Windows 7 Beta is activated. Also, you will not be able to receive
optional updates from Windows Update unless the copy of Windows is properly
activated.”

Is it possible there is a problem with activation ?

I only dug up that reference, to show that there are other ways to make the background black.

Microsoft has a forum, where they discuss activation issues. Apparently,
they use tools like mgadiag to check authenticity.

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...tegory/genuine

mgadiag is usually presented as a link on one of their web pages.
I don't know if there is available information on exactly what
mgadiag does, what its side effects might be, etc. There is an
example of the link, at the bottom of this page.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942962

An example of what the staff at Microsoft do with the info.

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...c-83d031854ad5

Paul

On 06/15/2011 11:15 PM, Paul wrote:
> Todd wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I have a customer with 64 bit W7 home something or other, Premium
>> I think. He got himself into something! The last thing I have not
>> conquered is his stinkin' black wall paper. I am only able to
>> change it to another solid color, but the next logon changes
>> it back to black.
>>
>> Anyone come across this and what did you do to fix it?
>>
>> I have been keeping a running list of what I did to fix
>> the problem, along with references as to where I got the
>> fix action. So far, all four fixes have not resulted
>> in joy.
>>
>> Any tips?
>>
>> Many thanks,
>> -T
>>
>> Windows 7 Black Background issue:
>>
>> Fix #1:
>> Fix #2:
>> Fix #3:
>> Fix #4:
>
> http://news.softpedia.com/news/Have-...7-105334.shtml
>
>
> “If you do not activate the software within the grace period you will
> receive
> persistent notifications, including a message from the system tray every
> 60 minutes that reminds you to "Activate Windows Now", a persistent desktop
> notification that Windows is non-genuine, a non-genuine message that
> appears
> when the Control Panel is launched, and the desktop will be set to a
> plain black background,” Kochis added. “While you can change the plain
> black
> background to any background you choose, if changed the background will
> reset
> to a plain black background every 60 minutes. This experience will continue
> until the Windows 7 Beta is activated. Also, you will not be able to
> receive
> optional updates from Windows Update unless the copy of Windows is properly
> activated.”
>
> Is it possible there is a problem with activation ?

Don't think so. This is a several year old ASUS desktop. He
bought it new. I do not see any such pop ups. It has worked
fine up to now. No sign of it being pirate. (I hate pirate
software: it is steeling someone else's livelihood. I refuse to
work on it.)

Thank you for the help!
-T

On 16/06/2011 06:17, Todd wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> I have a customer with 64 bit W7 home something or other, Premium
> I think. He got himself into something! The last thing I have not
> conquered is his stinkin' black wall paper. I am only able to
> change it to another solid color, but the next logon changes
> it back to black.
>
> Anyone come across this and what did you do to fix it?
>
> I have been keeping a running list of what I did to fix
> the problem, along with references as to where I got the
> fix action. So far, all four fixes have not resulted
> in joy.
>
> Any tips?
>
> Many thanks,
> -T

I doubt it it will help, but when I first got Win7HPx64 I was playing
around with themes and tried out one of the "High Contrast" ones out of
interest. ISTR that it had a black background, but more to the point it
was difficult to get rid of and return to my (simple, Classic XP-sttyle)
screen. Although it was supposed to work, I could not get the screen to
toggle out of High Contrast back to Classic XP. In the end I basically
had to set up the Classic screen from scratch.again.

--

Jeff

>Hi Guys,
>
> I have a customer with 64 bit W7 home something or other, Premium
>I think. He got himself into something! The last thing I have not
>conquered is his stinkin' black wall paper. I am only able to
>change it to another solid color, but the next logon changes
>it back to black.
>
> Anyone come across this and what did you do to fix it?
>
> I have been keeping a running list of what I did to fix
>the problem, along with references as to where I got the
>fix action. So far, all four fixes have not resulted
>in joy.
>
> Any tips?

When I see black wallpaper it's because it's gone into reduced
functionality mode because it hasn't been activated. New motherboard
or CPU upgrade happen? Some hardware get changed? This machine is on
SP1 already?

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]