How to Change the Logon Screen Background in Windows 7?

How would you like to change the logon screen background in Windows 7 so as to give your Windows a customized look and feel? With a small tweak it is possible to change the Windows 7 logon screen and set your own picture/wallpaper as the background.

Customizing the logon screen background in Windows 7 is as simple as changing your desktop wallpaper. Well, here is a step-by-step instruction to change the logon screen background:

1. The image you need to set as the logon screen background should be a .jpg file and its size should not exceed 245KB.
2. The image resolution can be anything of your choice. However I prefer 1440 x 900 or 1024 x 768. You can use any of the photo editing software such as Photoshop to compress and set the resolution for your image. Once you’re done, save this image as backgroundDefault.jpg.
3. You will need to copy this image to the following location:
   C:Windowssystem32oobeinfobackgrounds

   You will need to create that path if it does not already exist on your computer.

4. Now, open the Registry Editor (Start -> Run -> Type regedit) and navigate to the following key:
   HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAuthentication
   LogonUIBackground

   If the key Background does not exist, then right-click on LogonUI, select New -> Key, and then name it as Background.

   Now locate OEMBackground (listed on the right side). If it does not exist, right-click Background and select New -> DWORD and name it OEMBackground.

5. Double-click on OEMBackground and set the Value Data to 1.
6. Now log-off to see the new logon screen background. If you would like to revert back to the default background, just set the Value Data back to 0.

Using a Tool to Change the Logon Screen Background:

The above steps will give you a detailed instruction on how to change the logon screen background manually. However, there is a nice tool to completely automate the above steps so that you can do everything with just a few mouse clicks!

The tool is called Windows 7 Logon Background Changer from Julien-Manici.com. This small tool is very easy to use and contains a set of preloaded images to choose from or you can set your own desired image as the logon screen background.