Be it screensavers, desktop wallpapers or font blazon and sizes, visual customization at the OS level is commonly important to all kinds of users. Recognizing this, Microsoft has made information technology easier than ever to apply and adjust individual themes with Windows 7. We looked at this final week showing you how to find hidden themes buried in your hard drive besides as sponsored ones available through Microsoft'south online Personalization Gallery.

This time around, nosotros are going to show you lot how to customize the Windows 7 login screen. At that place are various methods to accomplish this, with and without 3rd-political party software. I understand many people might non desire to rely on a third-party application, while others would appreciate a quicker, safer route. First up is the more hands-on approach, then the utility.

Hands-on approach

This method volition require you to modify the registry, and if that puts a knot in your stomach, you should movement on to the next section.

Step 1: Open the Windows Start menu and enter regedit into the search bar.

Step 2: Right click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and select Observe.

Step 3: Search for OEMBackground, which should be in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SOFTWARE/ Microsoft/ Windows/CurrentVersion/ Hallmark/ LogonUI/ Groundwork. If the key does not exist, add a new DWORD value with the name OEMBackground.

Stride 4: Double click on the entry OEMBackground, and change the value from 0 to i.

Step 5: Open Windows Explorer and go to the following path: %windir%system32oobe.

Step 6: Create a new folder named info, and open up it.

Footstep 7: Create a new folder within info named backgrounds.

Step 8: Rename your desired wallpaper as backgroundDefault.jpg and place it inside the folder backgrounds (images must exist less than 245KB in size).

That should practice the trick, now simply lock your PC, log off or reboot and enjoy.

Tertiary-political party software

If you are uncomfortable with manually tinkering with the registry -- or simply have ameliorate things to exist doing with your time -- we understand. Various third-party applications can modify Windows seven'southward default logon wallpaper, just our personal favorite is Tweak.com'due south Logon Changer.

The software is ridiculously like shooting fish in a barrel to use, doesn't require installation, and information technology even has built-in tools to automatically resize and recompress your images while leaving the original file untouched. The Logon Changer also lets you quickly change your logon wallpaper dorsum to the Windows 7 default.

Offset by downloading the app here, and so unzip the executable. Run the plan and it should present you with a preview of your logon screen along with a few self-explanatory options: "Alter Logon Screen" lets you browse to a new image, "Test" will bring up your logon screen, "Revert to Default Logon Screen" reapplies Windows 7'southward original wallpaper.

Also read: Computer Tips & Tricks Everyone Should Know

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