How to Customize Logon Screen in Windows 7

Customize Your Logon Screen Background.

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 photos 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:\Windows\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds

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:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\
LogonUI\Background

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 selectNew -> 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.