The Windows login screen may not bother some users, but others wonder if there is a way to make it look less dull. It would be nice to start the working day on your computer with something more exciting that a plain blue screen asking you to enter your login details. Most people know how to change their wallpaper, but not everyone is aware of the fact that it is also possible to modify the login screen.
Many companies and organizations add their logo to the login screen on their computers, but you can also make the change on your home computer. No additional software is required as all you need to do is a minor registry adjustment. Follow the below steps and you will be able to customize your login screen background.
1. Login to Windows, select Start and type: regedit. This will open the Registry Edit window.
2. Right click the Computer icon in the upper left panel and select Export. This will backup the registry, ensuring that in case something goes wrong, you can restore it by importing the saved .REG file. To make sure that you can find the backup easily in case you need it, save the file to a removable drive or use a cloud storage service.
3. Once the Registry has been exported, go to this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
4. On the right side of the Registry Editor window, you should see two options: Default and OEMBackground. Click twice on OEMBackground, change the value to 1 and click OK.
If you don’t see the OEMBackground key, right click an empty part of the Registry Editor window and move the mouse over to New. Left click DWORD (32-bit Value) and name the key OEMBackground. Now you can double-click and change the value to 1.
5. You are ready to add the image you want to see in the background, but keep in mind that for better results, it should match the screen resolution and be less than 256KB. There are many options available online, or you can add your own one, as long as it meets the criteria to fit the screen.
6. Once you have chosen your image, you will need to move it to the appropriate folder, but first you need to create it. To do this, open My Computer and enter C:\\Windows\System32\oobe
7. In the OOBE folder, create a new folder and name it “info”. Double-click the new folder and create another folder there and name it “backgrounds”.
8. Move your background image to the “backgrounds” folder.
9. Rename the image. The file name should be backgroundDefault.jpg.
10. Once the image has been saved there, press the Windows Key + L to lock the screen. The image background you selected should appear at this point.
If you come across any issues, it may be due to the size of the image so make sure that it is under 256KB. Also check that the image has been renamed as backgroundDefault.jpg and that it is located in C:\\Windows\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds.
