How to Change the Windows 7 Logon Screen

The Windows 7 log-on screen is much more colorful and interesting than all of the previous versions of Windows. However, if you are tired of seeing this:

then it is possible to change the background to a new image. There are several ways to accomplish the same results, some being technical solutions, others being programs. For the purpose of this article, I will talk about the technical details that the programs change, but now actually provide a walk-through on how to edit the technical details. I have found that you can spend 20 minutes editing files in the registry and copying and pasting files inside of critical Windows folders, or you can just download and run a small executable file that does the dirty work in 30 seconds.

Technical Details

The program that I will talk about in a minute changes the settings automatically that are required to use a custom background image on the Windows 7 logon screen. Essentially, Windows has built in a "switch" in the operating system's registry that allows PC manufacturers to add their own custom images to the background. If you've purchased a PC from HP, Dell, or another manufacturer, you may have seen that the logon screen is not the same as other Windows 7 computers. This "switch" can be activated manually by users by editing a file in the registry. This is essentially what the software does for you automatically.

The Software

Tweaks.com has written a great little program that takes care of all the file editing and copying for you. It is available for free here: http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon/. When you download the ZIP file and extract it, you will find an EXE file. Simply run the file and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. To change the background for the logon screen, simply click "Change Logon Screen." Then, select an image. If the file is too large, the program offers to copy it and reduce the size so that it can be used.

If you ever need to change the logon screen back to the original, just run the program again, and click "Revert to Default Logon Screen." It's that simple.

Tags: logon screen changer for windows 7, changing windows 7 logon screen, change windows 7 logon background, editing background of windows 7 logon screen, make the windows 7 logon screen different, changing log on screen in windows 7, windows 7 log on screen, windows 7 login screen change, change background for windows 7 login screen, change wallpaper on windows 7 login screen