Question : Trouble Using BMP As Wallpaper

Using Windows XP SP2 Home Edition, I downloaded some bmp's and jpg's from a site and put them in some folders in the My Documents folder. I want to use them as my desktop wallpaper. The jpg's work fine but the bmp's simply give me a solid colour rather then the picture. Some times the bmp's will show up but then revert back to a solid colour when I restart the computer. At first I thought this was because of the numerous dictories the pictures were in but now I think it might be the length of the folder names which were a bit long. This worked when I shortned the names and moved them to the desktop- where I was experimenting with fixing the problem, but didn't work when I moved them back. I'm at my wits end trying to make this work. Please help- thanks!

-Ryan P. Fialcowitz

Answer : Trouble Using BMP As Wallpaper

I never recommend having dots in file or folder names.  I know that the "P." is part of your User Name, and is therefore now unavoidable, but there is a vague possibly that it is contributing to the problem or even causing it here.  The only place you should really have a dot is where it indicates that the file extension follows the dot.

OK, so I know that there are a few System folders with dots in the names, like:
C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
but in general dots should not be used to avoid any potential confusion where the folder is assumed to be of a specific file type dependent on what characters follow the dot.

Windows XP doesn't run DOS and can handle spaces and dots in file or folder names (even on the command line without having to enclose in " ") where this sometimes causes problems in Win9x, but as you probably aren't aware of exactly what process calls are involved in setting the wallpaper, it's hard to  know whether the dot in the path is the problem here.

I suggest you test this for elimination purposes by creating a folder structure where you have a path that is the same number of characters as the one containing the bitmap images, but make sure there are no dots in the folder names.  Set one of those images as the wallpaper and see if it is applied.

I've been messing around with this too, and I'm puzzled about something you explained:
"I set them as the wallpaper by clicking on them in Windows Explorer and the right clicking and setting them as the background".

Strangely enough, I do not have that Right-Click option on this XP SP2 system, regardless of where a jpg, bmp, or any other image type is placed.  I do have a "preview" option, which opens in "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer".  Within that, I have a right-click option to "Set as Desktop Background".  This sets that image as the wallpaper from its original location.

The method of setting as "background" by right-clicking a JPG image in Internet Explorer converts a copy of the file to a bitmap image and places it here:
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Desktop\Internet Explorer Wallpaper.bmp
That is then the name of the image file that shows in the list of available wallpapers in Desktop Properties.

The registry keys and values that store your set wallpaper are:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"Wallpaper"=
This will contain the full path to the image file.
There is also a value named:
"OriginalWallpaper"=
but this never seems to be populated in my registry.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\General]

I believe that the values named
"BackupWallpaper"=
and"Wallpaper"=
contain the full path to your previously set wallpaper from the last boot.

As far as I understand it, although the wallpaper is set during the current session to the "Wallpaper" value in the key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
The details of the old wallpaper are retained in the values under the key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\General]

I stand to be corrected here, and possibly the latter registry key is only used to store details used in Active Desktop or something, but maybe you should export those registry keys to *.reg files at various stages during one session, then reboot and compare them to monitor any changes.

Resetting it to "None", clicking the Apply button, and restarting may help to clear out any residual settings.