CODEWITHSUNDEEP
windowswindows-7wallpaper
Xeon
Xeon

Reputation: 5989

Refresh wallpaper in win7 via command line

I want to refresh wallpaper in Windows 7 from command line. I'm setting wallpaper via reg.exe add.

rundll32.exe user32.dll,UpdatePerUserSystemParameters doesn't work (with 1,True or 1,False)

Requirements:

  1. It must refresh wallpaper immediately (no waiting)
  2. It must run from command line
  3. Default windows 7 command line is preferred. Writing a c++/VB/C# program is acceptable, but not as good as a default win7 cli solution.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 9866

Answers (5)

Kees C. Bakker
Kees C. Bakker

Reputation: 33381

I'm on Windows 11, the RUNDLL32.EXE USER32.DLL,UpdatePerUserSystemParameters 1, True will work, but only if there is some time between the edit of the registry and the execution of the command.

The following PowerShell snippet will do an instant reload:

try {
    Add-Type -TypeDefinition @"
    using System;
    using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
    
    public class Wallpaper {
        [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
        public static extern int SystemParametersInfo(uint uiAction, uint uiParam, string pvParam, uint fWinIni);
    }
"@
}
catch { 
    # only on the first time the script runs
    # the type can be added
 }

$SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER = 0x0014
$SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE = 0x01
$SPIF_SENDCHANGE = 0x02

$Result = [Wallpaper]::SystemParametersInfo($SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, 0, $null, $SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE -bor $SPIF_SENDCHANGE)

My use case might be different, as I needed to change my wallpaper trough the registery: How to bypass company wallpaper as local admin on Windows 11.

Upvotes: 0

user11280146
user11280146

Reputation: 1

reg add works better using .bmp files

this requires users to execute rundll32 multiple? times

try a simple rename conversion picture.jpeg -> picture.bmp

Upvotes: 0

Sandra
Sandra

Reputation: 708

At least on Windows 7 64-bit, I found that the rundll32.exe command worked, but just not every time. I don't have a theory of why, but my workaround was a .cmd file that calls it a lot of times. It's not elegant but it works every time. In our environment, we are launching it in the background async and invisible, so the fact that it runs for about 80 seconds just doesn't matter.

:: Do your stuff to apply the background .reg settings first
:: Then run UpdatePerUserSystemParameters many times
RUNDLL32.EXE USER32.DLL,UpdatePerUserSystemParameters 1, True
timeout 1
RUNDLL32.EXE USER32.DLL,UpdatePerUserSystemParameters 1, True
timeout 1
:: Etc. I have about 80 of them

Upvotes: 1

Jon Dev
Jon Dev

Reputation: 11

Killing explorer is never a good idea, try this:

RUNDLL32.EXE USER32.DLL,UpdatePerUserSystemParameters 1, True

Upvotes: 1

Alexander Taubenkorb
Alexander Taubenkorb

Reputation: 3289

Harder than I thought. Depending on your other needs you could eventually restart explorer.

taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F
explorer.exe

If you can call a program from the command line, you could also look at How to force Windows desktop background to update or refresh

Upvotes: 0

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