Change the Wallpaper of Windows 7 Starter
How do you change the wallpaper (or even the theme) of your Windows 7 Starter OS? Read on below.
When I was having my usual haircut at a salon near our house, my hairstylist (well, he just cuts my hair and I guess he doesn’t want to be called a barber), asked me for help on a problem in his laptop. I momentarily glanced at his table and there I saw his newly purchased gadget. I was quite surprised that there was already a problem when it was obviously brand new. He told me he’s been trying to change the wallpaper of his laptop for days and he couldn’t change it.
Now right after my haircut, I checked his laptop and saw that it was in Windows 7. When I checked what version/edition – voila! It was Windows 7 Starter.
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| Windows 7 Starter Default Wallpaper |
I immediately told him that Windows 7 Starter doesn’t allow the user to change the wallpaper. When I saw the long look of his face when I told him that, I knew I had to help this guy.
Windows 7 Starter: How to Change the Wallpaper
I know of two ways to change the wallpaper in Windows 7. Both methods require that you at least install a program to do it. Make sure you only install one.
1. Stardock MyColors
Stardock MyColors is a program which allows you not only to change the wallpaper but also the overall look of Windows. Stardock MyColors primarily changes the standard Windows 7 Aero theme to another theme.
You need to download and install Stardock MyColors (download it from Stardock MyColors official website)
After successful installation, just launch the application and go to My Themes. By default, there would only be 2 kinds of themes – Windows 7 Aero and Think Green. Choose the Think Green theme.
Now you can download several other themes from the Stardock website itself but the Think Green theme is the only additional theme in the default installation. This step (of choosing a theme other than Windows 7 aero) is important because if you have the Windows 7 Aero theme selected, you won’t be able to change the wallpaper.
After this just go to the Wallpapers tab, and choose any wallpaper which is in your Pictures folder.
Note that Stardock MyColors does not allow you to choose how to layout your wallpaper. By default, it would stretch your picture to fit the screen. So be sure to choose high resolution pictures so that it would not look pixelized in your screen.
2. Starter Background Changer
There are already several programs out there made by helpful people, which can change the background or wallpaper of Windows 7 Starter. Out of these programs, I have a favorite which is the Starter Background Changer by Renaud Gerson which he made available for download in his website renaudgerson.fr. His website and the actual installer are in French so I’ll help you on how to make it work. Once you’ve installed it, it would be in English so don’t worry about it.
You can download it at his official website renaudgerson.fr (just scroll down and click on the image saying Download), or you can use the download link I’ve provided below:
What’s good about this program is that you don’t have to change the overall theme and you can just change the wallpaper. What’s better is you can choose from a set of different layouts like stretch, tile, center, etc. (unlike Stardock MyColors which has the stretch layout only).
To install, just follow the screenshots below. “Suivant” means “Next”, and “Demarrer” means “To Start”.
Just choose “Suivant” on the following prompts.
Choose “Yes”.
Then choose “Demarrer”.
Now once you’ve installed the program, just right click on your desktop and select “Personalize”. Notice that it’s not in French. It actually defaults to your language.
A new window would pop-up where you can change the wallpaper. It would have banner ads or advertisements at the bottom but it’s not that bothersome.
Note: If you’re going to upgrade to another version of Windows (i.e. Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, etc.) be sure to uninstall these programs.
There you have it! I hope I’ve helped you change your Windows 7 Starter wallpaper.
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Thank you SO much…….this has been driving me insane and i will recommend your site to anyone who has this problem…thanks again
Great I was of help!
Thanks to the creators of the applications as well!
is this safe?or has a virus or not??tnx
It doesn’t have a virus. Try scanning it with your anti-virus software.
thanks man, that was sooooooooo helpful
hey dude thanks aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttt
this is an actual wallpaper//posonaliser that works
any ways thanks again
from ur happy viewer
Thank you for the information. Its works.. Why they left that out is really mean so thanks to the French guy.
u are the man
Thanks so much for the info! I just got me new computer with Windows 7 Starter and, fortunately, I found your very informative page pretty quicly so didn’t have to fiddle around as much as it sounds like some others have!
Hi,
You rock!!! this steps really helped me to change my wallpaper in my Window 7 starter!!!as easy as counting 123!!!thanks a lot
this really helped alot, but after i downloaded the french thing, I went to go change my background from stretch to centre and it didnt work, do you know why?
Maybe the picture you’re trying to put in the wallpaper has a very high resolution and it wouldn’t fit the page when you center it. If you’re sure that the picture has a lower resolution than your screen then try uninstalling and then re-installing the application if it would work.
hi
This is great. Thanks a lot…
thanks a lot!! i downloaded the second one, it works! awesome!
The french thing works for 2 hours nd now i cant change the backround. I got a errormessage that the program coultn find any image, when i hit “change”. Try to uninstall and reinstall but it doesnt help..
Grande! Great! It works really fine and your suggestions are perfect!
Thank you very much!!
thank you so much man, it really helpful. i’ve been so confuse before i can figure it out.. the original theme from the windows 7 starter was not easy catching theme than mine, now i can put myown picture on the wallpaper.. thanks again.. ^_^
To all who found this article helpful: You’re welcome! And thank you too! It’s always a good feeling when you know you’re able to help.
Again – Thanks!
Thanks dude, really appreciate your help!
Your welcome, glad I helped!
Does this french program change the whole look of the computer and desktop because I dont think that I want that butI really wasnt to get rid of ugly given wallpaper. Please help!!!!!
No it doesn’t. It just changes the wallpaper.
heehehe i dint know about this (i mean, that the starter edition cant change wallpaper!) thats so lame but thanks bro you made a lot of people happy =)
I was surprised too when I found out.
At least there’s a solution.
thanks so much..am rearly happy can put my photos up..only thing i hated about 7 starter
Great I helped!
I have been sitting at my netbook for hours(received today as it is my 12th birthday) trying to figure out how to change my wallpaper as it has Windows 7 Starter and I was VERY impressed by the second (french) one. I have my wallpaper changing from one photo to the other and I absolutely love it! Thanks so so so much you have relieved me of such stress!
Chloe
No problem Chloe. I’m glad I helped!
hey, tengo una gran duda, yo instale el starter background en mi compu cuando tenia el 7 starter, pero luego actualice a 7 ultimate y ahora no me deja cambiar elfondo
First time to write on a wall like this….. am not a computer person but like most here have ended up with the starter edition on the netbook. The french programme was fantastic, took about 40seconds from start of download to getting rid of the background…. top work and thanks for the help and guidance with the French!!!
Great! I’m really glad I helped!
thank you so much! I got my notebook last May 21 for my birthday and have been trying a lot of things not to mention hours to change the wallpaper and voila~ you have it here, presto! Thank you to Renaud Gerson for the program and to you for introducing and helping me understand it in french! now that annoying blue windows wallpaper is a goner!!!
Great I helped. Renaud is the one who deserves the credit.
MAN! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!! I was like freaking out when i bought my laptop because i couldnt change my wallpaper!! BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH!! ;DDD
Your welcome!
THANKS ALOT REALLY HELPFUL AND GREAT I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do I need to be wary of adware or spyware with the French guy’s method? Have you uninstalled this application? I read that Stardocks doesn’t uninstall easily. My netbook is on its way and I will want to set the background to suit me, but I don’t want to mess up a new tool.
Yes I have installed it. It has advertisements in the Personalize function (which the program has put). I’ve scanned it with my antivirus and it didn’t report anything wrong.
Thank you SO much. I’ve had this Asus Eee PC for a few months now, and I’d finally had it with the stupid blue Windows background, especially since one of my favorite things ever since I got my first computer was playing with the wallpaper. This made my day. ^.^
THANX ALOT! I AM NOW ABLE TO CHANGE MY WALLPAPER. I ALSO WENT TO RENAUD GERSON WEBSITE AND DOWNLOADED THE STARTER BACKGROUND CHANGER. I DID EVERYTHING YOU SUGGESTED AND IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING DOWNLOADED JUST RIGHT BUT WHEN I GO TO CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE PICTURE (EX. MOSAIC, CENTERED, STRETCH..ETC.) IT DOESN’T CHANGE THE PICTURE AT ALL. WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST I DO? INSTEAD OF HAVING A PICTURE BE STRETCHED AND LOOK DISTORTED I RATHER CENTER IT..PLZ HELP!
Try re-installing it. See if it solves the problem.
hey..this is not a problem report or something this is actually a warning..PLZ do not download MYCOLORS,it will work properly but when u change the theme back to the original[windows 7 theme],the shape of the files will stay the same shape of the MYCOLORS theme so they will not come back to their original shape[all this happened to me]but then i downloaded STARTER BACKGROUND CHANGER and it worked properly and there was no problem even after i change the picture back to the orginal,unlike MYCOLORS u cant change the picture alone u have to change the whole theme and there is only 1 default theme and another 1 u can download but they r both bad,so i really suggest that u download STARTER BACKGROUND CHANGER and NEVER download MYCOLORS
that’s so fantastic!!thxa lot,,and to the french guy as well,, i thought i was going to dump my netty in a dustbin for having such horrid window 7 starter,, it’s just that background,,and yet microsoft can be such a snottish, rubbish stinky jerk with their million dollars wages,,your solution works pretty well so far,,and it’s pretty cool!!awesome!!
hi there, is this safe to download? virus free? will it do any harm after i download this software for example, whether my netbook will load very slow than usual? sorry if i asked too much. anyway, thank you:)
Thank you very much. I am using the STARTER BACKGROUND CHANGER and it works great! It does have banner ads at the bottom but it is hardly noticeable. Wonderful! I don’t have to be stuck with a boring wallpaper anymore!!
it is really wounderful for me.
thanks
TY TY TY!!!! Tried the Stardocks MyColors and worked like a charm! I was so ticked when I found out AFTER I bought my HP Mini that I couldnt change the wallpaper. This has made me a much happier netbook user/owner. Kudos to you for the info,thanks again!
Try as well the Starter Background Changer for a simpler change of wallpaper. Be sure to revert to the default theme and uninstall Stardocks first if you do.
is this legal?
i tried the second method. it really work but then it seems cant change from time to time based on my time setting. make me sad though. huhu^^
Thanks a lot!!!!!!! =)
Thanks….I would like to know how to apply themes which we are downloading from other site. I don’t know how to do it.
tnx for helping me to change my backgroun..im so happy..
Thank’s!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much!! The second option is awesome, it worked right away. Great improvement to my new computer.
thank youu!! god bless!
why is it not working with mine? I have installed it correctly and followed the steps, but none happened. please help me….
thank you sooooo much!
Heya!
Thanks a lot for putting so much effort in solving this annoying problem. For me it worked, untill I restarted my netbook. Now it is back to the standard wallpaper again (a beach scene that says “Ee PC”, not the one you put on here). If I right-click on my desktop the “personalize” option is still there, but if I reconfirm or change my wallpaper it does not make any difference and Im still stuck with the standard one.
(I used that French solution)
I am currently studying abroad and would love to put a picture of me and my girl back home on my desktop, so if anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the post and for describing your problem in detail. My question is – Is there a default or pre-installed program that runs in the background that is probably changing the wallpaper?
Based on what I know, Windows 7 Starter’s default wallpaper is the one pictured above in my article. Now if the wallpaper is an EEE PC wallpaper then probably Asus has preinstalled a program which changes the wallpaper similar to the 2 ones I stated above – the only difference is it is the one choosing for you.
Installing another program for changing the wallpaper would not work then if that’s the case. You would have to uninstall their program prior installing the wallpaper changer.
I once had the EEE PC and most them have a utility called the system setting utility which can change the wallpaper of EEE PCs. Check it out as well as you might have the same or similar program installed in yours – ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/EeePC/Utility/SystemSetting_Setup-1_1_0_8.zip
To go with my last post:
*I tried uninstalling, re-downloading, re-installing, but that did not work
Hello Ige, thanks a lot for your reply! I think it pointed me in the right direction.
Browsing the internet I came across C:/Program Files/ASUS/OOBERegBackup. That could be the program I need to uninstall, but I am afraid to mess around with the wrong stuff and ruining important business.
You advised me to uninstall the wallpaper program, but you posted a link of another program. I am not sure what you mean me to do with this. Will installing it solve the problem?
If you could resolve my unclarity it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again,
John
I just want to say thank you so much.
I recently purchased an acer aspire one in PURPLE. I was really excited to get it, because it is really small and it is purple.
I was so ready to pack it back up and take it back or give it to my son, because I could not personalize it.
I am a very colorful person and into expressing my individuality. It is funny that I had no other problems with how they nerfed Windows 7 Starter, but not allowing me to change my wallpaper was where they crossed the line.
Again, I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Darlene
Glad I helped Darlene!
Ah it took me little effort to overcome my retardedness, but it makes sense now and got it worked out! Awesome, thanks!
(Dont worry about my previous post)
Thanks again!
John
Glad you got it resolved John!
i installed this.. but my wallpaper is black now.. help..
It happened to me as well when I tried to set a png image as wallpaper. Then, I used a jpg image and it worked fine again. Maybe that’s where you problem comes from.
Horray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! do da 2nd one.. so easy. thnxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx a lot!!!!!