11/4/11

How to Change folder background in Windows 7/vista/xp[without software]

We like to customize folder and drive’s icon, color, view to give it a unique look. What about changing folder background? Usually we use software to do that. But here we’ll change the folder’s background without any software. To do so firstly we should know, what is the “desktop.ini” and how it works?


set background image
Folder Background
Desktop.ini is the file where system assigns the values of icon, info, background image source etc. The folder will gives info about itself or a thumbnail view which has the proper desktop.ini file. It is a hidden system file and it's possible to show by CASE: 2 step: 2 in this article. Nothing to worry about it because the system can automatically create a new one if the file is being damaged or absent. It just needs a reboot of the system.

Don’t like to read? Watch this video to change folder background.



Didn’t get a clear idea? Read the tutorial.

The following tutorial will show how to set an image as the background in a folder. This tutorial is divided into two CASEs according two different conditions.

CASE 1: Creating a desktop.ini file:

1. Go to the folder which background image will be changed.

2. Create a new text file and open to edit it.

3. Copy following two lines and paste them to the text file.

[AveFolder] 
IconArea_Image="C:\Users\user_name\my pictures\image.jpg" 

4. If you want a shadow effect for text give ShadowedText=1 and for applying same image to all sub directories give Recursive=1 like this.

[AveFolder]
IconArea_Image="C:\Users\user_name\my pictures\image.jpg"
ShadowedText=1
Recursive=1

Untitled
ShadowText & Recursive

5. After creating, save the text file then rename it to desktop.ini and restart your PC.

The “IconArea_Image=” (CASE: 1 step 3) describes the source path of the background-Image. You should not select an image source path from removal disk. If you are setting up the image of your removal drive then your background-image source should describe a path of that drive.

Sometimes a message could come showing replacement of desktop.ini file. That means your working folder already has same file. It is better to cancel the replacement of this file and follow the CASE: 2.

CASE 2: Editing desktop.ini: 1. Go to Folder Option from Control panel or from explorer’s menu bar>folder option.

Folder Option Windows
Folder Option from Control Panel

Folder option (2) Windows
Folder option from Explorer menu bar

2. Select view tab and scroll down to find out hide protected operating system file and uncheck it. It is important to mark Show hidden files, folders and drives first from this view tab.

un hide protected file of OS
Folder Option>View tab

3. Find out the desktop.ini in the current directory and open it with a text editor, like: notepad.

Hidden files folders on Windows
Hidden desktop.ini


4. Paste the lines described in CASE: 1 step: 3, just after the [.ShellClassInfo]’s description lines.
shell class info and ave folder
[.ShellClassInfo] & [AveFolder]


5. Save and exit from desktop.ini
6. Restart your PC to take an effect on OS.

Important: The background image won’t change properly until restart your computer.

22 comments:

  1. Anonymous12 June, 2012

    THAT'S AMAZING
    I LIKE UR WORK ...........

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous04 July, 2012

    Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That was helpful..
    Thanks a lot!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. You can try it again reading the post carefully. If you are not done then follow THIS POST where we did the same job using software.
      Thanks!

      Delete
  5. its not working i have followed all procedure you have expalined

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As this post is totally depend on the code lines and .ini files, mistake is a simple matter here. So I recommend to read the above procedure carefully.

      This post will help you to easily complete the task Change folder or drive background and icon in windows (using software).

      Thank you.

      Delete
  6. it's not working
    what's your sysrem fill name ?
    is it win7 Ultimet or other
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The OS was Windows 7 Ultimate.
      I'll like to recommend you to follow the link to Change folder or drive background and icon in Windows (Using software). Hope this will work for you.
      Thanks.

      Delete
    2. thanks
      but i need to know becuse i'll make a program to change folder background in win7
      but ther are some missing files i need them to comlete my work

      thanks agein

      Delete
  7. i m using window 7 home premium and i m unable to change background image in drives so plz help me.......................

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for that. Most of the time Windows 7 Home Premium does not allow this modification.
      But this post may help you Change folder or drive background and icon in windows (using software).
      Thanks.

      Delete
  8. How this z work in windows xp..???
    tell me...
    am waiting for your response...!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. i wan to change the folder picture in on of my Dropbox projects, how can i do that?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yaar Sharif, why are you misleading people unnecessarily? As per Microsoft documentation, there is NOT AveFolder option supported in Desktop.ini files! For the AveFolder option to work, you ABSOLUTELY DO NEED extra software installed. It's a program called Vista Folder Background by a guy named Andreas Verhoeven. Get it? Andreas Verhoeven = Ave. That's why his site is called Ave's Apps, and why his software requires a string named AveFolder to work.

    Vista Folder Background can be downloaded from http://www.aveapps.com/folderbg.html and I can GUARANTEE that you have installed this program on your PC, which is why the AveFolder string works for you in Desktop.ini files.

    Please edit your article and stop trying to fool people. Also, as per my extensive testing this app is meant for Vista and can cause instability in Windows 7, so use it at your own risk.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Small typo in post above: It should read "there is *NO* AveFolder option supported in Desktop.ini files".

    ReplyDelete
  12. How to avoid the images from getting tiled...?

    Any idea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear YEP,

      You have to enlarge the pixels of that image by Windows Paint or any other image editor.
      That's it!

      You can also try this article.

      Delete
  13. Sorry but doesn't work in Windows8 :(
    Can you help me with it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As this tweak was not for Windows 8, you may have to wait till we succesfully cover this on Win 8.
      You can also try some software to change background image or icon.

      Good luck!

      Delete

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