Force Desktop Wallpaper

[PHead2]

I'd like to implement a default desktop wallpaper for certain users. I've set up a Group Policy specifying the path to the .bmp file but the wallpaper never comes up.

 

[glegg]

Did you set the path for the .bmp wall paper under User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Active Desktop? If so, you have to enable Active Desktop, it is disabled by default. You may also want to enable the policies that prohibit changes to active desktop, allows only .bmp wallpaper and under User Configuration>Adminstrative Templates>Windows Components>Control Panel>Display, enable the policy that prevents changing the wallpaper. If you want this to apply to only specific users, make sure that all of the users are either in the same OU or that you apply the GPO at the site or domain level. If the users are in various OU's and you apply this GPO to the site or domain level, you may want to put all of these users in one security group (global or domain local) and on the properties of the GPO, go to the security tab and remove the tick by the "apply group policy" for the authenticated users and add in that security group and add the tick by the "apply group policy" so that only those users get that GPO. Your other option is to set the wall paper on each machine and then enable the policy under ...Control Panel>Display to prohibit changing wall paper, if you have a lot of machines, this option will not be fun.

 

[PHead2]

I set the path for the .bmp file under User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Active Desktop and I enabled Active Desktop. I also prohibited changes. I applied this Group Policy to the group I want to have that wallpaper but the wallpaper is still not applied.

I only need to set this on one machine, how can I set this machine up so that the .bmp file I want to use for the wallpaper is applied to every user?

 

[glegg]

Sounds as if the users don't have NTFS or Share rights to access the .bmp file. If your wanting to do this on just one machine, create a GPO for just that machine (log onto that machine and go to Start>Run>mmc) and set the snap-in for group policy for the local machine (default). Copy the .bmp to a folder on the local drive and set the NTFS permissions so that only the group to which you wish to apply the policy has Read & Execute, Read, and List Folder Contents rights, or you can give these rights to Everyone and have all users that log into that machine have the wallpaper.

 

[PHead2]

Well, I had tried all of that. It turned out to be a problem with one of the other policies I had set for the OU. The policy was "Hide all icons on Desktop" policy. As long as this was enabled, the wallpaper wouldn't take....