Cannot Change Desktop Background in Windows 8 Installed Via Bootcamp

I've been running parelells, but decided today to just go the boot camp route and everything went through fine EXCEPT I cannot change the wall paper on the windows 8 desktop?
I select the new image in desktop background in personalization click save changes and the background stays the same...?
I don't get it.
And by the way, I am NOT new to windows or mac, been using both for a long time and was a systems administrator and bench for years, this is NOT a novice "how to" question...It's just not working?
Anyone else seen this before?

are you using an activated version of win 8? you cant personalise win desktop otherwise.

Similar Messages

Cannot use volume slider in Windows 7 via bootcamp

Hello everyone. My MBP spec is 15" i7. I've installed a Windows 7 via Bootcamp. after that, i installed the drivers using my Apple Os X disk. But after all that, I can't use the volume slider to control the volume. why is that?

Boot Camp Support Software 5.0.5033

Satellite C50-B-13T - Win 8.1 cannot change desktop background

Hi folks,
I'm new to this forum so please bear with me.
I bought a new Toshiba Satellite C50-B-13T laptop yesterday with Windows 8.1 installed and I cannot change the desktop screen from a blank black one to a picture of my choice... I've tried everything, and even looked for videos on Youtube to see if there's a remedy for it.
When I look at the control panel the thumbnail shows the picture I've chosen, but the actual desktop (not the smart screen bit) is still plain black. All of my icons work just fine but the background will not change.
If anyone can help me sort this out I'd be really grateful?
Thanks everyone :O)

You ask how to change the Windows background?
This is not very tricky.
Microsoft released a useful article regarding Windows system personalization.
Please check this aricle:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/personalize-pc-tutorial
Note: there is a difference between the desktop background and the lock screen.
The lock screen is the screen you see when you lock your PC (or when it locks automatically after you haven't been using it for a while).

Cannot change desktop background picture to my own photos

Hi, in desktop & screen saver I cannot change the desktop background image to any of my own (iphoto) pictures, it shows the list of the images and thumbnails but will only change the pic to the 'Apple' ones (nature,plants,black & white, abstract), if I select any of my photos under 'iphoto albums' the desktop image simply turns light blue.

Hi.
I'm seeing what seems to be the exact same problem you described. Were you able to figure it out and fix it? I don't see a solution posted.
Thanks.

Cannot change desktop background...

This is a problem that has been annoying me for about a month now... i set my desktop background as an iphoto image, and went to change it a few weeks later but it wouldn't let me! the small image of the desktop appears in system preferences, but the background will not change.
if anyone knows how to fix this, your help will be appreciated...

Confounding!
Log back into your problem account:
Here's the whole litany for thoroughly checking your home folder. It's not as daunting as it looks.
1. Navigate to ~(YourHome/Library/Fonts - drag this folder to the desktop.
• Restart and test your applications.
• If they work start adding the fonts back few at a time.
( Likely suspects are Times RO, Helvetica Fractions and Times Phonetic, also if you do not use Classic you can trash the classic fonts.) If not, put your Fonts folder back.
2. Check Preferences Thoroughly;
• Navigate to ~(YourHome/Library/Preferences drag this folder to the desktop.
• Restart and test your applications.
• If this works, save the old preferences folder somewhere else or on disk, name it "old prefs" .
** Note: A very important file is the "com.apple.Mail.plist" preference file located in the Preferences folder which contains all email account settings and general mail preferences (hold this one and replace if your problem is not with Mail).
You'll have to go through some of your System Preferences and apps to set the preferences back to how you like them. (Or if you have the time and inclination, "cherry pick" through until you find the problem one or two.)
3. Check Permissions Inside Home Folder
• Navigate to YourHome/Library.
• Get Info (Command - i) on folders for apps you are having problems with.
• Open the "Ownership & permissions" disclosure triangle.
• Make sure you are the owner, with "read and write" access.
• Click on "apply to all"
• If this is correct, open the "Applications Support" folder and do the same procedure (Command+I) for the folders with the names of the applications you are having trouble with.
(Note:The reason to check this is because repairing permissions with Disk Utility doesn't touch permissions inside your home folder.)
4. Navigate to YourHome/Library/Caches and drag this folder to the trash, then log out and back or restart. There is no need to replace this folder.
-mj

Cannot change Desktop Background image

When I go to change my Desktop Background, it will try and load up the pictures in my Pictures folder (but no subfolders). I can switch my background to one of these images, even though the "Loading" progress bar is still visible.
Here is the odd thing, however. If I click on any of the other types of images (Apple Images, nature, Plants, Black & White, Abstract, and Solid Colors), nothing appears. I jumped over to another user on the same computer, and those images populated properly. Any ideas on what is going wrong? Why can't I change my background image? I've had this problem with both Mac OS 10.5.0 and 10.5.1.

I managed to fix this problem.
I did verify and repair permissions just for kicks. Not sure if that helped or not, but I did it anyway.
Then I went back into the System Pref pane, and clicked on Apple Images, then clicked on the Change Picture checkbox. While none of the images appear in the white box, my background did change to one of the Apple Images (such as the black and purple Leopard-only background). I then closed System Preferences, opened it back up, and the images loaded up properly this time!

Can't boot into Mac OS after Windows install via Bootcamp

Hello.
Last night I installed Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro early 2011 via Bootcamp.After some major complications I was able to finally install Windows 7 and boot into it. Now I can't boot back into my "Macintosh HD" partition, it shows a no entry sign.
Hard Disk : 320GB Internal Sata
Partitions : 3 -> Mac, Bootcamp and 10.8 Recovery Partition
The good part is that I can still access the Mac OS partition in Windows and Windows is working perfectly fine. As a matter of fact right now I'm on the bootcamped windows.
I have a full time machine backup but still I am looking for a way to solve this without formatting the HDD.
Things I have tried:
1. Resetting NVRAM and PRAM
2. Booting into 10.8 recovery partition and running DU.
SMART Status : Verified
"Macintosh HD" grayed and Not Mounted
Successful Verify Permissions (Twice)
Is there a way to solve this? Though the Mountain Lion partition shows when I press the Alt/option key on startup but I can't somehow boot into it.
Thanks

Your problem is OS X is refusing to boot.
There is still a bootable volume on the Macintosh HD partition, it's just not working.
You can #8 Reinstall Just OS X while command r booted from the Recovery partition, as long as you don't use Disk Utility to erase the Macintosh HD partition, your files and programs remain.
Hook the computer via Ethernet cable to a router (or modem, power reset required) with a fast relaible internet connection, you will need your AppleID and password to reinstall OS X.
Step by Step to fix your Mac

Wallpaper not showing up in "Change Desktop Background" window

I just noticed an odd issue today on my Mac Pro. When browsing the built-in wallpaper folders (Nature, Plants, etc) in the Change Desktop Background window they are empty. My "Pictures Folder" one shows all the images correctly as well as browsing the ones from iPhoto. (I also have Aperture 2.1.2 installed but no projects yet so that part is empty.)
I performed a permissions repair, checked that the actual files were there in /Library and removed the com.apple.desktop.plist pref's file. After doing that all the pictures showed up again UNTIL I browsed around the picture folders in the Change Desktop Background window then they stopped showing again.
Could something in my Pictures Folder be causing the issue? Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Jim

Thanks for clarifying. I don't do right or left click, but occasionally do CONTROL-click and doing that brings up the contextual menu item "change desktop background" which leads to the Desktop prefPane. Now, why you're having issues, I have no idea. However, I suggest creating a new admin user account, logging into it, and seeing if changing the desktop picture works there.

Cannot change JToggleButton background color when Windows XP theme is used

I wanted to change the background of a JToggleButton when it's pressed. I tried a few things, such as
UIManager.put("ToggleButton.select", Color.RED);
setting button's background, button's UI.
but nothing worked.
so I tried changing desktop theme from Windows XP to Windows Classic, then i was able to set button's background.
The following is a simple test program, by switching theme, the toggleButton looks differently.
Does anyone know how I can change JToggle button's background color under Windows XP theme?
Thank you in advance!
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class ToggleTest {
    public static void createGUI(){
        JToggleButton button = new JToggleButton("Test");
        button.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
        JFrame testFrame = new JFrame("Test Frame");
        testFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
        testFrame.getContentPane().setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
        testFrame.getContentPane().add(button);
        testFrame.pack();
        testFrame.setVisible(true);
    public static void main(String[] args){
        try{
            UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
            //UIManager.put("ToggleButton.select", Color.RED);
        catch(Exception ex){
            ex.printStackTrace();
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            public void run(){
                createGUI();
}

class myToggleBtn extends JToggleButton {
String s;
public myToggleBtn(String str, Boolean sel) {
    super(str, sel);
    s = str;
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
    super.paintComponent(g);
    if (this.isSelected()) {
         int w = getWidth();
         int h = getHeight();
         g.setColor(Color.green); //selected color
         g.fillRect(0, 0, w, h);
         g.setColor(Color.darkGray); //selected foreground color
         g.drawString(s, (w - g.getFontMetrics().stringWidth(s))/2 + 1, (h + g.getFontMetrics().getAscent())/2 - 1);
}

Unable to install Windows 7 via Bootcamp on MBP mid-2012

Posted here from my original, since the old one was basically in the wrong thread. https://discussions.apple.com/message/25097756#25097756
I have a mid-2012 Macbook Pro 13" with the 2.9ghz i7 configuration, 8gb ram, intel HD 4000, Crucial M4 256gb SSD, and the original 750gb hard drive that was included in the computer. I made the SSD my boot disk.
I've been trying to install Windows 7 via bootcamp for a few days now. The first time I tried it I walked away from the computer after it got to the "Copying files" part of the windows 7 installation so I wasn't able to see what went wrong. When I try to start the computer it goes to the blank DOS screen (or terminal, whatever you prefer to call it) with the flashing cursor for text but I cannot enter anything and it just sits there. So I figured something may have gone wrong with the installation and I tried to do it again.
I re-wiped my 8gb flash drive, redownloaded the boot camp support files, and again started the installation with windows 7. The first time I tried it I had to reformat the "BOOTCAMP" partition that it had created on my SSD because it wouldn't write to it as it was not formated in NTFS. I spared 60gb for the Windows boot. So after reformatting I went through with the installation again. Now I get to the screen where it asks me what username, etc. After I finish entering in my credentials it starts to say "preparing desktop" and then I hear a loud CLICK and the entire machine just reboots and takes me back to the blinking cursor. Is this a common problem when trying to install windows? Thanks!

Have you modified BC Info.plist? Can you verify that you a valid ISO using Microsoft FCIV tool?
Your Windows 7 USB should have a directory structure similar to the following.

Problem installing Windows 8 via Bootcamp on MacBook Pro 13 (late 2009).

Hello,
I've installed Windows 8 Pro on my MacBook Pro 13 (Late 2009) which does not support Windows 8. I've started installing Windows 7 via Bootcamp, then interupted the installation and pluged-in the Windows 8 Disk, and after formating the partition, I've installed Windows 8 64-Bit.
Here is the problem. The Windows works fine, BUT after restart when I hold 'Alt' and choose EFI Boot (Windows 8's partition), Windows 8 starts loading but then suddenly there is a white flash and it restarts again. So after shut down or restart I cannot boot it.
Do you think that this is because I do not have Bootcamp installed on the Windows 8?
I've downloaded the supported software for Windows 8, but when I click setup.exe, it is giving me the following error:
This version of Bootcamp is not intended for this computer model. I've been trying to install it for more than 78 hours, so I'll be extremely gratefull to whoever help me. Thank you in advance.
P.S. Mac OS X partition boots fine.

If it is really not possible, I get it. But there are plenty of people that are running Windows 8 on the same model, that is powerfull enough to run Win 8. I'm actually running it, but until shut down or restart . Can't I edit Info.plst file alternative for Windows 8 like I did to allow BootCamp to image burn my USB on my model? I mean my model is same as the next one. I can't see why the drivers for mid 2010, won''t work on mine...

Error installing windows xp via bootcamp

Hi guys,
I just bought my macbook pro yesterday and I tried to install windows xp via bootcamp and after the installing it says "setup is starting windows" and then an error saying "session3initializationfailed" came out.
I downloaded windows xp sp3 from my university and burn it into a disk.
Can anybody tell me what's going on or what did i do wrong?
Thanks

Greetings Appelonians
I am privileged to have attained a brand new Macbook Pro 2010. I am not completely new to Apple and have used 'boot camp' on my other iMac's have have owned previously. In the process of installing Windows XP on the new Macbook Pro, I came upon a few challenging errors, some I have solved, but others getting the best of me at them moment. I am going to run through my situation I am at the moment, starting with my initial challenge, the solutions I came up with and at last the cul de sac I am at the moment.
The family of errors all evolved with me trying to install Windows XP on my Mac
A) Windows on my Macbook
1) I used Boot Camp to create a 50gm partition for Windows XP.
2) I booted up with the WinXP Install CD (original)
3) Deleted the Boot Camp Partition, recreating it and formatted it as NTFS.
4) Rebooted and got my first error after choosing to have the Macbook reboot with the newly installed WinXP partition.
Error
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<windows_root>\System32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
windows_root\System32\hal.dll missing or corrupt:
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.
Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information.
Error Fix
1) I used a Bootdisk created by BartPE and changed a line in the Boot.ini file. Apparently this issue is due to the fact that the Macbook Pro has a 200Mb partition, the Boot.ini refers incorrectly to the wrong partition when trying to complete the WinXP installation after rebooting.
2) I changed the line in the Boot.ini that refers to the partition as 3 to 2 (see bold below):
[quote][boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect [/quote]
3) This fixed the issue and Windows started after the reboot, remember still that my WinXP installation is still incompete.
B) Blue Screen of Death
1) During the WinXP run screen, my second error popped up as one of the dreaded [URL="http://justasktheitguy.com/software/blue-screen-unmountablebootvolume-stop-0x000000ed-0xaaaaaaaa0xbbbbbbbb0xcccccccc0xdddddddd/"]Blue Screen of Death[/URL], as found at the mentioned link.
2) It seems that this error is caused by a problem with an IDE cable or the BIOS in which case you just replace the cable or reload the fail-safe default settings in the BIOS. However, most of the time this error is caused by some sort of problem with the volume.
3) I booted again with my boot disk and ran 'chkdsk -r' and there after 'fixboot' to fix any errors regarding the volume of the HDD. (Fix can be found at the above mentioned 'Blue Screen of Death' link.)
4) Now I know that Mac does not use a BIOS but a EFI and this is where I am stuck.
All I need is to get WinXP installed properly on my New Macbook Pro. I had no trouble installing WinXP on my other iMacs and this has been the first time I had this issue. I do own a copy of Parallels, but I would like to run WinXP on a seperate partition with the option of either booting up with WinXP as well as using WinXP as Virtual Machine in Snow Leopard.
Hope some one out there can assist me, please.

"Change desktop background" instantly hides when opened

I have a rather strange issue that's a nuisance. When I right click on the desktop and select "Change Desktop Background," the system preferences pane opens, but automatically is hidden (similar to if you press cmd+H). I have to click the icon to restore the window.
This does NOT occur if I first open System Preferences and then select "Desktop & Screen Saver," or if I open "DesktopScreenEffectsPref.prefpane" from quicksilver.
I have tried deleting com.apple.desktop.plist and restarting, but this did not solve my problem. I think I may have experienced this problem in Lion as well, but I currently experience it on Mountain Lion.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

This same thing happens to me, and while not the end of the world, it is defintely annoying. Have you figured it out? Thanks!

Change Desktop Background Broken 10.8

When I "2 finger (right click)" click on the desktop and select "Change Desktop Background", System Preferences comes up and I can change my background. I then close System Preferences and try it again and System Prefrences doesnt open. It will work the 1st time after a reboot, but not work anytime after.
Is anyone else having this issue?
Is there anyway to see what that command is doing on the context menu? "Change Desktop Background"

I'm having a similar problem after installing Mountain Lion on a new MBP Retina. Sorry I didn't see your post before I duplicated it (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4217330?tstart=30).

Changing desktop background issue12

hi, I have an issue with my macbook pro retina display 13" running mountaion lion os.
I was trying to change my desktop background, so I right-clicked my mouse and choose 'change desktop background option'. The first time I did this, nothing happened (however i noticed that the 'system preferences' icon on my dock was bouncing after I did that). When I tried to do the same thing again, it worked. I did this several times and I noticed it will only work on the second time. fyi I was not having this issue till today. Anyone else facing the same issue? Do I need to format my laptop or re-install my ios to remove this bug?
sorry for my bad English. Thanks!

hi! thanks for the reply.
I tried to follow the instructions, but I don't understand with the last instruction which says "Restart the computer and open System Preferences (or problem program) and reset all your preferences again"
I went to restart my computer (after deleting the com.apple.system...), and it doesnt solve the issue. However, I noticed that deleting the com.apple.system the "change desktop background" will work once. but if i close and do it the again, it wont work (same thing if i restart my laptop). I know i am just being anal about this small issue lol, but i noticed some other users experience the same thing as well as me.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/22567888#22567888
or
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4146106
thanks for the reply =) I will try to ask my friend whether he is having the same issue as me.

Cannot Change Desktop Background in Windows 8 Installed Via Bootcamp

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for