Using Photos (iPhoto) as Desktop Background and system startup time

I've been beating my head against the wall trying to figure out why my iMac is taking longer and longer to boot (mostly after software updates).
My stopwatch shows a little over 3 minutes from chimes until there is a usable UI.
Through process of elimination, I finally found the problem. We have over 24,000 pictures in iPhoto, and like to cycle through them as the desktop background. The problem with wanting to do this is OSX seems to have to enumerate through all 24,000 before it selects a "startup background", which takes around 2.25 minutes. Not bad, considering, but still an awful startup experience. I was starting to think I was running Vista or something.
Wondering if anyone else had run across this and if there was any known workaround, short of picking another style of desktop background?

I keep my favorite photos in a separate wallpaper folder. I select my photo for the desktop manually, but I wonder if you could not set up a folder of favorites and rotate among these. Perhaps with fewer photos in a folder, your computer would not have to take so much time going through them all.

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Desktop background and system preferances

everytime i turn on my mac the desktop background changes and the system preferances page is open?.....why?

please someone help..........everytime i turn on my mac the desktop background changes and the system preferences page is open......also with the web browser open......i keep changing my preferences but they never stay the same........a pop up said that my disk might be full?....what does that mean?

Using screensaver images as desktop background

how can I find the images from the screensavers that came with the mbp? I would like to use them as my desktop background.

To be clear, on a Mac, a "screen saver" is the moving images (or static) that display on a screen after a few minutes of inactivity, if so setup to do that.
A "desktop picture" is the non-moving image you setup for the background of your screen. In the PC world, it's called a "wallpaper" and some mistakenly call it a "screen saver"-- I know, because a lot of PC users I know call it such.
So two answers to your question:
1) If you are trying to find the desktop picture to change your background, go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES > DESKTOP & SCREEN SAVER and then choose the DESKTOP PICTURE tab and select away. You can even drag and drop a photo/image to the box on the screen to set it as your Desktop Picture.
2) If you want to use an image from a screen saver on the Mac, you can, while the screen saver is active, take a screenshot of the screen saver by pressing the following key commands: SHIFT + COMMAND + 3. The image will appear on your desktop to which you can then drag and drop it to the box in the Desktop Picture tab in the previous instruction.
Note that you can even create a folder of collected images and select that folder in the System Preferences pane of Desktop & Screen Saver and all the images will be available to choose.
Now...
If your question was "How can I make my screen saver as my desktop picture background?" this would be your answer:
http://www.wallsaverapp.com/

I tried to download some photos from a corrupted CD and now every time I try to open iPhoto the frame pops up but nothing will load. I just get the spinning color wheel. Any ideas???

I tried to download some photos from a corrupted CD and now every time I try to open iPhoto the frame pops up but nothing will load. I just get the spinning color wheel. Any ideas???

What version of iPhoto? Assuming 09 or later:
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. .
Regards
TD

Hello i made a site using the 3 platforms: desktop, tablet, and smartphone but... on tablets and smartphones appears the desktop design, any idea why?

Hello i made a site using the 3 platforms: desktop, tablet, and smartphone but... on tablets and smartphones appears the desktop design, any idea why?

Vivek,
I've checked the "Redirect from Desktop" and after uploading the website into the hosting account, it still appears in the desktop version. Would you please take a look at this? I hope you can see what I've missed. Thanks.
Initial BC version during construction: Oklahoma Immigration Attorney- Jonny Randall. Immigration, Criminal, Divorce, and Bankruptcy Defense
Uploaded version into hosting account: Oklahoma Immigration Attorney- Jonny Randall. Immigration, Criminal, Divorce, and Bankruptcy Defense

System startup time ?

Can anybody tell me how can i get the Systems Startup time OR
login time

Why is my computer slow?

Cannot select landscape photos as a desktop background from iPhoto events.

In the desktop preferences screen, when choosing a desktop background, I am able to see all of the normal options at the left. However, when I choose an image from the "iPhoto Albums" section, only vertically oriented images work. Landscape-oriented images don't update to the background (I get the basic Apple Blue.)
It appears to randomly effect my iPhoto albums, as some events have the problem, some do not, regardless of date of event or camera used.
When I add a folder and select the file manually (from the option at the bottom of the list), I have no problems... all images look fine.
I should also add that I do not allow iPhoto to manage my images, I manage my Photos folder and have the "Copy photos into the iPhotos library" option turned OFF.
I'm not sure if this is an iPhoto '08 problem or a Leopard problem, as I upgraded both at the same time during a fresh install.
PS - I've done most of the other trouble shooting things on Apple's support site, like creating a new iPhoto album and reimporting known problem-images, fixing permissions, re-creating the albumdata.xml file, etc. I even removed special characters from the Event Names and reset my keywords (I wasn't using them, anyway...)
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your help!

SIGH
Thanks for the suggestion, but it did not fix the problem. Since the general population uses iPhoto with the "copy files to the iphoto library" option turned ON, I decided to offload my images to an external drive and create a new library on my laptop, letting iPhoto do the organizing. (This is a big step for me, being an ex-windows user!)
A sample of images imported to the new iPhoto library seemed to register fine with the finder. Changing desktop images in the desktop prefs panel worked fine. All seems well and I'm looking forward to not having to manage the image folders and simply letting iPhoto import directly from the SD cards I use in my DSLR...
EXCEPT...
I can't seem to get through an import session without Leopard crashing on me. I get the dreaded dark-gray waterfall and the "please restart your computer" message in 65 different languages. Admittedly, I'm importing 5000+ images from an external FW800 drive, but still!
So here's my question to y'all:
Do I start importing a folder at a time and keep my fingers crossed, or should I consider a fix more drastic (like re-installing iPhoto?) Does this even sound like an iPhoto problem? Do I have a deeper issue (like a bad install of Leopard?) Or, is this just early-adopter syndrome with brand-new versions of iLife and Leopard, and I need to deal with it until Apple patches the holes?
I've had this system crash on me 5 times in the last three days, and it's getting old. What is this, Vista?

Can't Find Change Desktop Background in System Preferences... and other ???

I can't remember the last time I changed my desktop background, but it's been on the default plain blue. I tried to change it recently, and I cannot find the option to change background pictures in the System Preferences. I tried right-clicking on the desktop and used the context menu. That launched system preferences, kind of... the program opened, but the viewer did not... the actual window with all the options. I don't think my computer can find it either! I read a few discussions on this topic, and found to delete the plist from preferences folder.. tried that to no avail. Please help.

Hi again agapean,
Sorry to take so long to post back for you.
I found a screenshot of the System Preferences for 10.2 Jaguar and I see that you have two separate preference panes for Desktop and Screen Effects. In my Panther, the two were combined as one pane known as Desktop and Screensavers.
In the row below the toolbar of your System Preferences (It should be called Personal for that bar of preference "panes") there should be an icon for "Desktop".
See: Jaguar System Preferences
Is that not what you are seeing when you open System Prefences? If the Desktop pane is missing then it sounds as if it has somehow become deleted or corrupted.
I use Application Enhancer, windowshade, uControl, and Lite switch. They are all properly registered, but the icons are weird at the bottom... almost squished together? And the International icon shows up 3 times in System Preferences, once in Personal and twice in Other, where the other programs are located as well.
Third party hacks such as those can wreak havoc on the OS and things can become corrupted and cause a variety of system problems. It may very well be that that is what is causing the anomalies with your Desktop pictures/preferences.
Personally, I would uninstall them, if possible, and Repair Permissions from Disk Utility and try applying the 10.2.8 Combo update from Apple's downloads.
Back when I was using 10.2.8 I remember many problems users were having with system hacks like those back then. Perhaps others here may have a simpler approach to straightening out your situation.
littleshoulders

How do I use one of my photos for the desktop background?

I have a photo which I would like to have as my desktop background. How do I accomplish this?

Hi leduckmrb,
Are you talking about your computer desktop? If so, that isn't a Firefox thing at all. You'll have better luck looking at the [http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/display_change_desktop_background.mspx?mfr=true Microsoft documentation].
Hopefully this helps!

Can't change Desktop background in System Preferences

Hi. When I try to change my desktop background, either by right-clicking on the desktop or by opening System Preferences, the screen for Desktop options is blank. None of the options show up, grayed out or otherwise. While in System Preferences, if I click on Screen Saver, everything there works fine. But the button for Desktop becomes grey and I can't click on it.
I've tried Repair Permissions and this didn't work. I've seen similar posts here, but they don't seem to have the same problem I do, nothing freezes up, the Desktop screen is just blank. Do you have any ideas?
Thanks!
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

1. OK, let's try some more trashing: 1. Quit System Preferences if it is open.
2. Open your Home > Library > Caches folder, then trash the following two files therein:
- com.apple.preferencepanes.cache
- com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache
3. Trash the file
com.apple.systempreferences.plist
in your Home > Library > Preferences folder.
4. Trash the file
com.apple.systempreferences.xxx.plist
in your Home > Library > Preferences > ByHost folder, where xxx is an alphanumeric string.
5. Empty Trash.
6. Launch System Preferences and see if the problem is resolved.2. You wrote"I still have my Desktop Pictures folder."I presume you mean the Macintosh HD > Library > Desktop Pictures folder I cited previously. How about the contents of that folder? It should contain five folders:• Abstract
• Black & White
• Nature
• Plants
• Solid Colorsand a collection of .jpg images for a total of 28 objects.
3. I know you earlier said you ran Repair Permissions. I presume the permissions on Macintosh HD > Library > Desktop Pictures are:You can: Read & Write
Owner: system
Access: Read & Write
Group: admin
Access: Read & Write
Others: Read OnlyYes?
4. If none of the above sorts it out, let's see if it's isolated to your account. Do you have a second user account defined on your system? If so, log in to it and see if the problem happens there. If it does, it is probably a system-wide problem. If not, it is something with your user account. If you don't have a second account on your system, you can create a new one using System Preferences > Accounts. See "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Adding a new user account to your computer."
5. Immediately after the problem occurs — i.e. you open Desktop & Screen Saver preferences and either cannot select Desktop or Desktop is blank — check the ends of these Console logs for clues. Let's see if console can tell us if the Desktop preference pane is corrupted.
6. Do you have any personal Web space? If so, can you take a screen shot of the problem and upload it to your personal Web space? If so, post a link back here to the image. It may help if I can see what you're seeing, though I think I understand it from your description, "a picture is worth..." etc.
7. As a general check, run the procedure specified in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ. Perform the steps therein in the order specified.
8. To what was / is your Desktop image presently set? One of the Apple collections or images? Something from your iPhoto Library?
FYI: I number my points so you can respond by number.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

How do I use an iPhoto library stored on an external HDD (time capsule) on the new photos app?

I have recently upgraded to a MacBook Air with the latest 10.10.3 updates as such it has photos installed, not iPhoto. The MacBook I'm upgrading from still had 10.9 and as such had iPhoto app.
The MacBook air has a smaller SSD (128GB) than the HDD from my 2008 MacBook, and isn't big enough to store my iPhoto library (over 150GB). I want to just keep my library on the external HDD (which is an Apple Time Capsule).
When I follow the steps on Designate a System Photo Library in Photos - Apple Support it seems to want to import all the photos, it took hours to get to just 3% of importing so I left over night. In the morning it said my MacBooks storage isn't big enough, which of course it isn't - I didn't want to import the library on my new MacBook Air !
I just want to change the location that photos looks for the library every time it opens, I don't actually want it to import the whole library which it appears to have tried to do. thanks!

Thanks for getting back to me!
It is connected over wireless. I don't have an RJ45 connection on the MacBook Air (although will purchase an adapter if needed). Even if I do have an RJ45 connection does this mean I can only ever use wired to view my external photo library?
I suppose having the wired connection will give me the time to organise my photos and delete some of the rubbish (which I would have liked to do on my old MacBook first but it was running too slow, especially with such a big photo library - so I treated myself to a new MacBook Air so I did!).
And I guess I could then put my favourite photos on the MacBook Air and have a separate library of older/lesser used photos on the Time Capsule and just access those as and when over RJ45 network cable. I prefer to use wireless as much as possible as the Time Capsule is normally stored in a room I don't use the MacBook or other wireless devices !

Aperture makes desktop backgrounds and iphone backgrounds blurry.

So, I don't know when exactly this started happening, possibly after 2.1, but here is the issue.
I organize my desktop and iphone backgrounds in aperture with one project for each, with smart albums dividing it up so that I can have different categories. Each photo just has one or two keywords to keep it organized. Then to change my desktop I go into system preferences and choose it from the drop down there. Before this specific time that I can't remember, the desktop would change and it would be perfectly clear and sharp, like the picture. Now when I change it to a background added after that time, it is blurry and pixelated. Also, the same thing occurs with my iPhone. The backgrounds are exactly the size of the iPhone's screen, but pictures added after that time come out blurry on the iPhone.
I've reinstalled OS X a few times and Aperture from scratch a few times but have kept the same library throughout. What could be the issue? I hate not being able to have new backgrounds, for about a few months now.

Success! Well sort of. I went into Mission Control Preference Pane (in System Preferences) and fiddled about with a few ticks. The one that seemed to make the difference was the one called Show Dashboard As A Space. Make sure it's ticked. This is a bit of a bummer if you want multiple desktops with different personalised photo backgrounds but you don't want the dashboard as a space. It's still a fault Apple! So if someone finds this solved their issues then please don't mark the post as "this solved my problem", maybe just "this helped".
Because the issue is not resolved for those who don't want the dashboard as a space - those people can only have Apple's own backgrounds on their desktops! And it is worth point out that without the Show Desktop As Space box ticked, even with Mission Control set to just one background, the Aperture photo would not be reatained through log out and restart etc. AND the actual Desktop/Screen Saver preference dialogue box didn't work properly, taking ages to select a picture and the picture not changing on the background itself until the user threatens to exit the box. As I say though it all went swimmingly with the Show desktop as space box ticked.
Dear oh dear Apple, with every step "forward" you take there's always the odd lurch backwards into the murky days of Windows 1.0!

Transfer photo iPhoto to Desktop

How do I transfer a photo on iPhoto to Desktop? Not as wallpaper but as a file. iPhoto 09.

I had tried dragging and dropping before and the file bounced off three times. I then tried an end run. I sent the image to the trash and then put it on Desktop. What I got was a clipping, but WITH the image. However when I moved the file to a folder, all I got was a clipping, no image. That is when I submmitted my question.
I then kept on trying. The drag and drop finally produced a null with the full sized image. But, when I transferred the image to a folder, all I got was a thumbnail. But i overcame that by typing in a file name (as opposed the the "null"), and then I got a real live, full-sized file in the folder.
You were both right. And, thanks both for encouraging me to keep on trying. All is well.
If it matters, it was a cellphone image.

Problem applying .CR2 photo file as desktop background

Hello-
I have been trying to apply a photograph taken in RAW as a desktop background image. The file is .CR2 and when I click done to set it as the background, the background does not change and the notice comes up that System Preferences has unexpectedly shut down.
Please help !
Thanks

I recommend saving the file in a more compatible format like .png or .jpg before trying to turn it into a screen backdrop.

If I store files in the TimeCapsule's own HD, will i be able to use time machine to back those files up also? (specifically can i store/run my iPhoto library from TC and then have Time machine also make/include a backup up of the iPhoto library?)

I curretly use my iphoto library from an large external HD (2 tb) and then have time machine back it up to my airport extreme (which has an external HD attached, 500gb ) Long story short... I am running out of storage space on the 'large external hd 2tb'. however, I still have space on the HD (500gb) that is attached to my airport extreme.
My question is,
1. If i move my iphoto library over to the HD attached to my airport extreme, Is there a way for Time Machine to also back this up.
2. same question only applied differentliy = If i purchase a Time Capsule. and store files on its HD. (specifically an iPhoto library) would time machine create backups of this 'locally' stored data on its own TC HD?
TC = time Capsule
HD = hard drive
TM = Time machien

1. If i move my iphoto library over to the HD attached to my airport extreme, Is there a way for Time Machine to also back this up.
Sorry, but no. Time Machine cannot backup from network drives.
1. If i move my iphoto library over to the HD attached to my airport extreme, Is there a way for Time Machine to also back this up.
2. same question only applied differentliy = If i purchase a Time Capsule. and store files on its HD. (specifically an iPhoto library) would time machine create backups of this 'locally' stored data on its own TC HD?
Again, sorry, but no. Same reason. The TC's internal HDD is treated as a network drive.

Using Photos (iPhoto) as Desktop Background and system startup time

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