Folder Background Images in WinXP

This brief tutorial explains how to add a background image to any folder in Windows XP.

First, make sure all hidden files are visible on your system. Then, open the folder for which you wish to add a background image. Within the folder, right-click and select Properties » Customize tab » Customize. There, choose any icon, click Apply and OK.

That process should have created a "desktop.ini" file. Open that file with a text editor and add these lines of code:

[ExtShellFolderViews]
{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}
[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
IconArea_Image=C:\path\folder\background.jpg

To customize this according to your needs, edit the path in the last line to reflect to the location of the image you wish to use as the background image for that folder. Refresh the folder and the new background should appear.

Finally, to remove the default icon chosen during the creation of the desktop.ini and restore the default folder icon, delete these lines of code from within the desktop.ini file:

[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=(some number)

About this article

This is article #216, posted by Perishable on Monday, October 16, 2006 @ 07:11am. Categorized as Technology, and tagged with customize, images, tips, tricks, tweaks, windows, winxp. Updated on March 02, 2008. Visited 31407 times. 26 Responses »

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26 Responses

1 • October 28, 2006 at 9:10 pm — Bernd says:

Nice tip but … this njust tiles the image. How about a tip to scale it instead to window size. And aside from that how about some insight into what the long codes mean and how they function?

2 • October 29, 2006 at 7:46 am — Perishable says:

Bernd,
Thank you for the feedback. Here are few more tips for you (I sure hope they help!):

1. Scaling images >> according to virtualplastic.net,

The [folder background] image you apply is repeated on the icon area, and there is no way to center or align it.

..Although, in that same article the author provides several additional tips that may help you. Perhaps you could employ some sort of image editor to "manipulate" your image into something that works for you..?

2. Microsoft code >> To be quite honest with you, I have no idea "what the long codes mean and how they function." But if I did, I would definitely share my insights with you, Bernd.

3. Other resources >> Of course, there is always the internet, which may provide you with additional sources of information. When I went there, I found this article to be of some help, insofar as the tool provided seemed to automate the process to some relative degree. You may also try searching for a program called Windowpaper XP.

Good luck, Bernd!

3 • January 7, 2007 at 12:49 pm — Faiz says:

how to Change Windows xp start button Text

4 • January 7, 2007 at 5:58 pm — Perishable says:

Faiz,
Remember, always search before commenting ;)

5 • January 17, 2007 at 10:09 pm — Ahmed says:

i tried, but that doesn’t work. i could’nt find any file named desktop.ini. is there any way to add a background.

6 • January 21, 2007 at 6:41 pm — Perishable says:

Ahmed,
It is likely that Windows is "hiding" your system files. Go to Tools > Folder Options > View tab and check "Show hidden files and folders". Windows should then display all files, including the desktop.ini file referenced in this article. Then, after you have finished editing, you may return to the View tab and "hide" the system files again.

7 • February 10, 2007 at 4:20 pm — zabu says:

i have a dark image on my folder and i’ve put this to make the text white IconArea_Text=0xffffffff the problem is that the file’s name continues being black and the only white area of the text is the one that shows the file size and that stuff.

8 • February 10, 2007 at 4:25 pm — zabu says:

Sorry i fixed it the text should have said IconArea_Text=0×00ffffff

9 • February 11, 2007 at 9:49 am — Perishable says:

zabu,

Try this instead:

ICONAREA_TEXT=16777215

10 • February 11, 2007 at 9:22 pm — zabu says:

ok thanks. is there a difference?

11 • February 12, 2007 at 7:20 am — Perishable says:

Yes, in this case, the color "white" is represented in "decimal" notation. For more information on color encoding for the web, check out this article at Wikipedia.

12 • July 29, 2007 at 11:02 am — David says:

Got the result I was looking for. Thanks for your help.

13 • July 29, 2007 at 3:55 pm — Perishable says:

You’re quite welcome — glad to be of service!

14 • October 3, 2007 at 8:17 pm — P0t3nk says:

How to center a folder background? Please tell me as soon as possible

15 • October 4, 2007 at 11:33 am — asd says:

can we make the background stretch and does not repeat itself???

16 • October 7, 2007 at 9:34 am — Perishable says:

P0t3nk and asd:

As far as I know, Windows XP provides no native method for applying such properties to the background images displayed in folders.

However, using your favorite image-editing software and a little imagination, creating a workable solution should be relatively simple.

Good luck ;)

17 • October 9, 2007 at 12:52 am — CandyShopGirl says:

Wazzup!

What do you think about love? >:)

18 • October 9, 2007 at 6:13 am — Perishable says:

Wow — good question..
I think that God is love, and that in order to know love, we must first know God. ;)
Thanks for the stimulating comment!

19 • November 13, 2007 at 11:37 pm — Trey says:

Thank you for the help I downloaded a little program that did this for me however I prefer to do it the old fashioned way. It just seems more stable to me. Thank you for the information. I feel a little more reassured about this program now that I know what it is doing.Oh, the name is IESHWIZ I dont sponsor website so do a search and see if you like it. It is automated but for some computers you may not have the privelege to change certain settings mabey this will let you get through that problem. Good Luck, and Happy Coding.

20 • November 14, 2007 at 6:12 pm — Perishable says:

Trey, thanks for the heads up on IESHWIZ. Something like that may be just the ticket for quite a few folks. I totally agree with you, however, about preferring “the old fashioned way” of tweaking Windows. Any opportunity to avoid the installation of yet another unnecessary software program is most welcome, especially when direct configuration is possible. Thanks for the feedback! ;)

21 • December 21, 2007 at 4:35 am — light says:

i have a question about the desktop.ini… how could you be permanent in the usb.. ive seen this before in my friends usb.. w/out changing the address of an usb ..tnx..hope you can help me about this..

22 • December 21, 2007 at 2:54 pm — Perishable says:

light,
I am not exactly sure as to what you are referring. Frankly, I am not certain that I could answer the question even if you had been crystal clear.. Have you tried searching around on Google? Sorry I couldn’t offer more help.

23 • January 29, 2008 at 6:56 am — borneo headhunter says:

is there by chance a code to make the background image fixed while scrolling?

24 • February 22, 2008 at 6:31 am — enche rajoo says:

ive show hidden file,but there no desktop.ini…izit any ways i can create desktop.ini?

25 • February 26, 2008 at 5:31 pm — Perishable says:

Hi enche rajoo,

The desktop.ini file may already be there, but it might be hidden from view. Try going into Tools > Folder Options > View and checking the option to “Show hidden files and folders”. After doing that, check for the file, and if you still don’t see it, you will have to create it. Simply right-click within the target directory/window and select “New > Text Document”. Name the new file “desktop.ini” and you are good to go!

26 • February 27, 2008 at 2:58 am — enche rajoo says:

thanx pal!:)

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