Unable to change Windows 7 Starter wallpaper!

I am sure that if Bill Gates picked up a netbook and tried to change the wallpaper he would be floored to find out there were useless gadgets insalled while wallpapers were turned off.  You can bet his netbook would be enabled immediately.  But to Microsoft employees the rest of us are just useless SOBs that happened to buy something using a MS operating system.  All they need to do is send out an update.  It is a simple fix and takes up no space compared to other enabled options. 

I am starting to believe Microsoft managers are no better than that profound idiot Steve Jobs at Apple

Changing my background is a neat feature, however it isn't my primary grienvance with my netbook.  Mine is Bloatware. If there is one thing I DESPISE is bloatware, Adware, and spamware, something big computer makers are notorious for pre-cramming on their HDD's, so you have a nice bloated HDD straight out of the box.

Furthermore, what many don't realize and what I think is further irony to this whole "upgrade your netbook OS" option is that the primary reason why netbooks come preloaded with Windows 7 Starter is specifically because they simply aren't powerful enough to run the other versions of windows 7.  I, myself, just purchased an Acer Aspire ONE netbook, with 1 GB RAM and 250GB HDD.  I think some people here are expecting a bit too much from their new product. Let's try to keep things in perspective here, we're paying for mobility, (at least at this point in time) and thus, a compromise must be made.  The compromise in this case is a drastic reduction in processing and memory capability.

On my way home I was looking forward to formatting C: and installing my Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, thus cleaning out my HDD and starting "Fresh", if you will.  Prior to doing this I was sure to do my homework.  I found some VERY valuable information in regards to various upgraded versions of win7 and how they interact with netbooks (the majority of them anyways).   I highly recommend reading this http://www.cio.com/article/490588/Windows\_7\_Ultimate\_on\_a\_Netbook\_See\_How\_it\_Runs article in reference to this.  It appears as thou our netbooks may not even BE able to run the Ultimate edition, let alone Home or Premium.

On the other hand, there is indeed a way to install these versions and "scale them back" significantly enough to be able to function properly on the system.  A very comprehensive, step-by-step article on how to perform these downgrade "tweaks" can be seen here http://www.ehow.com/how\_5633623\_adjust-windows-ultimate-netbooks.html .  This would apply obviously to any version other-than the much loathed Windows 7 Starter.

I am still considering doing a format, then clean install on my netbook. Im feel confident enough with those options disabled that it may barely be able to squeak by playing a YouTube video at 320p =).

Hi Sharon.

Thanks for your reply it was the best one yet, these guys actually found a way around most of the problems.

Now it is only a matter of leaving the wallpaper hack in place and playing with the personalization via partially hidden menus. to bad the transparent Aero theme is not there anymore. that was the only thing making win7 look better than the rest. and the preview icons..  Oh by the way.. the quick launch problem still exists("quick launch vanishes" - on this forum) and I hope MS will fix that soon... slim chances though.

Well thanks for the quick reply Sharon, I am sorry I mistook you for a MS employee but It seemed like that to me after reading some of your replies.

As other people here replied I too am a MS user by choice, but this latest neat new feature left a seriously bitter taste in my mouth and building rage in my heart.  Chris, Sharon, you are good people but if you are professionals you should see what is going on in here and send it straight to the top! Make some noise ! talk to the guys upstairs that pay you money and let them know about this huge wrong being done to their most loyal users. Or else Microsoft is going to see great losses because of silly little tricks like this one.

 P.S

On my wife's netbook we changed the background by using the Suggested Hack to HACK the Windows OS . It worked , thanks for asking.

Oh and Sharon don't give me that at&t contract thing I don't buy that for one second.

yours J/L

tldr: MS you bunch of DuCKS!

Hi J/L, it's me!

Well, "good people" aside, Chris is the one ... I'm just an out-there user and have no connection with the top. As for the AT&T thing, I was just repeating the content of a much earlier post for the sake of "argumentative completion". Not to take sides, just to represent all sides ...  It made sense at the time.

Anyhow, since my earlier posts I have found resources other than fixing the wallpaper that may help your wife get more use from Windows Starter. Have a look at this:

Other personalization

There are instructions on the How-to Geek website on how to turn on other options for personalization. What's cool about this is that they areavailable directly from Windows but are simply "hidden". Here's a direct quote from the How-to Geek web site:

Windows 7 Starter still has a lot of customization options, but they’re not as apparent as they are in other editions of Windows 7.  With these tips, you should be able to customize your netbook more than you originally thought possible.  And these all work without installing any 3rd party software!

See what's available in this link from the How-to Geek website:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/11243/how-to-personalize-windows-7-starter/>

There's more for the "die hards"!

I also recently discovered a tip on the How-to Geek website. I don't have any history on this but I've always trusted the "How-to" geek group. This tip actually puts the Personalization option on the right-click context menu. (Note: this may go against the Microsoft EULA so you might want to think about it first ...):

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16041/change-the-wallpaper-and-customization-settings-in-windows-7-starter-edition/ 

Hope it helps. A bit.  ;-)

Best,

Sharon

Sharon Roffey

Queensland, Australia