Posts Tagged ‘BGinfo’

Using Group Policy Preferences to control multiple BGinfo scripts

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

I wanted to apply a different BGinfo-scripted background image as the wallpaper depending on what system a user was logging into, all using a single Group Policy.

This means that all servers are set to have a uniform background colour, but users on regular PCs are still be able to use any custom wallpaper on other computers without having to re-set it after each login.

While it is probably possible to create long-winded batch scripts to do what I wanted, it’s a lot easier to use the Group Policy Preferences (GPP) file options to control which BGinfo script is given to which systems.

One thing worth noting about GPP file control: I found that you have to use the “Replace” action rather than “Update” in Group Policy Preferences, as the targeted systems only update file attributes when using the “Update” action.

Step 1: BGinfo Scripts

  • Create the BGinfo scripts, and then put them in a network share that any authenticated user can access.
  • The BGinfo.exe file will also need to be in this share.

BGinfo Setup

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