Prevent Wallpaper Change When Applying a Desktop Theme

When you change the desktop theme, it changes the wallpaper, cursors other visual elements as defined in the theme file. If you want to retain the existing desktop background (wallpaper) when changing themes in Windows XP or Windows Vista, here is a registry edit. This can be useful if you want to test different themes without affecting the existing desktop background.

Launch Regedit.exe and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Plus! \ Themes \ Apply

Double-click Desktop wallpaper and set its Value data to 0

Exit the Registry Editor.

When you change the theme all visual elements except the wallpaper should be applied.

REG File

To automate the above setting, download no_wp_theme.zip. Unzip the archive and run the fileno_wp_theme.reg. To reverse the change, run the file undo.reg.