Modifying the /System directory is fine if you know what you're doing. You should know this if you've ever installed OS X on a PC.

FierceDeityLink1

No love for InterfaceLift yet?

[interfacelift.com]

phoenix

Digital Blasphemy ... best wallpapers EVER.

aelver

Replacing the image file via the Finder is a lot easier than typing those commands and pathnames accurately. The Finder will ask you to "authenticate" before allowing you to move a file into /System/Library/CoreServices, of course, but all that means is that you need to type your admin password. This is almost a trivial exercise; no need to use the terminal.

(It is not trivial where, exactly, this file resides, so thanks to Lifehacker for pointing it out. But suggesting that users do this via the Terminal (when most Mac users rarely use the command line) is a disservice.)

to Delfuego: please stop spreading the FUD! It is perfectly acceptable that a user muck around in /System if they know what they're doing. Swapping one jpeg for another is NOT a problem, and no one should scare people off from customizing their Mac in such a basic way.

Of course, on this post there should have been better warnings that if you've angered the gods you can hose your system when playing with system files. But there's no reason to scare me into thinking that I'm not intelligent enough to get rid of Apple's ugly Leopard login screen.

Your suggestion is not a better way of doing it; I don't want my login to match my dekstop. They're two different modes of operation, and I want a visual representation of that.

Margaret

@delfuego: I just followed your link, which seems to have been fixed. What I followed didn't redirect to that comment for me the first time.

MatthewT

MatthewT, you're looking at the original Flickr post, not the comment I specifically linked to (the one by qurt, currently four from the bottom).

delfuego

@delfuego: Delfuego, you do realize that the flickr.com instruction is the exact same?

"Simply replace this file:
/System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg"

MatthewT

No!!!!!! Gina, you should know better -- one of the very, VERY basic rules of Mac OS X is that the user should never, ever, EVER muck with the /System directory. (The somewhat-publicized blue screens of death on upgrading to Leopard were caused by third-party installers putting kernel hacks in /System, for example, something that Apple very VERY specifically tells developers and users never to do.)

Instead, follow the *right* way to change the login screen background by following the directions here:

[flickr.com]

These directions work in Tiger, too, and by changing a preference in the /Library directory rather than mucking about inside the /System directory, you're doing this correctly.

delfuego

@myusuf05: Googling 1280x1024 (substitute your screen dimensions) will return lots of hits for images of the right size.

MrJR

Oh, I get my desktops from Duckfarm:

[duckfarm.net]

and Vladstudio:

[www.vladstudio.com]

mwschmeer

I'd advise to not change the desktop wallpaper by overwriting files of the OS. For the purpose of configuration of your system, there's configuration files (which also survive an upgrade).

Either use

$ sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow DesktopPicture '/path/to/replacement/image/file.jpg'

if you are comfortable with the terminal, or download e.g. Mike Bombich's LoginWindowManager [www.bombich.com]
which allows the same type of customization.

tjahns

I like this one...

[wps.socwall.com]

phil2dot6

for XP users (I need to double check on vista)
go to your registry
HK_USERS>.DEFAULT>Control Panel>Desktop
Change the Wallpaper key to be a path of whatever .bmp you want for your background. As far as I know it has to be a .bmp.
You can also change the screensaver that shows up before you log in using the SCRNSAVE.EXE value. Change it to the full path of your .scr file you want.

rothgar

@InspectorxGadget: Good job. I was just about to do it, and by habit I copied the old one, then I remembered that it wasn't mentioned in the post.

univision

@nettoyeur: Yeah, I'm surprised mandolux wasn't mentioned before..I've been using it for years and it's tons better than Social Wallpapering as far as I can tell.

lesbiansayswhat

Great, thanks for the tip. No mention of mandolux yet, so I'll toss it out there: [www.mandolux.com]

nettoyeur

@naughtyduncan: Thank you! I have no problem with the command line, my PC booted straight into DOS up till about three years ago. :)

infmom

@zair: I'm not sure how spending $4.95 versus an OS tweak that's already there is easier, but I definitely like the way that Visage Login allows you to customize your login window with information like the owner of the system! At my last job, we customized the login window to include a warning like that, but didn't have an app to do it. Nice!

phoenix

For Windows users, you can use the free LogonStudio to customize your logon screen.

J. D. Harper (aka Blog Jones)

An easier solution is to use Visage Login. It's $4.95 but does a lot more than just changing the login picture. Anyone who loves changing the look of their Mac should check it out.

[keakaj.com]

zair

Nice... Thanks for the tip. Now I have this photo (that was already my background) as my login screen too, which is consistent:

[ww2db.com]

If anyone want this photo for background, just contact me via my website for the hi-res version.

ww2db.com

You can also navigate to the Core Services folder via the Finder.

Hard Drive > System > Library > CoreServices > DefaultDesktop.jpg

Just find a image you like, rename it to DefaultDesktop.jpg, and drop it into the CoreServices folder, as listed above. You will need an administrator password, though.

ish91

Thanks ace!

nikoPSK

Gina, please add to this note that the file will have to be in the user's home directory to work like this. Otherwise you have to enter a different pathname.

Examples:
(if it's on your desktop)
sudo cp Desktop/background.jpg /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg

That should all be on one line of course.

Quine

Matthew, I think it's because when you open the Terminal, it defaults to your /Users/[username] directory rather than to the Desktop. If you saved the picture to the Desktop, you'll need to first type "cd Desktop", hit enter, and then type the command given here.

snowmentality

Doesn't work for me for some reason. I'm getting a

cp: background.jpg: No such file or directory

matthew

This application also does the job. [www.apple.com]

Marc

@infmom: In Tiger you can use a different image for the login screen by going into the folder '/Library/Desktop Pictures/' and create a new 'Aqua Blue.jpg' in that folder. Make sure to make a copy of the original 'Aqua Blue.jpg' first so you can change it back.

You should be able to do this through the Finder, so you can avoid the command line if you want.

naughtyduncan

You should probably also advise people on how to undo the change if they would like to.
Before modifying anything, cd to your coreservices directory and type:
sudo cp DefaultDesktop.jpg DefaultDesktop.jpg.old

To replace the original desktop after changing it, cd to your coreservices directory and type:
sudo mv DefaultDesktop.jpg.old DefaultDesktop.jpg

InspectorxGadget

My Mac already stands out from the rest... it's running Linux =)

For Vista you have to install LogonStudio from Stardock to change the logon screen. I don't quite understand why MS made it so hard to change the wallpaper.

The How-To Geek

@Gina: Is this for Leopard only or will it work with Tiger as well?

infmom

@myusuf05: My wallpaper comes from here.

infmom

haha great post! i might just have to try it out! you think you could recommend some nice widescreen backgrounds?

myusuf05

Well I feel like an ass.

Managed to screw something something up and now I just have a blue background.

HELP.

P.s. On a side note I've been working with the Mac for about 3 months now. So any help you guys can give on adjusting to the Terminal and suh would be greatly appreciated.

DonnyDiablo

Gina, the wallpaper in the screenshot is simply awesome. Can you please post a link to it?

doniv