Is it possible to add a random rotation of backgrounds to the logon screen (like the wallpapers have)? That would be awesome if it did

Since I mentioned this when I initially requested (http://www.binaryfortress.com/Forum/index.php?topic=1299.msg5668#msg5668) the feature I would also appreciate it much.

Yeah, totally forgot that fact. The only approach to overcome this would be to have a Windows Service or something like that, would it?
If DF did the image loading and resizing stuff, the only task for that service would be to pick up the image from a temporary location and put it into the correct place. I have to admit that this might potentially intrude some security issues since in principle you have to assert that the image in the temporary directory is really created by DF and not modified. That could be done via a service call involving checksums...

Edit: Forget about all my statements regarding services under .NET framework. Since any of your software is using it, you certainly know all about it... (screwed up mind over here)

What about for those of use that don't bother with uac?

The service approach would certainly work as well

Have a look at iReboot. My idea was inspired by their architecture. But since they modify the BCD store they do not seem to have any other chance to accomplish this.

I don't know whether it would work, but have you tried out adjusting ACLs of both the registry key and the directory where the image is placed? If we set it to "Everyone" with full access rights I could imagine that no elevation would be necessary - assuming that no other process reverts the changes. I will try this out if I find some time to.

I have to agree. DF would certainly be listed on AntiVirus vendor's lists if it or its installer did the adjustments.

As a last idea (I don't want to get on anyone's nerves ) there might be a solution involving the Windows Task Scheduler.
We can schedule a recurring task to be run with highest privileges. Maybe by adding some command line arguments to DF and running it with the parameters specified can be a solution. But I don't know the exact APIs to schedule a task.

Have a look at the Task-Scheduler MMC-Snapin taskschd.msc. The new task context menu entry opens up the related dialog. In the trigger tab you can create a new trigger that may run on every logon. In the general/common tab (sorry German over here ) you could check the highest privileges checkbox. In the actions tab you would finally specify which action to perform, e.g. which program to run. A task can have multiple triggers and actions. Also there are some conditions you can set besides some other settings.

A general overview at MSDN can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384006.aspx
Unfortunately this doesn't show any .NET APIs. I found some Codeproject sites and could imagine that a WMI approach would work though. There's also a command line utility available named http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb736357.aspx.

What do you think about this, Jon?

* bump *

I would love this feature too...

Oh, and I always have UAC disabled. It's the first thing I do on a new installation of Windows 7.

Well done. You just disabled your last line of defense against installing malware. Your PC is just as safe as a random 10 year old Windows XP computer. UAC is not the lock on the front door. It is the vault inside the house. It's a (small) annoyance every time you use it, until someone breaks through the front door.

Anyway, I would not mind getting a UAC-popup when I click the Apply button. Lots of other apps do it in exactly the same way.

UAC is an annoyance at best. Any good virus can bypass it easily. It also tends to crash computers or mes with installations, especially for more powerful users that don't just follow what they are told and like to work outside the norm of computing.

Its not a vault door, its a doorman. A really annoying one that can't ever recognize you.

Its about as effective as the first layer of "this is from an unsigned publisher do you still want to run it?" thing you get.

Some people are savvy enough to run with very little other than a semi-decent firewall and not get infected.

And its only a "small" annoyance if you actually go through and give it the middle option that doesn't lockdown your whole computer every time it pops up.

Despite this UAC discussion that leads this thread into space, the point is that each time a the logon bg image is rotated a new image must be placed into %windir%\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds which is only writable with admin rights. If you want to put it that way, it is like an apply button that has to be pressed on each rotation.

Is what we are hoping for xasx

Sorry to dredge this up from so long ago, but I thought it better than starting a new thread.
Mainly, I'd like to add my vote for logon screen rotation, similar to the random wallpapers option. Seems like the Task Scheduler option makes the most sense, with us having to confirm the UAC prompt when we made changes to the settings. I'd be fine with that myself!

Right now, I currrently use a separate program for doing this, but would obviously prefer to be able to manage it from within DisplayFusion.

Thanks, Keith! You guys set a high bar for service!