Having recently upgraded to Windows 8, my script to retrieve the current desktop wallpaper image has broken.
For Windows 7, How could I find out the path to the current desktop image?, this works great. However, that registry key now always contains
C:\Windows\web\wallpaper\Windows\img0.jpg
What is the new registry key used for Windows 8?
I've found two possible solutions.
Firstly, this key contains what looks like a Base64 encoded path:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\Images\ID2
And then there is the "custom theme properties file" which also contains a "[SlideShow]" section which looks like Base64:
C:\Users\Scott\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\Custom.theme
Best Answer
The two registry keys below both store the original path of the current wallpaper image:
They're in Unicode format, upon decoding that, one will have the full path to the current wallpaper image.