Windows – How to change the lock screen in Windows 8 that appears for the default user

lock-screenwindows 8

This is about Windows 8 RTM.

How can I change the lock screen in Windows 8 that appears after connecting to the machine via RDP?

You can change your lock screen for your user account like so:

  1. Hit the Windows key.
  2. Right click your user name in the upper right hand corner, choose Change Account Picture.
  3. Click Lock Screen, choose a new picture.

However, if you then connect to the computer where you've done this from another computer via RDP, using the same account, the physical machine you've connected to will display the "default" user lock screen – a stylized Space Needle / Seattle picture. It's not a bad picture, but I'd like to change it.

Best Answer

MS released an update to allow this without any hacks:

Win8: How to Manage the Lock Screen Image on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2787100/en-us

The update “Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 cumulative update: November 2012” adds functionality to the Control Panel group polices that allow an administrator to designate a lock screen image on their Windows 8 and Windows 2012 computers. This setting lets you specify the default lock screen image shown when no user is signed in, and also sets the specified images as the default for all users (it replaces the inbox default image) Some restriction apply. See the Restrictions section below.

The new group policy is named “Force a specific default lock screen image” and can be found in this path in the group policy editor: “Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization”

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