Ok, thought I’d post a real simple how-to on changing your login/lock screen on Windows 7.  First off, you don’t need any external programs to do this, just a little time and patience.

• First open up registry editor.  (click start, then search for regedit, and press enter)
• Once opened, navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
• Check the OEMBackground key, set it to a value of 1 if not already set.  If key is not there create it as a Reg_Dword with a value of 1.

This value should probably be already set, especially if you have a Dell, HP, Sony Vaio, or other branded computer.  Next, find a background image you want it to be set as.  Once you find one, you must make sure of a few things:

• It is the screen resolution your computer is set to.
• It is in a JPEG format
• It is less than 256KB in size

If the last 2 requirements are not met, then it will not work.  Once you have your file ready, lets to the last part!

• Navigate your explorer to %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds.  If you don’t know what %windir% is, then it is probably C:\windows\
• Next, rename backgroundDefault.jpg to backgroundDefault-old.jpg
• Copy your file that you want and name it backgroundDefault.jpg (if file extensions are off, then leave .jpg off).
• Do the same for the background image that has the resolution of your screen.
• You should be good to go

That should take care of everything you need.  Now, you can restart your computer if you want to make things long, or you can do what I do and press and hold the windows key, then press L.