"Windows Explorer Background Images"

Tips, Tricks, and Technology for the Field : Windows Explorer Background Images

"Windows Explorer Background Images
... Ever get confused which hard drive you are working in? Well, the Windows Explorer can put different backgrounds on them to help you remember. Just create a file at the root of your drive called desktop.ini and place the following in it:


[ExtShellFolderViews]
{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}
[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
Attributes=1
IconArea_Image=background.gif


Next, find a washed-out image or create a light color in MSPAINT and put it there called background.gif. (be sure to make the file type a GIF too) Open Windows Explorer and see your creation! ... "

This is kind of neat... It is a very quick and simple way to customize a folder, including a drive's root folder.

Some notes:
1. The change is not recursive. So the background image does not show in subfolders.
2. The background.gif will tile.
3. Windows Explorer doesn't need to be restarted for this change to take effect (i.e. the desktop.ini is read each time the folder is displayed)

For a little more information on the Desktop.ini, check out, Customizing Folders with Desktop.ini