Changing Logon Screen through Group Policies, Windows 7 and Windows XP

There's an easy way to change Logon screen of computers running Windows 7 through group policies. For windows XP, it requires some additional tweaks.


For Windows 7:


First, Create a jpg file you want as logon screen background which should be less than 256kb, name it as backgroundDefault.jpg and place it inside a server share, ex. \\servername\share\backgroundDefault.jpg


In the Group Policy Management Console, edit the GPO to change following settings.
Computer Configuration => Preferences => Windows Settings => Files => New File 
set the parameters as following image.

now apply the policy, and run gpupdate /force to check whether its working or not.
If its not, you'll have to update a registry key.
The key is HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
see following screenshot to update it.

Now you should have your Logon Background changed. Be sure to add computers to which the logon screen applies, in the scope of group policy.


For windows XP:


You'll need to change three registry keys, instead of adding file as Background image. But the image on shared server should be .bmp and less than 256kb. (Note: Mine worked with 2 MB image.)
Do the same procedure above to add/edit keys in registry.
See following to change the keys.

You should now be having your Background Logon changed.