tinyapps.org / docs / Getting BGInfo to work for all users in Terminal Services

BGInfo from Sysinternals puts a wealth of system info onto your Desktop's background. Getting it to work for all users in Terminal Services turned out to be a bit of a challenge; the various methods described on the BGInfo forum did not avail.

A guide from Cambridge (upon which this one is largely based) was discovered, but some adjustments were needed before everything worked.

There is likely a better method to accomplish this - if you know of one, please let me know. As always, use the following instructions at your own risk (and joy).

These steps were performed on Windows 2000 Server while logged in as Administrator.

Part 1

  1. Put bginfo.exe into %windir%.
  2. Right click bginfo.exe
  3. Click Properties
  4. Click Security
  5. Click Add
  6. Click Authenticated Users
  7. Click Add
  8. Click OK
  9. Click "Allow" for "Full Control"
  10. Click OK

Part 2

  1. Launch bginfo.exe
  2. Click "Time remaining" in the top right corner to stop the countdown timer
  3. Configure items as desired
  4. Click File > Save as
  5. Save file as bginfo.bgi in %windir%. Do not close bginfo.exe yet.

Part 3

  1. Create the directory %windir%\bginfo and grant Authenticated Users read/write access as described in Part 1, steps 3 through 8.
  2. In bginfo.exe, click Bitmap > Location > Other directory
  3. Type %windir%\bginfo\bginfo.bmp
  4. Click OK twice

Part 4

  1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to: Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
  2. Click File > New > Shortcut
  3. Type %windir%\bginfo.exe /timer:0 /i%windir%\bginfo.bgi into the box
  4. Click Next, then Finish.

created: 2006.09.16