Windows 10: Background change (to picture) results in a solid colour, not an image

As the title suggests I try to change my desktop background and it will not accept the image. It will simply put a solid colour there instead. I have tried from the settings panel and even from the image viewer. The image viewer results in an error and suggests I need to activate Windows. It is activated.

Thanks for taking the time to read my question.

:)

 

Folder browsing keeps going to top when desktop picture changes

This is a well known bug in Windows 10, if you have your desktop background set to slideshow or colours set to 'Pick an accent colour from the background', it causes a refresh in Windows File Explorer, which results in the window scrolling back to the top

The only solution is to set your background wallpaper to a picture and set the colour to a solid colour in Settings - Personalisation - colours.

Sorry, but this bug is well known for over a year and Microsoft does not seem to have produced a patch to fix this issue . . .

 

Issue with background after installing WP10 Insider preview

Hi! I just installed the insider preview of WP10 on my Lumia 930 and now I can’t change the background. I go to Settings>Personalisation>Start and then select a background in ‘My pictures’ or ‘Sample Images’ but the background (or the preview of it) won
change. It’s just stuck on solid colour tiles and black/white background. I also tried going to the Photo app and setting a picture as a background but it only says “Try a different photo: We can’t set this one as your background.”

 

One thing to check. Go to the Ease of Access Centre, either at:
Settings > Ease of Access > Other options
or:
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Ease of Access Centre\Make the computer easier to see
and make sure 'show windows background' hasn't been turned off.

 

Hi Bree, thank you for the info. It was set to show a background.

 

OK, so you've tried from Settings and it didn't work, but there's another way to set a background - find an image in File Explorer, right-click on it then select 'Set as desktop background' (apparently this should work even if windows isn't activated). Try it with the standard wallpaper in C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper\Windows





Apparently at least one other has got the 'Settings' method to work again by doing just that.

Can't Change Desktop Wallpaper

 

that just changes the background to a solid colour too.

 

It does sound as if your Windows is behaving as if it isn't activated. Have you ever had a background image? Did anything change recently that may have caused activation problems? Have you re-installed Windows or changed any hardware, for example.

This tutorial may help, https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html

Though I fear you may end up needing to use 'OPTION FOUR To Activate Windows 10 by Phone' here...
Activate Windows 10

 

Open gpedit (Right Click Start Choose Run and enter gpedit.msc) if you have Win 10 pro or higher and go to User Configuration\ Administrative Templates\ Start Menu and Taskbar look for an entry called Prevent users from customizing their start screen and make sure it's set to Not Configured or Disabled

 

I recently had this update:
Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1511 for x64-based Systems (KB3176493)

I have noticed Cortana is not working either.

shishom, I right click and nothing happens. It's looking more like I need to reinstall windows. I did a deep scan with my (paid) antivirus and it's shows no issues. So whatever is wrong is either not detected or still a mystery.

 

if you're reinstalling Windows you might as well upgrade to the Anniversary Update. I always clean install Windows when there's a major change like the AU and run the ISO I download through a program called MSMG Toolkit to remove what I don't need before installing and I rarely if ever have any issues with Win 10. Sounds like you have corrupted files and running sfc /scannow could help but since you say nothing happens when you right click Start go to C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe right click it and choose Run as Admin and see if it helps. You might have to run it 3 times so run it then restart then run again

 

Before doing that it may be worth trying to repair the existing system with sfc/scannow and dism. See...
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html

 

I have done the sfc /scannow 3 times restarting each time and all is good.

Thank you for you time both of you. I appreciate your knowledge and sharing it with me.

Have a great day!

 

I talked to Microsoft and they deducted my Motherboard's BIOS is the issue. It's last update was 2011. Such an old motherboard it's been 5 years since an update. I need to go back to 8.1 or buy a new Mobo. Or put up with the issues.

Again thanks greatly for the help!!

 

Can't you go into your pictures( or wherever you have it) then right click on that image and look
at the drop down for "set as background" and see if that works.
I am not a Windows 10 user so it may or may not work for you as I am still using Windows 7.
Best of luck to you,
Dennis