Ask Juan - Question and Answer
Desktop Background Mystery
Question:
In Appearance and Themes, Display, Desktop, there are about 31 choices to pick for a desktop background that comes with Windows. My list also contains pictures I have in my files, photos I have taken and saved in My Pictures. I do not add them to the provided list; they somehow end up there. Do you know why or how that is possible?
Answer:
Over the course of daily computing life it is very easy to get caught up in the customization of ones computer. One of the easiest things to do is to modify the background of the desktop. As you have noticed, Windows comes with a number of ready to display pictures.
Because this is the number one place of focus, most persons (who like to experiment) find themselves changing the background often. Some of us even get bored or tired of the pictures that come with our computers. So, we opt for more personal backgrounds, like the picture of us at the beach, etc.
How this is done is not the question you want answered, but I will touch on it to answer the real question. As you pointed out, you can right click on the desktop to get a small content sensitive menu. On that list you will find an entry to display the properties of the desktop. It is labeled appropriately, properties.
Once properties has been clicked, the display properties screen (or window) appears with several tabs. If you click on the desktop tab you will see the infamous list of pictures available to be displayed as a background image. You can select from that list or you can click on browse to get a familiar window where you can find your own pictures or images.
By selecting a different picture other than one on the list, places the name of the file on that list. So that answers part of your question. But if you do it that way, only places the name of your file temporarily. In order to get it there permanently, you must copy the file to the folder that has been designated by Windows to hold those background images. A third party program may be responsible for moving or copying an image from your collection to the desktop background images folder.
At the moment I cannot remember any specific application or program that can or will do that. But it's not bad (or voodoo) so I wouldn't worry about seeing personal pictures there. Just enjoy the fact that you can change your background and personalize it that much faster.
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