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In 2000/XP/Vista it was easy to set a wallpaper for the logon screen, either manually through tools like Logonstudio or simple registry changes by hand on prepared installation images or through custom group policies.

In Windows 7 all this works as usual, but the secondary (or any additional) monitor is just black. The mouse pointer is visible on it but no matter what settings I can't get the logon wallpaper to tile (or stretch or fill or whatever) over onto it.

This makes it hard to OEM/company brand the installation for multi-monitor users. More annoying is the fact that it looks officially supported to brand the logon wallpaper in Windows 7 - as it's made extremely easy... apart from this little catch. XP and Vista has no problem tiling or stretching the logon wallpaper over multiple monitors.

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  • I have triple, and only shows 2 on bootup, with one with the logon window. I think that's normal due to the graphics card settings not loading till logon right? Correct me if I'm wrong on that.
    – sheldonhull
    Commented Oct 26, 2009 at 21:55
  • Well I get the same problem if I log on and then just lock the computer - after logging in and everything initializing fine.
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Oct 27, 2009 at 14:40
  • I wonder if the Win7 logon/lock screen simply isn't using the graphics driver for security reasons (secure screen)? It could make sense though it's very graphic in nature and renders nicely at high resolutions which seems a bit weird if that were the case (and the fact that it worked in Vista which seems to have the same secure screen otherwise)
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Jun 11, 2010 at 7:58
  • For branding purposes you might want to consider a screensaver solution, I don't think there is any easy way to get the wallpaper to tile.
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Nov 6, 2010 at 0:00
  • Here in 2014, this situation still exists in Windows 8(.1). :)
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 14:03

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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I'm afraid this is not possible, as far as I'm aware the login GINA screens are only written for a single display source, thus preventing you doing what you are intending to do.
There may be some obscure tool out there to do it but I'm certainally not aware of one and have not come across one in over 6 months of looking, albeit on and off. ( I was trying to do the same on some of our Designers PC's)

on the plus side though there are many open source GINA's out there. perhaps there is one that suits our needs. i was reading an interesting article about them earlier: http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/security/pgina-open-source-gina-replacement.aspx

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This is truly a limitation of Windows 7, introduced in Vista - it used to work in XP.

Even the DisplayFusion developers say :

The Windows 7 logon screen has no dual-monitor capability whatsoever, so we can't even develop a custom solution for it.

Your only option for screen lock (not logon) is a product such as the Clear lock freeware.

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I have found a work around on Windows 8. (However still nothing on Windows 7)

Where you set the lock screen wallpaper.

(Settings>>Change PC Settings>>PC and Devices>>Lock Screen)

Enable the slideshow feature. Place desired wallpaper in its own folder and direct the slideshow to that folder only.

The image seems to slightly zoom in and slides image across screen. However will show up on all screens this way. Instead of the empty black screen on addition monitors.

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  • This does not seem to work on Windows 10, the slideshow still shows only on my primary monitor.
    – Medinoc
    Commented Feb 9, 2020 at 19:05
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As a counterpoint to this question, something you may not have considered, logon screen images are sometimes not such a good idea.

If you ever perform remote support, or your users log in remotely using Remote Desktop Connection (or a similar alternative) then you'll have plenty of time to regret that logon screen image while you wait for it to paint the screen.

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  • Point taken ^^ Though I don't let the remote desktop client draw background images by policy anyway... at least not when using RDP and ICA - no idea how stuff like VNC handles that but I don't use'em so.. meh ;)
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Oct 13, 2009 at 13:29
  • 1
    RDP doesn't draw background images unless you explicitly tell it to.
    – Django Reinhardt
    Commented Nov 9, 2009 at 17:13
  • 1
    VNC can be told to ignore them too.
    – ThatGraemeGuy
    Commented Dec 2, 2009 at 20:38
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(edit: just saw you mentioned LogonStudio already)

I don't think this is possible...although LogonStudio might work (although I've never been able to get it to work correctly with Win7.

There was mention for a while of including support for multiple monitors but the login GINA screens are only written for a single display source IIRC so it would be difficult to do what you want.

Again, you may look at LogonStudio and perhaps Ultramon.

I know that DisplayFusion allows for different backgrounds and extended taskbar but it won't do what you are asking (I run it on Win7 now).

It may also come down to the video driver software supporting "stretched" monitors (instead of clone or dualview support, something that turns 2 monitors into one big resolution)...but that may look ridiculous if the Login pics are stretched across two different monitors.

Hope that helps a little (perhaps?)...

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  • Launch logon studio vista (vista version required) in compatibility mode for Server 2003 and it will work on Windows 7 - including the stupid browse button ^^
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Aug 22, 2009 at 10:28
  • Still of course, Windows 7 blatantly refuses to stretch the wallpaper over any secondary monitors - it's weird as Vista did it flawlessly... :/
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Aug 22, 2009 at 10:29
  • Even in compatibility mode it (logonstudio) doesn't work for me in 64bit. I still can't come across anything other than a single post saying that WINLOGON was only written with a single primary display as its focus, so it won't show on both monitors just the primary.
    – TheCleaner
    Commented Aug 26, 2009 at 14:42
  • Logonstudio Vista version should work fine in x64 Vista, compat mode needs the specific Server 2003 option set for some reason and the only thing that does is enable the browse for image-button. I guess I will have to take a photo of my Vista multi-monitor computers with logon wallpaper across all monitors ^^
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Sep 19, 2009 at 14:35
  • download.cnet.com/LogonStudio-Vista/…
    – Oskar Duveborn
    Commented Sep 19, 2009 at 14:36

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