Wallpaper replaced by solid color

[TheMan876]

I always use pictures for my wallpaper, but I booted up one day and my wallpaper was replaced with solid black color. The wallpaper is seen when Windows logs in or out, and it can be seen through the Google sidebar. Example

I've googled for a fix to this problem, but I only come across people that can't even change the desktop settings or are running Active Desktop (I never have). I can change the wallpaper and you can see it change behind the Google sidebar but the black layer still stays on.

I've had google sidebar/desktop for a while with no problems and I have the same issue on a laptop but no Google sidebar/desktop. I did a virus scan of my C: drive and found nothing.

Windows XP sp3 32bit - Up to date
Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.0GHz
4 GB Ram
Radeon 4870x2
NOD32 Antivirus - Up to date

Any help is appreciated.

 

[TheMan876]

It works when I switch to no wallpaper and then back to a picture. But everytime I log onto windows I have to do this.

 

[TheStu]

This happened to me recently when Windows thought my copy was invalid. Did anything along those lines pop up for you?

 

[bruceb]

Please see link below:

http://www.techdreams.org/micr...ack-image/374-20080926

From what you are describing you have a pirated copy of Windows XP and you will need to get a Legal Key from Microsoft.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Also happened to me when I recently had some hardware problems and ran repair on my Windows installation. I got a Genuine Advantage warning even though my copy is definitely legit. After a reboot, I was able to reactivate without a problem and my wallpaper stayed put again. Have you made any hardware configuration changes recently?

 

[TheMan876]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but I'm running a Legit version of xp. This is the case on my laptop as well which I bought directly from Dell. Also, the only reason it is black is because that's the color I chose for the background. It was originally blue when this problem started happening. There haven't been any Genuine Advantage warnings either, and infact I've gotten a couple of automatic updates since this started happening.

 

[bruceb]

If that is the case, then run Malwarebytes (malwarebytes.org) and also HiJack This if the first program doesn't resolve it. You may need to post the HiJack this log at http://discussions.virtualdr.com/ to get someone to look at it to see what should be fixed.

 

[TheMan876]

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a shot.

 

[TheMan876]

Ok, if anyone else had this problem here is the answer. On both the laptop and the desktop I'm using Opera 9.x as my browser. And when I find something I like I just rightclick and set it as my wallpaper or background. All I had to do to fix this problem was to set a new wallpaper with Opera. Problem Solved!