Group Policy - Desktop Wallpapers and Local File Access
When using the GPO that applies a desktop wallpaper, some considerations should be made. When implementing the policy, it is best practice to have this policy reference a local resource.
Group Policy Object for Setting a User’s Wallpaper
You can configure the GPO one of two ways: locally or with a networked resource. However, networked resources are troublesome, what if multiple users try to access the same file at once, or the server is unavailable for another reason?
You get a black background…
Typical result for Desktop GPO - a file resource becomes unavailable locally, leading to a black background.
Why does this happen? Remember what the GPO stated in its description:
“If the specified file is not available when the user logs on, no wallpaper is displayed“
This can all be avoided, by using a better deployment method. To solve the issue, instead, keep the file local to the machine. If you need multiple users to access the file, have them copy the file, then reference the file locally in the Desktop GPO. We can add in GPO User Preferences to perform a file copy first, then from there work with the copied file.
You can set the two policy settings up as a single GPO or multiple, though depending on your environment you may want to consider reducing your GPOs down to a singular policy object, as each one affects a user’s load time when generating a profile and at log on. If the GPO ends up applying the wallpaper setting before copying the wallpaper file, having the user log out once will fix the issue.
To summarize, Group Policy can be a be a source of solutions and the cause of problems, if not carefully implemented. Consider utilizing local resources when implementing a GPO that affects devices locally. On that note, bye!😊
