Subject: Re: PSA: Finally Irfanview has an option to NOT change the wallpaper by accident!

On Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:15:26 -0500, Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> wrote:

PSA:
Finally Irfanview has an option to NOT change the wallpaper by accident!
C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\TranscodedWallpaper

Anyone using Irfanview for as long as I have, has accidentally reset the >Windows wallpaper to the current image a thousand times, or more, by now.

We've tried re-defining the keyboard-shortcut sequence, and failed.
We've tried unbinding Ctrl+Shift+W from inside IrfanView, and failed.
We've tried adding a [Menu] section to the ini file, and failed.
[Macro]
RemoveWallpaperMenu=1
We've tried blocking it with the Group Policy Editor, and failed.
gpedit.msc > User Configuration > Administrative Templates >
Control Panel -> Personalization
Enable "Prevent changing desktop background"
We've edited the registry, and failed.
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ActiveDesktop HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper
NoChangingWallPaper = 1 (DWORD)
We've tried denying write access to the TranscodedWallpaper file.
Right-click TranscodedWallpaper > Properties > Security > Edit
Select your user account > Deny Write > Apply
etc.

Most of us rarely fail at customizing Windows how we want it to be.
But I've always failed at this simple customization task. Until now.

Well, kind of sort of until now anyway.
Not until IrfanView 4.72 anyway, kind of sort of.
Which appears to have been released around May 12th, 2025.
<https://www.irfanview.net/history_old.htm>

Note this line in version 4.72 (Release date: 2025-05-12)
"A confirmation dialog is shown for the wallpaper change menus"

Finally. After all these years, what started in Irfanview 1.90 in 1996
"Set image as wallpaper"
Which was improved in 2.50 in 1997
"Improved 'Set as Wallpaper' (centered/tiled/restore)"
And moved in 3.85 in 2003
"Wallpaper save location changed (Folder: "Application data")"
With 3.90 command-line options in 2004
"=> Set 'c:\test.jpg' as wallpaper (centered)"
And more options in 4.23 in 2008
"New wallpaper menu: Stretched - proportional"
With randomization added in 4.27 in 2010
"=> set random wallpapers, see "i_options.txt" for examples"
And the festugenah hotkeys added in 4.28 later in 2010
New hotkey: CTRL + SHIFT + X = Set as wallpaper: Proportional
And a fill option in 4.44 in 2016
New wallpaper option: Fill (Hotkey: CTRL + SHIFT + F)
With the format in 4.50 changed to PNG for Windows 8 and up
Wallpaper save format changed to PNG (Win8 and later)
Evolving, finally, to 4.72's addition of a confirmation dialog.
A confirmation dialog is shown for the wallpaper change menus
And, lest there not be more, in 4.73, released on 2025-11-13
New Wallpaper menu: Span (image over all monitors)

It's not a solution.
But it's a workaround I can accept.

What about you?

Never once had that problem.

--
croy

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: PSA: Finally Irfanview has an option to NOT change the wallpaper by accident!

Maria Sophia wrote:
[snip]

By the way, when speaking about this program - has anyone experienced the problem when opening HEIC photos from a network drive - it sometimes has a long delay when displaying the image before you can close it. Seems to only happen with these images being opened from a network drive on Windows 11


This is a response to the post seen at: http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=701724307#701724307

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: PSA: Finally Irfanview has an option to NOT change the wallpaper by accident!

On 3/8/2026 5:54 AM, MummyChunk wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:
[snip]

By the way, when speaking about this program - has anyone experienced
the problem when opening HEIC photos from a network drive - it sometimes
has a long delay when displaying the image before you can close it.
Seems to only happen with these images being opened from a network drive
on Windows 11

This is a response to the post seen at: http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=701724307#701724307

Only a few seconds delay, at most at this end.
Tested HEIC photos in variety of stored locations.
Online(OneDrive), Local OneDrive storage configured for sync/storage
stored on separate drive(internal SSD and SDXC card), and on a separate networked drive(connected or mounted).

The longest delay in any of the above(and probably expected) is when
opening an HEIC photo in OneDrive online in a browser..still only a few seconds.

--
...w­¤?ñ?¤

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: PSA: Finally Irfanview has an option to NOT change the wallpaper by accident!

...w? wrote:
On 3/8/2026 5:54 AM, MummyChunk wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:
[snip]





By the way, when speaking about this program - has anyone experienced
the problem when opening HEIC photos from a network drive - it sometimes
has a long delay when displaying the image before you can close it.
Seems to only happen with these images being opened from a network drive
on Windows 11

This is a response to the post seen at:
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=701724307#701724307

Only a few seconds delay, at most at this end.
Tested HEIC photos in variety of stored locations.
Online(OneDrive), Local OneDrive storage configured for sync/storage
stored on separate drive(internal SSD and SDXC card), and on a separate networked drive(connected or mounted).

The longest delay in any of the above(and probably expected) is when
opening an HEIC photo in OneDrive online in a browser..still only a few seconds.

--
....w?

So a bit more info of what I see. From Windows 11, I am opening up a HEIC photo from a network drive on a Linux box that is shared via CIFS.

When I click the photo in Explorer, photo immediately opens and displays but I cannot make an menu action or close it for 10 seconds or more. If I attempt to click red x multiple times, eventually get the end task prompt. If I wait the 10+ seconds, menu actions and closing works as expected.

Using other programs doesn't show this behavior

Didn't try with 32-bit version of Irfanview - only 64-bit.


This is a response to the post seen at: http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=701724307#701724307

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: PSA: Finally Irfanview has an option to NOT change the wallpaper by accident!

On Sun, 3/8/2026 2:22 PM, MummyChunk wrote:

...w? wrote:
On 3/8/2026 5:54 AM, MummyChunk wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:
[snip]





By the way, when speaking about this program - has anyone experienced
the problem when opening HEIC photos from a network drive - it sometimes >>> has a long delay when displaying the image before you can close it.
Seems to only happen with these images being opened from a network drive >>> on Windows 11

Only a few seconds delay, at most at this end.
Tested HEIC photos in variety of stored locations.
Online(OneDrive), Local OneDrive storage configured for sync/storage
stored on separate drive(internal SSD and SDXC card), and on a separate
networked drive(connected or mounted).

The longest delay in any of the above(and probably expected) is when
opening an HEIC photo in OneDrive online in a browser..still only a few
seconds.

--
....w?

So a bit more info of what I see.ÿ From Windows 11, I am opening up a HEIC photo from a network drive on a Linux box that is shared via CIFS.

When I click the photo in Explorer, photo immediately opens and displays but I cannot make an menu action or close it for 10 seconds or more.ÿ If I attempt to click red x multiple times, eventually get the end task prompt.ÿ If I wait the 10+ seconds, menu actions and closing works as expected.

Using other programs doesn't show this behavior

Didn't try with 32-bit version of Irfanview - only 64-bit.

The W11 Photo.App is a Metro.App that uses WebView2 for display purposes.
And WebView2 is an instance of MSEdge (it's the "engine" component
of MSEdge). It is possible, in Task Manager, that before you
attempted to open the photo, WebView2 was in Suspend State. And
something happened to WebView2 to affect its performance
when it returned to Run State. Like needing to fetch executable code
from storage, while it is "waking up". It also needs to access
the HEVC/HEIC CODEC solution so the Photo.App can display the
content, and WebView2 populates the frame with the graphics.

In other words, the combination is "maximum bloat", in terms
of the "warm up" behavior when executed. If you are using a
HDD instead of an SSD, that could be part of it. If the
machine is low on RAM, there could even be Memory Compressor
activity. To view Memory Compressor activity, a copy of
Sysinternals Process Explorer (like a Task Manager0, it can
show you whether the Memory Compressor is regularly running.
A low RAM situation can cause additional delay while the
Memory Compressor does stuff.

If I were to use IrfanView, drag and drop the CIFS photo
onto the IrfanView window pane, the image would appear
a lot faster, because Irfanview is win32 EXE and a lot more
of it is loaded into memory and ready to go.

Paul


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)