Firstly you will need to have the image you want to use and note the name of it (name-of-image.jpg)

Note that changing the default logon image has to be done using terminal as the files are locked in to the root user, unless of course you are logged in to the Mac using the root login.

So open Terminal from the Applications/Utilities folder and you are ready to go.

If you want to keep the old image then it needs to be renamed so enter the following line in to the terminal window

sudo mv /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg.old

You will be asked for the password so just enter it and press enter.

sudo cp /path/to/image name-of-image.jpg /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg

WEnter your password again and then the next time you log in the new screen will be there.

Alternatively there is little app that can do this if you are not to sure about using Terminal.

Head over to loginox and see if this is for you

I had long toyed with the idea of getting a mac but wasn’t sure due to the higher comparative costs for the hardware and whether I would get along with it or not. Rest assured those in the same position, you must make the leap. I took the plunge at the low end of the financial scale and went for the Mac Mini. A marvellous piece of kit, designed to perfection, aren’t they all, small, compact yet powerful. I added to it with the Iomega 500 GB hard drive, again designed to sit neatly under the Mini and at the time £80 for a 500GB drive was well priced and worth it. The first comment my dad made on seeing the shiny white box was “where’s the computer”, having spent years looking at towering machines I guess its difficult to see how the same thing can be packaged so delicately and good looking.

I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to grips with the Mac and am now getting itchy Mac feet. As I place more and more demand on my machine I feel its time to start looking to upgrade to a shiny new one. My dilemma this time is iMac or Mac book pro. My ever hectic life would be less hectic if I could work whilst on the move or whilst watching the football. Since April 2009 I have been using Macs at work too. I now have in front of me a 24″ iMac with additional 20″ screen off to the right. Over to the left side is 21″ iMac that I have for testing new websites for cross browser compatibility. Installed on this machine are 3 versions of Windows, XP, Vista and Win7 all running on VMware Fussion… at once… together with no problems; try getting that from a similar specification windows machine… blue screen of what I hear you cry.

Off to email Santa!

Will it be you – Have a go

Feel free to have a go and report back the number you use and how you did. In the coming weeks I am planning on expanding the application, adding history, user management etc.

Disclaimer

This is abit of fun and not at all the real numbers for the lottery. I accept no responsibility for your gambling losses, please gamble within your limits and sensibly, if you lose money you cannot afford then you are stupid!!!

My other blog is located at www.stevedurr.co.uk, feel free to head over and check it out. The aim and idea behind that blog is to learn more and teach more. Learning by teaching is considered by some the most effective way to retain information.

Thanks and bye for now…