HTML Desktop wallpaper

Question

I am somewhat familiar with HTML and Javascript (I have had a few classes covering these in college and dabbled a little on my own). What I would like to do is create a desktop wallpaper on my Windows 7 x64 machine that uses HTML (or whatever I need to use) that runs only on my machine and allows me to use images as links to a few websites(have that working) and shortcuts to run applications that are on my machine. This is the part I am having problems with. I tried using an anchor tag and just placing the file path of the executable but when it is clicked my browser is opened and I am prompted to download the executable. Is there a way to run an executable using HTML, Javascript or something else on my local machine this way.

Also, I have read that this feature has been disabled on Windows 7. I found an application, AveDesktopSites from brothersoft.com that I think may allow me to use an html file as my wallpaper but I have not tried it. Any confirmation or recommendations for other software to do this would be appreciated.

Here is what I have so far(its very simple): 
    <body>
    <a id="StackOverflow" href="websiteURL"> </a>
    <a id="Excel" href="filepath to Excel Executable"> </a>
    </body>

Then in the CSS file this HTML is using I adjusted the size of each of these anchor tags using their IDs to be the same size as the image and positioned them absolutely over the images to make the images appear to be clickable. I have only tested in my browser at this point.

Thanks in advance.

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 07 '12 at 18:09

0

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-GB;q232077

I found a similar post containing this link. This looks like it could solve your dilemma if you never found a way.

answered May 07 '12 at 18:09

Yatrix

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 04 '11 at 16:58

In windows XP and maybe even in versions before that it was possible to have a website as wallpaper. You could just have a small block(resizable) with a custom given URL and it would stay on there you could just browse it like it was just another window.

However this option has been removed for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

So what you want now is not possible.

If you use Mozilla Firefox try downloading the addon "Speed dial." It allows you to have a raster of 3x3 as your home page(you can create several groups all containing 3x3 or any other amount till a certain amount) And every block in that raster can be a different website.

Gives you the same idea but not as wallpaper. Its almost the same as bookmarks but just way faster.

I really dont know about any other software but they would have to do things to your windows that shouldnt be possible anymore. So im not sure if that really is what you want. There is probably a reason why Microsoft took it out.

Hope I could be of any help.

I can't use firefox (or any other browser) for what I want to do either though. I don't just want links to websites, I mainly want to use images as shortcuts to applications. This was just meant to dress up my desktop of sorts. Use appealing images rather than desktop icons for everything. — c.dunlap, Nov 04 '11 at 17:35

HTML Desktop wallpaper

2 Answers2