BackSel

What is Backsel?

BackSel is a small program designed to add diversity in your life! No more boring desktops! Every time you start your computer, a new image, selected out of your list of favorite background images, takes its place in your desktop! You may choose how often this happens, varying from every time you enter windows, once every few days, or randomly (one up to 100 percent chance)!

If your windows cannot display jpg images easily (they need Active Desktop, and that may complicate things) no problem! The program can convert your jpg to bmp of your favorite analysis (or keep it the same)! It can even convert a jpg to a jpg of another analysis!

How it works.

When you run BackSel, it searches for its options file, "backsel.ini". If it isn't there don't worry, it will be created. If it is, all previous selections you've made will be there, and (most important) your images in the order you selected them. DO NOT DELETE the file, unless of course you want to clear everything and reset the program.

After that, the options dialog appears. Here, you see three tabs. The first tab contains general options, the second shows the image list and the third some information about the program. If you click "OK" all the changes are saved. The registry will be updated regarding the "Run everytime..." box. Note that if you uncheck it, the registry is cleared, so you don't need to do anything else to uninstall the program.

The options tab.

"Run everytime I log-on...": if checked, the program is activated everytime windows starts. If not, you can activate it manually. Create a link to the file (or run it through the Run.. dialog) and add the parameter "silent" (without the quotes).

"Change background...": Random, every few days or every few minutes. Random has always a xx% chance (you define it with the slide) to change the image. Otherwise the program checks the last time the background changed. (Your system clock must be working). If you choose every few minutes it stays in memory and minimizes to the system tray.

"Select image in random": If unchecked the images change in the order of appearance in the Images tab, otherwise an image is picked up randomly.

"Only link to file location": Normally, the program reads the image file and creates a copy in the output file in the specified format and analysis. Then, it sets the background to that copy. If this is checked then the program sets the background to the original file. THIS MAY NOT WORK WITH JPEG IMAGES, so be careful.

"Output file": The file where a copy of the image will be saved. BMP and JPG file types are supported. You may enter whatever else you want, but a bmp image will be created.

"Output size": The COPY of the image will have the width and height (in pixels) specified here. If you select original then they are the same as the original image, otherwise the image is resized. If you enter your own, be sure not to leave spaces (eg. "512x384"). Smart resize means that the image will fit the screen but keep its original width-height ratio.

The images tab.

Here all the job is done. You must select your images by clicking "Add..", so that they are added in the list. You may remove images (one at a time) or change their order. If you click Preview, a small RESIZABLE window appears with the selected image. You may leave it open as you browse through your list.

Comments

Any bugs you find, comments, e-cards, kisses, beers, etc, send them all to hibaman@hotmail.com.

I used TPNGImage by Gustavo Huffenbacher Daud. You will find his work at http://pngdelphi.sourceforge.net.

The program is created with Delphi 7 and it should run in any Windows version. I haven't tested them all though.

My thanks to MonaXos for his comments!

Copyright 2003 Andrew Koupparis

Download it here: BackSel v1.1.1.62 335 KB