How could I find out the path to the current desktop image, for Windows 8

Posted by Scott Bennett-McLeish on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Scott Bennett-McLeish
Published on 2012-11-19T07:47:05Z Indexed on 2012/11/20 23:07 UTC
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Having recently upgraded to Windows 8, my script to retrieve the current desktop wallpaper image has broken.

For Windows 7, How could I find out the path to the current desktop image?, this works great. However, that registry key now always contains

C:\Windows\web\wallpaper\Windows\img0.jpg

What is the new registry key used for Windows 8?

I've found two possible solutions.

Firstly, this key contains what looks like a Base64 encoded path:

HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Wallpapers/Images/ID2

And then there is the "custom theme properties file" which also contains a "[SlideShow]" section which looks like Base64:

C:\Users\Scott\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\Custom.theme

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