Gremlins Changing Desktop Display

[artbuc]

I have a HP a1600n desktop with Win 7 and ASUS monitor. I have my desktop set-up with my favorite picture in the center with colored borders on each side. My desktop icons are located in the colored borders. About once per week, when I wake-up my PC, the colored borders are gone. (I typically wake-up my PC several times per day and desktop looks fine.) The picture is stretched horizontally to fill the space where the borders where. The icons are still there. I have to restart to get my display back. Can anyone give me some ideas about what causes this and what settings I need to change to prevent it from happening? Thanks.

[patio]

How did you set these borders ? ?
If you set the full background to that color then add the pic it should retain those settings...
Is this how you set it up ?

[artbuc]

Patio, I will have to go back and try to reconstruct what I did. I tinkered with both the monitor setting buttons and the Win 7 control panel. Seems like something is making the desktop go back to a default setting. I'll get back to you.

[patio]

10 - 4...

[artbuc]

Here we go:

Control Panel>Appearance & Personalization>Personalization>Desktop Background>Picture Position>Center

I have several different sizes of my desktop photo in My Pictures. If I choose the largest photo in the Center position, the borders will disappear. So, I think one of two things may be happening: (1) the gremlin is switching from the preferred sized photo to the largest size or (2) the gremlin is changing my Picture Position from Center to Fill.

[patio]

The question is...not whats happening to it...the question should be how do you want it to be ? ?

[Geek-9pm]

General reference:
Change your desktop background
and ...
Create a desktop background slide show
For a slide show with boarders, , the pictures all be just under the size of the display.

[artbuc]

The question is...not whats happening to it...the question should be how do you want it to be ? ?

I want it to stay where I put it. IOW, I do not want it to mysteriously change settings whenever it wants to. I select the picture and position it to show the borders, then I click the "save settings" button. Seems to me the desktop should not change until/unless I go back into the Control Panel and intentionally change it. What is changing my desktop display and why does it go back to my desired display after I restart?

[artbuc]

General reference:
Change your desktop background
and ...
Create a desktop background slide show
For a slide show with boarders, , the pictures all be just under the size of the display.

Thanks Geek. Yes, I know how to do what these links show. Problem is (see my response to Patio) every once in a while the display "loses" it's borders.

[patio]

Does anyone else use this PC ? ?
Is there more than 1 User account on it ? ?

Because i know of no way that Windows will randomly just change a background appearance setting...

[artbuc]

Does anyone else use this PC ? ?
Is there more than 1 User account on it ? ?

Because i know of no way that Windows will randomly just change a background appearance setting...

Nope. Just me. I have to say something just doesn't seem right since installing 7. Sometimes I get programs running in the background which bring IE and Live Mail to a grinding halt. I got rid of most of the problem when I logged out of the Live Mail account and stopped the Internet feeds. Then I accidentally downloaded all of the associated apps with Windows Essentials. I thought I was installing updates to Windows Security Essentials. I uninstalled Windows Essentials and then downloaded just Live Mail. Everything seems to be working much better now. Maybe the desktop problem will resolve itself too.

[Geek-9pm]

Very strange.
Just for nothing, try and see if you can duplicate the behavior on another user account.

[artbuc]

Update: I think I have identified the source of my problem. It is associated somehow with the NIVIDA install. I disabled one of the drivers and the desktop changed and when I enabled it, the desktop changed again but not back to original. It changed to the "mystery" setting. I then restarted PC and desktop was back to where I want it. I am not using the NVIDIA control panel to set-up my desktop and I do not use the other features such as 3D. I assume I need the basic driver but I wonder if uninstalling the NIVIDA frills will solve my problem?

[patio]

I would leave it...you can turn off 3D...just make sure all your personalisation is done thru Control Panel...not the nVidia app.

[artbuc]

The plot thickens. I uninstalled all NVIDIA except basic driver (did that before I saw Patio's post). I went into Device Manager and right clicked on NVIDIA driver and clicked on Properties. I clicked on the first two tabs just to read the content - did not change anything. When I clicked on the 3rd tab entitled  "Details" the desktop changed the way it has been changing mysteriously. I restarted PC and desktop settings restored to desired state. Something definitely seems funky in the NVIDIA driver or my video/graphics card. What do you folks think?