Set up themes to be a "slideshow". They work fine, progressing to the next picture. When I reboot, or cold-boot, the Theme is stuck on the last "slide" it was showing. I go to "Personalize" and set it to Slideshow" again (select ALL of the pictures), and it works normally until I restart the computer.
Win 7 Pro
Does this on stock Windows Themes, and third party themes.  

Is this a fault with your current user only?  Can you reproduce it with a different user?

Do you see the same problem in Safe Mode, or from a Clean Boot procedure?

1. I'm the only user (Administrator). [I know... I know!]

2. "Personalize" doesn't work in safe mode.

3. What's a "clean-boot"?

Progress! Found "clean-boot".

1. Clean-boot - Works O.K.
2. Services back on - works O.K.

Now to play with "programs"!!!

Thanks Linney - I'll report back when I find the actual problem.

Well, I don't think that it IS the right track. As said before, "Services" on - "Start-up" programs off... O.K.
Added programs in start-up 5 at a time. Suddenly lost "slideshow". Removed programs one at a time. Got down to NO programs - still no "slideshow"! All of these reboots got tiresome, so I just marked everything back in (all services - normal boot), figuring I'll fight it at a later time. Now everything works O.K. again!
Any other directions to attack from?

Create another user and test with that.


When did it work properly, is it recent enough for System Restore to be worth a try?  See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Windows, OR try the System File Checker.

How to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista (or 7)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212/#appliesto


Perhaps there is a recent update or installation that started the problem.


Does the Slideshow Gadget work if you launch that?


Are there any updated Video Card drivers available, if not does rolling back to the previous driver solve anything?


See how many unsigned drivers you have running on your machine.  This article will guide you on the instructions but all you have to do is type sigverif in Start Run.

How to identify unsigned drivers using sigverif utility in Windows Vista
http://www.winvistaclub.com/f34.html


Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.  Try it first by not checking either box (this will run it in a Read-only mode) to see if it flags any hard drive or file problems.  If it does, restart  it by ticking both boxes, and rerun it to allow it to attempt to fix any found problems.


 

This isn't a solution, it's just a possible temporary workaround.

I have the same issue sporadically if I logon within about 5 minutes of the top of the hour (when the photo is supposed to change), if my AV is updating near the top of the hour, or if some random other event is utilizing the CPU.

My solution is to manually (right click on desktop, click on "next desktop background") change the desktop background.  Voila, the slideshow works again until the next time it gets snarly.

Hope this helps.

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Linney:
Started about two months ago.
1st thing I did was SFC and chkdsk.
Vid card drivers: when this started, I tried rolling back the drivers - no help. Since then there has been another Catalyst upgrade - no change.
Will look into sigverif.
cmeagan656:
When "slides" disappears, so does the "next background" line.

Ran "Verify". The only "unsigned" drivers (4), were from an installation of some EASUS program. Since they don't run in the background, I don't think that they matter. All other drivers checked O.K.  

It stops working on laptops running on battery and continues when mains power is plugged in.

I've also seen it stop working when it thinks the version is not genuine (i.e. you've forgotten to register after 30 days) and restarts when it gets registered.

I've also seen it stop completely but never bothered chasing up why because I hardly see or use the desktop.