Chris Watson's Desktop Wallpaper Guard

Chris Watson's Desktop Wallpaper Guard is a simple-to-use application that prevents any attempts to change your desktop wallpaper, which comes in handy when sharing your computer with other users.
It doesn't integrate complex options or configuration settings, which makes it accessible to all types of users, even those less experienced with this kind of OS enhancement software.

Setup, requirements, and systray integration

Setting up this tool takes minimal time and effort, thanks to the fact that there are no unfamiliar buttons displayed in the wizard. However, you should know that it depends on .NET Framework, so you must have this platform installed.
Although this isn't signaled through visual or audio means, Chris Watson's Desktop Wallpaper Guard gets integrated into the system tray area at startup. This way, it facilitates quick access to its configuration settings while enabling you to carry on with your typical desktop activity without any interruptions.

Set a desktop wallpaper and prevent modifications

Left-clicking the tray icon brings up the main window, where you can resort to the built-in file browser to locate and apply a wallpaper from an image file with the BMP, JPEG, GIF or PNG format.
After applying modifications, the current wallpaper is replaced with the new one, and the program makes sure it cannot be changed by using other applications or even by manually trying to do this when tinkering with the desktop customization options in Windows.

How it works

Alternatively, you can instruct the tool with one click to get the current wallpaper path for protection. Chris Watson's Desktop Wallpaper Guard must remain running to be able to apply the wallpaper restriction.
It's possible to deactivate the program through an entry in the tray icon's right-click menu, so it's not necessary to exit it just to be able to lift the wallpaper restriction. The original wallpaper is not restored on exit. We've also noticed that multiple instances are allowed, so you should be careful not to set conflicting rules by launching the application two or more times with different wallpapers to protect.

Evaluation and conclusion

It remained stable throughout its runtime, without causing any OS stability issues. Unsurprisingly, resources usage was minimal. Although it doesn't come bundled with richer options, Chris Watson's Desktop Wallpaper Guard offers a straightforward solution to prevent other PC users from changing your desktop wallpaper.