BgLight

BgLight is a lightweight BGInfo-like tool for Windows: it draws a "premium" system information panel on a solid background and applies it automatically as the desktop wallpaper. It is a one-shot executable (it runs, updates the wallpaper, then exits immediately), silent, with no UI and no external dependency (.NET Framework 4.8, shipped by default on Windows 10/11).

Preview rendered with placeholder data. On a real machine the values come from the system (WMI + .NET APIs).

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Table of contents

• Features
• Displayed information
• Requirements
• Quick install (binary)
• Usage
• Command-line options
• Enterprise deployment
• Building from source
• How it works
• Troubleshooting
• Versions

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Features

• "Premium" panel: translucent dark card with rounded, anti-aliased corners.
• Configurable position (defaults to the top-right corner).
• Header = computer name, in bold, underlined by an accent line whose color is configurable (/accentColor, default blue #0078D4).
• Two aligned columns (label / value) for clean readability.
• Panel footer: made by navanem.com + version number.
• Grouped sections (System / Hardware / Network / Storage / Security).
• Optional background image (/bgImage), the panel is drawn over it; falls back to the solid color.
• Multi-monitor: one panel per monitor across the whole virtual desktop.
• DPI-aware (PerMonitorV2) with pixel-accurate Span wallpaper.
• Panel drop shadow + border.
• Robust: every information source is isolated; if a query fails, the value shows N/A instead of crashing the tool.
• Lightweight and non-resident: no service, no background process; the exe exits as soon as the update is done.

Displayed information

Section	Fields
System	User · OS · Uptime · Battery (laptops) · Generated
Hardware	Manufacturer · Model · Processor · Serial No. · Asset tag · RAM
Network	Domain · FQDN · IPv4 · MAC · DHCP · DNS
Storage	Free / total for every fixed disk
Security	BitLocker · Windows activation · Antivirus

Sizes are shown in GB (gibibytes, base 1024). Security fields require elevation and otherwise show N/A.

Requirements

• Runtime: Windows 10/11. .NET Framework 4.8 is preinstalled on those versions.
• Build: the .NET SDK is enough (see Building from source); Visual Studio 2022 also works.

Quick install (binary)

1. Download BgLight-vX.Y.Z.exe from the Releases page.
2. (Optional) place it in %ProgramData%\BgLight\.
3. Run it once to check the rendering, then schedule it (see Deployment).

Usage

Defaults (panel in the top-right corner, blue accent):

BgLight.exe

With arguments:

BgLight.exe /position=TopRight /accentColor=#0078D4 /fontSize=11 /fontName="Segoe UI"

Command-line options

Arguments use the /key=value form (case-insensitive). An invalid value is ignored and the default is kept.

Argument	Default	Description
/outputPath	C:\ProgramData\BgLight\wallpaper_info.bmp	Path of the generated BMP (and of log.txt)
/bgImage	(none)	Background image drawn full-screen behind the panel; falls back to /bgColor
/position	TopRight	TopLeft, TopRight, BottomLeft, BottomRight
/accentColor	#0078D4	Accent line color (hex #RRGGBB)
/bgColor	#202020	Solid background color (hex)
/fontSize	11	Body font size (points); the title is slightly larger
/fontName	Segoe UI	Text font

The error log (log.txt) is created in the outputPath folder.

Enterprise deployment

Scheduled task (recommended for periodic refresh)

schtasks /create /tn "BgLight"         /tr "%ProgramData%\BgLight\BgLight.exe" /sc onlogon
schtasks /create /tn "BgLight-Refresh" /tr "%ProgramData%\BgLight\BgLight.exe" /sc minute /mo 30

• onlogon: at every sign-in.
• /sc minute /mo 30: refresh every 30 minutes (useful for RAM/disk/IP).

Logon script (GPO)

1. Copy BgLight.exe to \\server\share\BgLight\ or %ProgramData%\BgLight\.
2. GPO → User Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Scripts (Logon).
3. Add deploy\run-bglight.bat.

Building from source

The project targets net48. It references Microsoft.NETFramework.ReferenceAssemblies for build only, which allows building net48 with just the .NET SDK (no targeting pack installed); no dependency is added to the shipped exe.

# Build
dotnet build BgLight.sln -c Release
# -> src/BgLight/bin/Release/net48/BgLight.exe

# Tests
dotnet test -c Debug

With Visual Studio: open BgLight.sln, select the Release configuration, build the solution.

How it works

A one-shot pipeline runs on every launch:

1. AppConfig.Parse, reads the /key=value arguments and applies defaults.
2. SystemInfoCollector.Collect, gathers system info (WMI + .NET APIs), each source isolated in its own try/catch (no exception ever escapes).
3. WallpaperRenderer.Render, draws the panel (GDI+) on a full-screen bitmap and saves it as a BMP.
4. WallpaperSetter.Apply, applies the BMP as the wallpaper via SystemParametersInfo.

Source layout:

File	Responsibility
Program.cs	One-shot orchestration + root error handling
AppConfig.cs	Argument parsing and defaults
SystemInfoCollector.cs	System information collection
SystemInfoData.cs	Data model (title + label/value rows)
Format.cs	Formatting (GB sizes, joins)
WallpaperRenderer.cs	GDI+ rendering of the panel
WallpaperSetter.cs	Wallpaper application (P/Invoke)
Logger.cs	Error logging

Troubleshooting

• Wallpaper does not change / log.txt reports access denied: choose a writable outputPath (e.g. a folder under %LOCALAPPDATA%), or run with sufficient rights on %ProgramData%.
• A "forced wallpaper" GPO policy is active: it can override the wallpaper. Disable the policy or deploy the BMP through that same policy.
• N/A values: the corresponding WMI query failed (permissions, driver, corrupted WMI); the other fields stay populated.

Versions

See CHANGELOG.md and the Releases page.

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made by navanem.com