Leon,
Look in whskin_mbars.htm (minibar) in the WebHelp output
folder.
You'll see two places where it calls for the image, the same
one as in whskin_tbars.htm (main toolbar). You didn't ask RH to put
it in mbars, but there it is.
Remove the background image from mbars. Usually, when I
republish the project, RH leaves this one alone.
As for the background image repeating in the main toolbar,
you should widen the image with white, or color, or blank space, or
whatever. It doesn't force the browser to expand. Make it wider
than you expect the browser to be expanded by a user.
Harvey