Changing the appearance of your Windows desktop
While the information in this document is based on the Windows XP operating system it will still be useful to you if you use a different version of Windows. While the details may be slightly different, many of the general processes and concepts are the same for all versions of Windows.
Changing how the Windows desktop looks in terms of colours, button style, etc. is easy and allows you to customize the look of your computer. Even better is the fact that if your version of Windows allows you to have more than one user account, the changes you make can be restricted to only your account. This means that if you have your computer set up for multiple people each one can customize the desktop for their own individual look (for example Windows XP allows you to set up multiple profiles which can be selected when the computer is turned on).
To make changes, first move the mouse pointer to an empty location on the desktop (make sure it is not over any icons or the taskbar etc.). Single right-click the mouse to show a menu like the picture below (tip: right clicking will always produce a menu of the things you can do with the selected object).
Select properties from this menu to display a dialog box which allows you to change the properties of the Windows desktop. You will see a window similar to the following:
This dialog box has 5 tabs which allow you to change various elements of the desktop.
Themes
Windows comes with a number of predefined themes that affect all the graphical elements of the desktop.
If you select one of the available options in the Theme drop-down menu you will be able to preview what it looks like before you apply it to your desktop.
The following sections describe how you can change the individual elements of a selected theme (or change the elements of your current settings).
Once you have adjusted your settings and are happy with the result you can save them as a theme by clicking on the Save As... button.
Desktop
Selecting the Desktop tab at the top of the Display Properties window will change the window so that it looks something like this:
Use this option for changing the background picture of your desktop.
You will see a list of pictures that are installed as standard on your computer and when you select one you will see it previewed in this window before you apply it to your desktop. Alternatively, if you don't want to use one of the pre-installed pictures and would rather use one of your own click the Browse... button. You will be shown a standard 'find file' dialog, and you can use this to select any picture that you have saved on your Hard Disk.
Beneath the Browse... button there is a Position drop-down menu which allows you to select how you want the picture background to appear:
- Center - if the picture is smaller than the desktop area, selecting center will position the picture at the centre of the screen and surround it with the colour selected below.
- Tile - if the picture is smaller than the desktop area, selecting tile will cause it to be repeated both horizontally and vertically to fill the desktop area.
- Stretch - if the picture is smaller than the desktop area, selecting stretch will cause it to be stretched so that it fills the desktop area.
Clicking on the Customize Desktop... button will display a window with even more options:
At the top of this window you will see a section Desktop icons. Here you can select whether these standard icons are displayed on your desktop. If you want any of them displayed make sure that the relevant box is ticked.
In the middle of this window you will see the standard items that come with Windows and can be displayed on the desktop (this does not include program or document icons, just the standard Windows ones). If you want to change the picture of a particular item, first left-click it once to select and then click on the Change Icon... button to be shown a list of alternatives that you can select from.
If you change these icons and decide you want to return to the original ones provided with Windows click on the Restore Default button.
Windows XP comes with a function that cleans your desktop of unused (or not used for a while) icons. You may have noticed that every couple of months you are prompted to select icons that you want removed from your desktop. In the final section of this dialog you can change whether this process runs or not.
Selecting the Web tab at the top of this dialog enables you to display a web page as your desktop background:
If you want to display a web page as your background image you can choose a website and page here. I won't explain this process in detail but if this is something you want to do I suggest you experiment with the buttons and settings.
It is worth mentioning that if you choose to display a web page it will not be a 'live' view. That is, the web page will be downloaded and displayed 'as is' until the computer synchronizes with the site to update the page. You can set when or if the computer automatically synchronizes, but bear in mind that if you are connecting to the internet with a dial-up modem you may not want to set this option.
You can tell the computer to connect to the internet if not already connected, however, I would be wary of setting this option.
Screen Saver
Selecting the Screen Saver tab at the top of the Display Properties dialog will change the window so that it looks something like:
Use this view to select or change the screen saver on your computer.
I recommend that you always have a screen saver selected and that you have it set to turn on after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. When an image is displayed on a monitor for an extended length of time it can 'burn' into the monitor, resulting in a permanent shadow of the image. While this is not something you should be too concerned about it is worth remembering that if your computer displays an image that doesn't change (such as your desktop) for extended periods of time, over a few weeks this can cause the 'burn in' effect on the monitor. This is especially true of modern LCD or flat monitors.
this window is fairly self-explanatory, you can select and preview a screen-saver from a list, and you can change the settings for a selected screen-saver. The Wait value is the number of minutes that the computer must be inactive before the screen-saver comes on - you can change this value to suit you, however please read the warning above.
Each screen-saver will have things that can be set (e.g. the number of objects that appear). Clicking on Settings will display the elements that can be changed for the selected screen-saver (if any!).
If you tick the On resume, display Welcome screen option you can add an extra level of security. When you move the mouse, or press a key on the keyboard, to stop the screen-saver and return to the desktop you will instead be shown the Windows welcome screen where, if you've set one, you will need to enter your password.
There are loads of different screen-savers that are available for free on the internet. You should be aware that many of the free 'fun' screen-savers that you can download contain malicious software (Spyware or Malware) that can infect your computer. If you choose to download screen-savers from the internet you need to be aware that you are taking a risk with your computer and your privacy.
The Monitor power section allows you to set options to save energy and will only be available if your computer supports this facility. While it is a good idea for everyone to save power this option is probably more relevant to laptop computers where saving battery life is important.
TopAppearance
Selecting the Appearance tab at the top of the Display Properties dialog will change it to look similar to this:
Use this view to select or change elements of windows and dialogs that are displayed on your desktop.
On this view there are only three things you can change:
- Windows and buttons - Change this option to select the appearance of the windows and buttons that are displayed on your desktop. With Windows XP you have the option of displaying windows in the old Windows 95/98 (etc.) style or the new Windows XP style.
- Color scheme - Use this option to change the colour scheme of windows and buttons on your desktop to one of the predefined options.
- Font size - Select the size of font that you want to appear on elements of windows, dialogs and buttons.
Click on the Effects... button to fine tune the appearance of various elements of your windows:
(The various options available on this window are fairly self-explanatory and so I won't cover them here. Feel free to experiment to see the differences the various options make, but remember the original settings so you can return to how these elements currently appear!)
Click on the Advanced... button to display a window that allows you to change every small element of the appearance of these items:
Again, I won't cover the options available here, but do experiment with the various options.
TopSettings
Selecting the Settings tab at the top of the Display Properties dialog will change the window to something similar to:
Use this view to change the settings of your graphic card (this is the equipment in your computer that sends graphics and information to your monitor).
Each graphic card has different elements that can be changed, so the window you see may not be exactly the same as the one above. However, the two elements that they all have in common are Screen resolution and Color quality which are the only two options I will cover here.
Screen resolution defines how many pixels are displayed on the monitor.
You can change the resolution by moving the slider to various values that your graphics card is able to send to your monitor. The most common resolution these days is 1024 x 768 which means that your monitor will display 1024 pixels across and 768 pixels down.
the resolution is relevant because it changes the size of things that appear on your monitor. If you have a picture that is 102 pixels wide and you have a resolution of 1024 x 768, the picture will take up 10% of the width of your screen. If you change the resolution to 800 x 600 the picture will take up about 12% of the width of your screen and so will appear larger.
If the icons and other elements displayed on your windows desktop are either too small or too big try adjusting the resolution.
Color quality defines how many colours your monitor will display.
The more colours your monitor displays the sharper, more accurate and vibrant images will seem. You should have this set to display as many colours as possible unless a program you have installed advises a specific setting.
All these settings have an impact on the amount of work your graphics adaptor has to perform. If you find that repainting the screen seems to take a long time, try to reduce some of these settings or turn some options off to see whether this improves graphic performance.