In this section I will show you how to change the Appearance (Screen Resolution/Size, Background and Theme) of your Desktop so that you can use a picture of your choice for the background, for example, and have more screen space to work with (if your Graphics Card supports multiple screen resolutions/sizes).

If you have not read this page before continue reading it, from top to bottom, as normal. Otherwise you can click on a subject below to get near/on the subject you was reading before. The Internet is the next section - It is also linked at the bottom of this page.

To change the appearance of your desktop you first need to launch (run/execute) the Personalization control panel. This can be done by either going to the Control Panel and double clicking on the PERSONALIZATION icon or by right clicking on an empty area of the desktop and then selecting the PERSONALIZE menu-item from the Options menu that appears. In this example I will use the quickest and easiest method, which is the Options menu. However. Regardless of which method is used, either method will open the Personalization control panel (window).

Fig 1.0  Right click on an empty area of the desktop - Select PERSONALIZE....

Fig 1.1  or double click the PERSONALIZATION control panel

Fig 1.2  Click on the DISPLAY SETTINGS link to continue

When the Personalization control panel (window) has opened you will notice seven main links with self-explanatory descriptions underneath them. The first link you want to click on is the DESKTOP SETTINGS link because it allows you to change the Size (Resolution) of the desktop - There is not much point clicking on the DESKTOP BACKGROUND link first for example because the background will either be shrunk or expanded according to the desktop's size. Therefore, change the desktop size first and then find/use a background picture that will suit that desktop size. Obviously, if you do not need to change your desktop's size simply ignore this example and jump to Fig 2.0 instead.

Fig 1.3  Move the slider button leftwards or rightwards to change the desktop's size (resolution)

After clicking on the DISPLAY SETTINGS button the above Display Settings window appears. From this window you can change the Desktop Size (Resolution), its Colours bit-rate and other Advanced Settings as well.

The Colors setting HIGHEST (32-Bit) does not generally need changing, to MEDIUM (16-Bit) for example, as this setting is really for those who deal with Graphics software, Monitor switching and so on (i.e. a Student, Programmer and/or Website Designer). However. If you do need to change this setting simply click on the COLOURS drop-down menu and then select a colour resolution (i.e. MEDIUM 16-Bit). 32 Bit means each pixel (dot) on the desktop can be created from 1 colour out of 16.7 Million colours whereas 16 Bit means each pixel (dot) on the desktop can be created from 1 colour out of 65,536 colours.

The only setting of real interest here is the Resolution (desktop size) setting, marked LOW to HIGH, which allows you to change the desktop size (resolution). LOW is the smallest desktop size and HIGH is the biggest desktop size. To change the resolution setting simply click on the LOW-HIGH Slider (button) and then, while keeping the left mouse button clicked (held down), move (drag) the mouse pointer to the left or right - This will change the resolution guage as you do so (below).

Although the LOWest setting is normally a desktop size of 800 x 600 the HIGHest setting depends on how good your computer's Graphics Card is and/or how good your Monitor is. For example. My laptop's HIGHest setting (above) is a desktop size of 1280 x 800 whereas my previous laptop's HIGHest setting was only 1024 x 768. And although a HIGHer setting sounds better it is not always suitable to set your desktop to its HIGHest setting. Why? Because webpages and documents can look too small and/or out of place/position. There is also the matter of resources used (i.e. memory). The HIGHer the resolution (desktop size) the harder your graphics card has to work, because it has more dots/pixels to draw for example.

Fig 1.4  Release the left mouse button when you are happy with the resolution (desktop size)

The above only changes the resolution setting (guage) but not the resolution (desktop size) itself. The resolution will only change when you click on the APPLY button or OK button. This applies when changing the Colors setting as well - you have to click on the APPLY or OK button to set (apply) the colour change. You do not have to APPLY or OK one setting at a time though. You can change all your settings in one go for example and then click on the APPLY button or OK button once, so that all the changed settings are set (applied) in one go. The only difference between APPLY and OK is that OK exits the Display Settings window after applying the changed setting(s) whereas APPLY leaves the Display Settings window open after applying the changed setting(s), so that you can continue changing more settings without having to open the Display Settings window all the time.

Fig 1.5  Click on the YES button to change the resolution (desktop size)

After changing your setting(s) and clicking on APPLY or OK the above confirmation message requester appears, wanting to know if you like your changed resolution (new desktop size/colours) or not. If you do click on the YES button to make your changed resolution permanent, otherwise click on the NO button to revert back to your previous resolution (previous display settings). If you only want to view your changed resolution (without applying it), for the maximum 15 seconds, you can do so by not clicking on a button. By doing this you will be able to view your changed resolution for up to 15 seconds before Display Settings automatically reverts back to your previous resolution.

The need to change your desktop's resolution may not be of your choosing. A piece of software (i.e. a Game or Website) may have forced it upon you, by stating that it cannot display its screens or documents properly because your desktop's resolution is too LOW. With the desktop background it is different. Changing your desktop's background is your choice and a purely cosmetic choice.

Fig 2.0  Click on the Desktop Background link to continue

To change the desktop's background click on the Desktop Background link inside the Personalization window (Fig 2.0 above) to open the Desktop Background window (below). The Personalization window will still be open after changing the desktop's resolution (above).

Fig 2.1  Either click on a picture or click on the LOCATION drop-down menu for more choices

With the Desktop Background window open you now have two choices. Either click on a Windows Wallpapers picture (displayed in front of you) and use it as your desktop background or click on the LOCATION drop-down menu for more choices.

If you decide to use a Windows Wallpapers picture, clicking on that picture will instantly change the desktop's background to use that picture. To view more pictures move the scrollbar up/down on the right of the picture-display area or press the UP/DOWN keyboard keys. Clicking on the CANCEL button will undo any desktop background changes you made, during this session of using Desktop Background only, and then close the Desktop Background window. This is good if you decide you do not like any of the Windows Wallpapers.

If you want more choices, click on the LOCATION drop-down menu and then select another choice.

Windows Wallpapers

These are the default background pictures (known as Wallpapers) supplied with Windows Vista.

Pictures

These are your pictures, which must be in the Wallpaper .jpg format and dimensions - The size must match that of a Windows Wallpaper picture and the picture file itself must be in the .jpg format. Your picture might need to be 1024 x 768 in size for example, depending on your monitor's dimensions, and may then be stretched or shrunk in order to fit the dimensions of your desktop's resolution.

Sample Pictures

These are the pictures found in your Sample Pictures sub-folder, whose parent folder is the Pictures folder.

Public Pictures

These are the pictures found in your Public Pictures sub-folder, whose parent folder is the Public folder. The Public folder is used for sharing data (i.e. Pictures, Music, Downloads, etc) over a network.

Solid Colors

These are a set of predefined colours that when clicked on instantly change the desktop's background into that colour. You can define your own colour by clicking on the MORE link. This will bring up the Windows Vista colour selector/definer.

Fig 2.2  Click on a colour or click on the MORE link to choose your own colour

If you scroll down to the bottom of the Desktop Background window, when using any of the Picture choices, you will see the POSITION options (below). These allow you to FIT TO SCREEN, TILE or CENTER the desktop background picture, as exampled by the icons next to each Position option. In this example I have chosen to TILE my own picture by clicking on the TILE radio (circle/dot) button.

Fig 2.3  Click on a POSITION button to either FIT TO SCREEN, TILE or CENTER the desktop background picture

If you want to use a picture from a Flash Drive for example as your desktop background picture you can do so using the BROWSE button. Either BROWSE your flash drive directly or copy pictures from it first, into the Pictures folders for example, before clicking on the BROWSE button.

With the Desktop Background window still open, click on the CHANGE DESKTOP ICONS link (located in the top-right corner) to open the Desktop Icons Settings window.

Fig 3.0  Click on the CHANGE DESKTOP ICONS link (located in the top-right corner) to continue



Fig 3.1  The Desktop Icons Settings window

The Desktop Icons Settings window allows you to show or hide the following icons on the desktop - Computer, User's Files (i.e. Yoingco), Network, Recycle Bin, Network and Control Panel. Simply put a tick next to the icons (icon names) you want to show on your desktop and leave any others unticked. For example. If you never use a network (i.e. two computers attached to each other via an ethernet cable) you can leave the Network icon (icon name) unticked, but if you use the recycle bin a lot (i.e. to manually empty it) make sure there is a tick next to the Recycle Bin icon name. When you have chosen which icons to show (tick) and hide (untick) click on the OK button to update the desktop.

If you cannot see any icons on your desktop at all, including the above icons and normal software shortcut icons, it could be that you have switched off the SHOW DESKTOP ICONS setting. This setting is unrelated to the Desktop Icons Settings window and is de/activated by right clicking on the desktop.

Fig 3.2  Click on SHOW DESKTOP ICONS to continue

Fig 3.3  The desktop icons can be seen on the desktop

To have the desktop icons shown on the desktop, right click on an empty area of the desktop to bring up its Options menu and then hover over the VIEW menu-item only. If the SHOW DESKTOP ICONS menu-item is unticked (Fig 3.2 above) you need to tick it in order to see the desktop icons on the desktop. From the VIEW menu move the mouse pointer over to the SHOW DESKTOP ICONS menu-item and then left click on the SHOW DESKTOP ICONS menu-item (Fig 3.2 above). Your desktop icons should then appear on the desktop. Fig 3.3 above shows the SHOW DESKTOP ICONS menu-item ticked, which means that setting is now switched on (desktop icons are viewable on the desktop).

With the Desktop Background window still open, click on the THEME link to open the Theme Settings window. A Theme is a Desktop Background plus a set of Sounds, Icons and other elements to help you personalize your computer.

Fig 4.0  Click on the THEME link to continue

Fig 4.1  Click on THEME drop-down menu for options

Fig 4.2  The Windows Classic look (i.e. Windows 2000)

With the Theme Settings window there are only two real choices available. Either click on the THEME drop-down menu to select the WINDOWS CLASSIC theme or stick with the WINDOWS VISTA theme. The WINDOWS CLASSIC theme is only of use if you want/need to reserve system resources (i.e. Memory and Graphics) - Downgrading to WINDOWS CLASSIC can save you megabytes/gigabytes of memory for example, depending on your computer, its graphics and so on.

You can use the BROWSE option to browse for .theme files (themes) but you are better of downloading/installing a theme from the internet.

With the Desktop Background window still open, click on the WINDOW COLOR AND APPEARANCE link to open the Window Color And Appearance window (Fig 5.1 below).

Fig 5.0  Click on the WINDOW COLOR AND APPEARANCE link to continue



Fig 5.1  Click on the OPEN CLASSIC APPEARANCE PROPERTIES FOR MORE COLOR OPTIONS link to continue

The Window Color And Appearance window allows you to choose a colour for your theme (for your windows and so on) by either clicking on one the predefined colours that you see in front of you or by you creating your own colour using the COLOR INTENSITY slider/guage and/or the SHOW COLOR MIXER button - Clicking on the SHOW COLOR MIXER button reveals the HUE, SATURATION and BRIGHTNESS sliders/guages.

You can change more colour and appearance settings by clicking on the OPEN CLASSIC APPEARANCE PROPERTIES FOR MORE COLOR OPTIONS link. This is a little more advanced but worth a look.

Fig 5.2  Click on the ADVANCED button to continue

Clicking on the OPEN CLASSIC APPEARANCE PROPERTIES FOR MORE COLOR OPTIONS link opens the Appearance Settings window (above). From here you can change the COLOR SCHEME by clicking on a Color Scheme (Windows Vista Basic, Windows Classic, High Contrast and so on), change some EFFECTS (Font Smoothing, Shadow and Dragging) by clicking on the EFFECTS button and change the appearance of certain desktop/window elements by clicking on the ADVANCED button.

To get smoother looking fonts you can try the Clear Type, EFFECTS, setting. It is not to everyone's liking but it does improve on the font edges (the characters do no look blocky/jagged). The alternative is to use the Standard setting. The SHOW WINDOW CONTENT... setting should be switched off (unticked) as it slows down the computer by leaving a trail of window images (content) whenever you drag (move) a window. The SHOW SHADOWS... setting does exactly what it says, it puts shadows underneath menus.

Fig 5.3  The EFFECTS window

The ADVANCED settings (below) allow you to change the colour and/or appearance of a window, and more precisely the colour and/or appearance of certain window elements (i.e. its Title Bar, Font, Icon Spacing and/or Scrollbars, as well as the Desktop colour).

Fig 5.4  Click on MESSAGE BOX to change its elements

Fig 5.5  Click on the Desktop ITEM to change its elements

In Fig 5.4 above I have clicked on the MESSAGE BOX window. This allows me to change the elements belonging to Message Requesters (message boxes). In this case the colours and font of the Active Title Bar, which applies to all window title bars that become active. In Fig 5.5 above I have clicked on the ITEM drop-down menu, to reveal the items (elements and non-elements) I can change, and am just about to select the DESKTOP item. This does not allow me to change the colour of the desktop background, what it does is it allows me to set (default) the colour used in the MORE option of SOLID COLORS.....in the Desktop Background window (Fig 2.2 above). This is good if you need to change from a picture background to a colour background but do not want to keep defining the same colour each time.

In Fig 5.6 below I have already clicked on the COLOR 1 drop-down menu, of the Active Title Bar element, and then clicked on the OTHER button so that I can define my own colour - If I wanted to select a standard colour I could of done so. Clicking on the OTHER button though brings up a Colour Requester with more colours and options on it, allowing you to either click on a predefined colour or to define a colour of your own.

Fig 5.6  Click on OTHER button to bring up the Colour Requester

Fig 5.7  Add your own Custom Colour or select a predefined colour

If at the end of experimenting with the above Display Settings, after clicking on the appropriate APPLY and OK buttons, you do not like your changes you can always revert back to a Windows Display Theme (i.e. Windows Vista - Fig 4.1 above). Doing so will revert all font, colour and so on changes back to using your chosen theme's display settings. Therefore, why not experiment? Saying this, three things to keep in mind when changing display settings are "How is my software going to react to these changes?", "Will the font size be too big?" and "Will webpages display properly with my changes?".

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.

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