Every once in a while, when I'm working on someone's computer,
she'll remark, "...and can you get rid of those *awful* noises
that my grandson put on there?". Seems that Junior visited
and changed all the colors and pictures, and now every time
she does anything, the computer barks and moans and creaks...He
has installed a Desktop Theme, and she hates it! What to do?
Many Windows machines come with a series of matching icons,
wallpapers, and sounds. Each has a theme, like Baseball, the
1950s, or Mystery (my favourite). To see what you have on
your machine, go to the Control Panel (select the Start button,
then "Settings" and "Control Panel") and look for an icon
called "Desktop Themes". Select the "Themes" dropdown box at
the top and a whole list of them may appear. If you choose
one, you'll see what your computer will look like with the
new theme. Select "Apply" and it will change your computer,
select "Cancel" to get out without changes.
If you're happy with how your computer looks, you don't need
to read any further. But what if you can't find a theme you
like? Or what if you want some parts of one theme and some
parts of another? What if you have no themes at all?
If you want to make changes but don't like any theme you
have available, read on. We're going to take a quick and
easy look at four areas where changes can be made to give your
computer that unique look, or to fix the changes someone else
has made. Those areas are wallpaper, sounds, icons, and cursors.
The possibilites and combinations are limitless, but you're
going to have to get your hands a little dirty (don't worry,
though, you really can't hurt anything).
Wallpaper:
The easiest and most visible portion of the desktop theme is
the wallpaper: the picture or color upon which all the little
icons sit. Windows95 came with a plain, awful green...
Windows98 comes with a bunch of pictures and a few complete
themes, but if you bought your computer from HP or Dell, they
may have installed their own theme on it (usually an ad for
their products).
To change it, the first thing you need to do is minimize all
programs so you can see the desktop. This can be done by
clicking the square icon with a picture of a pencil on it
(lower left corner by the start button), or by clicking the
down arrow in each open program (the idea here is to be
able to see the whole desktop).
Good, now right-click somewhere on the desktop and choose
"Active Desktop", then "Customize My Desktop". A "Display
Properties" box should appear which has about 6 tabs, click
the one that says "Background". What you should see is a
little picture of your whole desktop, as well as a list of
available pictures (bottom left). If you click on a few of
the pictures on the list, you'll see the little picture of your
desktop changes, showing you what it will look like if you choose
this picture.
Find one you like? Click "Apply" and it's done. If nothing
tickles your fancy, you can just click "Cancel" and you'll
be done...no changes are made. If you just want to change the
color of the dektop, click the "Appearance" tab, select the
dropdown arrow next to "Color" near the bottom, and choose a
color you like. Click apply to keep it, cancel to go back.
Sounds:
Do you notice the music that plays when your computer boots or
shuts down? How about the little 'clicks' that sound when you
open or close a program? These are customizable, as well.
With the desktop showing, click the "Start" button, then
"Settings"/"Control Panel" and double-click the icon that has
a picture of a bullhorn or speaker (it's probably called
"Sounds" or "Sounds and Multimedia"). You should now see a
pop-up box...
Now click the "Sounds" tab and look at the list of 'sound
events' presented... these 'events' mean your computer is
doing something like opening a program or delivering new
mail. Try this: select "Exit Windows" on the list (click
it once), then click the square box with a triangle in it
(the "Play" button). Sound familiar? That's the sound
that plays when you exit windows, and this is where you
can change it, eliminate it, even add sounds of your own!
To change a sound, simply click "Browse" and a whole list
of available sounds should pop up...double click one and
see if you like it. Nearly every conceivable event in
Windows can have a unique sound, from animals growling to
movie clips. Have fun with it!
Icons:
Changing the icons on your desktop (My Computer, Recycle Bin,
etc.) is easy as well. Right-click the desktop and bring up
the "Display Properties" box you did to change the wallpaper,
then choose the "Effects" tab. Now you should see the icons
which appear on the desktop (only the Windows ones...installed
programs come with their own, and it's probably best to leave
them alone). Select one by clicking it once, then choose
"Change Icon...". A few Windows-supplied icons will appear
and you can select any one you want. But you are not limited
to those...
If you *really* want to play, you'll need to download a
collection of Icons from the internet. Put them in a directory
by themselves, and when you have the Windows Icons showing,
select "Browse" and find the directory. Now you can make
*any* icon appear on the desktop, from your favourite cartoon
characters to pictures of fish or birds...you can make it look
any way you want!
Cursors:
Did you ever notice how the 'pointer' or 'arrow' changes when
you're doing different things in Windows? Sometimes a little
hourglass appears, sometimes its just a straight line, at times
it's even a little hand. That pointer is called a 'cursor' and
it is customizable as well. From the Control Panel (review
the 'Sounds' section if you forgot how to get there), double-
click on the Mouse Icon and select 'Pointers'. Like the Sound
Events list, the cursor list will show different cursors for
different events, like when you are pointing at text or when
the computer is busy. Select one and click Browse and you'll
see a whole list of available cursors. Don't forget that you
must click "Apply" if you want to keep them, and "Cancel" will
get you back the way you were.
Good Computing to you!
About the Author:
Bill Hoyt is the Webmaster of Hoyt Station Personal Computing.
For the best in free software plus tips to make your computing
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