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Step-by-Step: Display Dialog |
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| What you will learn: |
to customize the look of Windows:
Theme
Background
Screen saver
Appearance
return to the default settings
Display Settings |
Start with: 
Dialog: Display Properties or Personalization
If your computer has different user accounts, the changes that you make
in the Display dialog will apply only to the current user.
-
Right click on a blank area of the desktop to get the
context-sensitive menu.
Click on Properties
or Personalize.
Win98
and WinXP: You
will see a dialog box for Display Properties. Here is where you can customize
how the display on your monitor works.
Windows Vista: The Personalization dialog opens with a list of links to other dialogs.
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default Windows XP |
Windows Classic |
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Windows Vista |
There may
be different choices, depending on what
video drivers your computer uses and on which version of Windows you have.
To Save or Discard Changes
In a dialog that has a lot of choices, you may see an Apply button in
addition to the expected OK and Cancel buttons. If you click
Apply, your changes will be remembered but the dialog does not close. So you can
continue making other choices.
The Apply button will be grayed out (not available) until you actually make a
change.
Themes
A
theme is a matched set of colors,
background, screen saver, pointer shapes, sounds, and Desktop icons. These are all
related to the same topic or style: space, the sea, nature, Star Wars, or Sherlock
Holmes, for example. Windows itself comes with just two, a default theme and a Classic
theme. You can create your own combinations and save them as a theme. You can
also download themes created by others.
The Theme dialog does not show you all of the changes that may be included.
Some themes change just a few items, like the colors and desktop background.
WinXP theme; Windows Classic
theme; Windows Vista theme
The Windows theme for your version
will return you to the default colors and appearance. This is handy if you made
a lot of choices and don't remember what the original settings were.
If you customize the colors and
appearance, go to Themes and use the Save As button to save your adjustments
under a new name.
Then, if you (or someone else!) make changes later, it is easy to get back to
the look you liked by just applying the correct theme.
Windows
Vista will list the Windows Vista theme only if the computer can handle
the Aero graphics features. If it cannot, you will see
the theme Windows Vista Basic instead.
Background
The background of the Desktop can be a solid color, a repeating pattern, or a
single image. Here are some definitions:
Pattern = design that replaces the solid color background on the desktop.
It uses a fairly small repeated image.
Wallpaper = a picture that replaces the solid color background on the desktop.
Tile = repeats a picture (usually small) until the whole desktop is covered.
Center
= puts the picture in the center of the screen.
Stretch or Size to Fit =
stretch or shrink an image to fit the screen. This can result in a very
distorted image.
You can choose to use both a pattern or a solid color along with a wallpaper. Usually the wallpaper hides the pattern, but you may see it in the labels of desktop icons or around a centered wallpaper
image.
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Click on the Background
or Desktop tab to bring it to the front, if
necessary.
Click
on the link Desktop Background
-
Experiment with some of the choices.
Scroll the lists to see all of the choices. You can
use any image that you have on your computer as wallpaper. The Browse button will
open a dialog for you to look for images on your computer.
In Win98/WinXP the effect will show in the small monitor in the dialog box.
In Windows Vista, Live Preview will change your actual Desktop temporarily as
you make choices. You must click on OK to make those choices stick. You may need to move or minimize the window to see the effect.
- Save or discard your choices:
Click on Apply to
save your change without closing the dialog or click on the next tab.
In Windows Vista,
click on OK to save your changes or click on Cancel if you do not want to save
the changes. The window closes. The Personalization window is still open.
Screen Saver
-
Click on the Screen Saver
tab or link.
A screen saver is a moving design that comes on after a set
amount of time
passes with no activity on the monitor. Its purpose to keep your screen
from sitting too long with one picture on it. This can cause a permanent
shadow on older monitors. Of course, screen savers are also a lot of
fun!
-
Experiment with different screen savers. Select one from the drop list. Then click on Settings to see
if there are changes you can make. The Preview button will run the screen saver in
the small monitor in the dialog box.
- Save or discard your choices:
Click
on Apply to save your change without closing the dialog or click on the next
tab.
In Windows Vista,
click on OK to save your changes or click on Cancel if you do not want to save
the changes. The window closes. The Personalization window is still open.
Appearance
-
Click on the
Appearance tab.
In this dialog you can change the
colors of the parts of a window, either one item at a time or by
selecting a scheme.
Click on the Window Color and Appearance link in the Personalization window.
[If Aero is not available on your computer, the Appearance Settings
dialog will open instead of the Window Color and Appearance window.]
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Experiment: Select different colors and intensities. Live Preview will show
the effect on your actual Desktop. Then
click the link
"Open classic appearance properties for more color options".
-
Experiment:
Select various color schemes.
-
Experiment:
Click on parts of the sample windows and change their characteristics
with the controls at the bottom of the dialog.
Windows Vista:
Click on the button Advanced to see the Appearance dialog. Click on parts
of the sample windows and change their characteristics with the controls
at the bottom of the dialog.
- Save or discard your choices:
Click
on Apply to save your change without closing the dialog or click on the next
tab.
In Windows Vista,
click on OK to save your changes or click on Cancel if you do not want to save
the changes. The window closes. The Personalization window is still open.
Return to Default
If you applied changes and want to get back to the original look, apply the
Windows theme in the Themes dialog.
Settings
You will not be making any changes to the display settings but you do need to
see what choices are available.
- Click on the Settings
or Display Settings. From this dialog, if your video
card, monitor, and permissions allow it, you can change the color depth and resolution
of your screen. You may have to reboot the computer for your changes to
take effect. It depends on your video card.
The Color palette and Desktop/Resolution area will only show choices
that Windows thinks will work for the equipment and drivers being used. You may not
have any choices!
The Advanced Properties/Settings button leads you to a dialog for changing the video driver and the type of monitor.
LCD
monitors and resolution: It is particularly important on an
LCD monitor (the skinny flat ones) to use the resolution recommended
by the manufacturer as the "native" resolution. With other
resolutions the image on the screen will not be as crisp and clear.
This resolution is usually the largest available in the slide bar -
IF the monitor has been correctly identified by Windows. You have to
go into the Advanced settings to see a tab for Monitor.
Safety
net for video changes:
If
you change the color palette (i.e. color depth) or the resolution/desktop area and
click on the Apply button, Windows will make a temporary change to your
actual display (not the example preview in the dialog). A confirmation dialog appears. If you like what you see, you can click on Yes in the
confirmation dialog to accept the changes. If the result is a big, unreadable
mess, just wait a few seconds and Windows will automatically change back to the
previous settings.
Do not change the Advanced Display Properties settings unless you KNOW what you are doing will work! The wrong settings here can make your screen unreadable and might even keep Windows from starting.
For changes to Display Settings to take effect you may have to restart the computer.
- Click on the Cancel button to close
the dialog.
-
Close
the Personalization window.
