March Tip of the Month

My icons are too small. How do I change my desktop?

Ever see someone else's Windows™ desktop and wonder how you can get yours to look the same? Here's your answer:

There are two ways of getting to the Display Control Panel. You can Click on the "Start" button, go to "Settings", choose "Control Panel" and Double Click on "Display"
- OR -
Right mouse click on your desktop and choose "Properties".

In this window, you can change many things. These are:

The background - This option is located on the "Background" tab. You can choose a standard Wallpaper listed in the scroll box, or you can choose "Browse" and use a picture file that you've saved to your computer. The "Display" drop down box allows you to stretch the picture to fit your screen, center one image or tile the image multiple times until the screen is filled.
The screen saver - This option is located on the "Screen Saver" tab. Here, you can pick one of the many provided screen savers to appear on your screen while you are not working. You can also change the amount of time that you need to be away from your computer before the screen saver starts. On that same tab is an "Energy Saving Features" area. Clicking on that "Settings" button will allow you to choose if your monitor shuts down after time not used and/or the hard drive. Many people use the monitor setting. We don't recommend the hard drive power saving features as many computers tend to "freeze" using this feature. (Moving the mouse or striking a key on the keyboard will usually bring your computer out of these energy saving modes.)
The color theme - On the "Appearance" tab, you can choose different color themes for your Windows boxes or even create your own.
The icons - On the "Effects" tab, you can change the icons that represent the different programs. Perhaps the most important option on this tab is the "Use large icons" option. Clicking this box will increase the size of the icons, making it easier for people with vision problems to see what they are choosing.
The screen area - the standard is 800 x 600 pixels. Most web pages are designed around this setting, although many have moved to the 1024 x 768 option, allowing designers to put more on the screen. If the color on your monitor seems strange, you can also try changing the settings here. If this does not work, you may have the wrong driver loaded for your video card, the video card may be going bad, or the monitor may be going out.

If you have any problems, please don't hesitate to give us a call or bring in your PC!

If you believe that you have a hardware problem and need our help, bring your CPU to M & M Programming, Inc., 110 North Spalding Avenue, Lebanon, KY.

See Previous Tips of the Month!