Copyright: Monday, April 30, 2001 12:40:48


Lists the available desktop themes.  A desktop theme determines the overall appearance of your desktop by providing a predefined set of icons, fonts, colors, mouse pointers, sounds, background picture, screen saver, and other window elements.

If you modify a predefined theme by changing any individual feature of the theme, it automatically becomes a custom theme.


Click to save your current theme with a new name. You will be prompted to type a name for the theme.

The features that are saved as part of your theme include the following options:

Control Panel	Tab	Item
Display	Desktop	Background, Position, Color
Display	Desktop	Icons (click Customize Desktop to change icons)
Display	Screen Saver	Screen saver
Display	Appearance	Windows and buttons, Color scheme, Font size
Display	Appearance	All features on the Advanced Appearance dialog box (click Advanced)
Mouse	Pointers	Scheme or individual pointers
Sounds and Audio Devices	Sounds	Sound schemes and individual program events


Click to delete the theme selected in the Theme list. You can delete themes you have created and themes you have installed from a CD-ROM or from the Web, but you cannot delete the themes that were installed with Windows.


Displays how the selected theme will look on your desktop.


Displays how a background or color will look on your screen. To preview a background, click its name in the Background list. To preview a color, click (None) under Background, and then click the Color button to select a background color.


Lists the available background designs you can use to decorate the desktop. When you click a background name, a preview of your selection is displayed in the monitor graphic above.


Click to search for background files on other drives or in other folders. You can use files with these file extensions: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .dib, .png, .htm.


Lists background display options. Center will display the image in the center of your screen; Tile will repeat the image over your entire screen; Stretch will stretch the image to cover your entire screen.


Click to select a color to use on your desktop, or customize a new color. If you did not select a background, the color will cover your entire desktop. If you selected a background and chose Center in the Position list box, the color fills the space around the background.


Click to decide what items will appear on your desktop. You can add or remove some Windows program icons from the desktop, and determine which icons are used to represent those programs. You can run the Desktop Cleanup Wizard to remove unused icons on your desktop. You can also customize your desktop to include Web content.


Specifies whether these Windows items will appear as icons on your desktop. Select the check box if you want the item to appear on your desktop; clear the check box if you do not want the item to appear on your desktop.


Displays the icons used for items on your desktop. To change the icon for a particular item, click the item, and then click Change Icon.


Click to change the icon for the selected desktop item.


Click to use the Windows default icon for the selected desktop item.


Specifies whether the Desktop Cleanup Wizard is run automatically every 60 days. The wizard enables you to remove icons from your desktop that you haven’t used during the previous 60 days. It does not delete any programs from your computer.


Click to run the Desktop Cleanup Wizard. This wizard checks your desktop to see which icons you have not used during the previous 60 days, and then lets you decide if you want to remove them. The icons you remove are moved to a folder, from which you can recover them at any time.


Lists the available Web pages or items. If a check box is not selected, the item will not appear on the desktop.

 My Current Home Page displays your current browser home page on your desktop.


Click to add a Web page or Web item (such as a stock ticker) to the Web pages list. Follow the instructions on your screen.


Click to remove the selected Web page or Web item. When My Current Home Page is selected, this button is not available.


Click to view and change properties for the selected Web page or item and to make the page or item available offline.


Click to immediately refresh Web content that appears on your desktop.


Specifies whether Web content windows or items that you have placed on your desktop are locked in place and can’t be moved. Select the check box to lock Web content in place. Clear the check box if you want to be able to move Web content.


Displays how a screen saver will look on your screen. To preview a screen saver, click its name in Screen Saver.


Lists the available screen savers. A screen saver displays moving images that prevent damage to your screen. The screen saver starts automatically if your computer is idle for a specified amount of time.


Click to change settings for the selected screen saver.


Click to preview the selected screen saver on a full screen. Move your mouse or press any key to end the test.


Specifies whether the logon window is displayed when you resume using the computer after the screen saver has started running. If logging on requires a password, you will have to type the password when you resume work.


Specifies how much idle time must elapse before the selected screen saver is displayed.


Energy Star is a program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce the amount of power used by personal computers and peripherals. The Energy Star emblem does not represent EPA endorsement of any product or service.


Click to open the Power Options Properties dialog box that allows you to adjust the power settings for your monitor.


Displays how the current settings will look on your desktop.


Lists the visual styles that are available for the theme that is currently selected on the Themes tab. Click the visual style you want to use.


Lists the color schemes that are available for the currently selected visual style (labeled Windows and buttons). Click the color scheme you want to use.


Lists the font size options that are available for the currently selected color scheme.  Click the font size you want to use.


Click to set visual effects for Windows menus, icons, and fonts.


Click to customize the look of windows, menus, fonts, and icons. This option is only useful if you selected Windows Classic as your theme.


Specifies whether to activate animations for menu commands and other Windows elements. Animations change how menus, lists, and tooltips open and close.


Lists the available transition effects. Click Scroll effect for menus, lists, and tooltips to slide in and out, or click Fade effect to allow them to fade-in when you open them and dissolve when you close them.


Specifies whether to smooth edges of large fonts to make screen fonts more readable. To use this option, you must have a video card and monitor that support 256-color. For best results, your video card and monitor should support high color (16-bit color).


Lists the options available for improving the readability of large screen fonts. Click Standard for desktop monitors; click ClearType for most laptop computers and other flat screen monitors.


Specifies whether to use large icons to represent files, folders, and shortcuts on your desktop. On computers with low memory, using large icons require affect performance slightly.


Specifies whether menus cast a slight shadow. The shadows give the menus a three-dimensional look.


Specifies whether to display window contents as you move or size it. When this check box is cleared, you can see only the outline when you move a window.


Specifies whether to suppress the drawing of keyboard shortcuts (the underlined characters in menus and controls) and input focus indicators (the dotted rectangles around objects), until you actually start using the keyboard to navigate in Windows, generally with the ALT, TAB, or arrow keys.


 Displays how the current settings will look on the desktop.


Lists the screen elements for which you can change settings.


Provides a space for you to set the size (in pixels) of the selected window component. If this option is unavailable, you cannot change the size of the selected item.


Lists the background colors you can use for the selected window component. If this option is unavailable, you cannot change the color of the selected item.


Lists the gradient colors (smooth shading of one color to another color) you can use for selected items, such as title bars. If this option is unavailable, you cannot change the item's gradient color.


Lists the fonts you can use for the text in the selected window component. If this option is unavailable, you cannot change the font of the selected item.


Lists the point sizes you can specify for the text in the selected window component.


Lists the colors you can use for the text in the selected window component.


Click to apply bold text to the selected window component.


Click to apply italic text to the selected window component.


Displays a monitor icon for each monitor attached to your computer. If you are using just one monitor, that monitor shows the relative size of items on your desktop, based on your current screen resolution.

If you have more than one monitor installed, right-click a monitor icon, and click Identify to see a number appear on the monitor corresponding to the icon you clicked. The settings for that monitor appear in Display, Colors, and Screen Area.

If more than one icon is displayed, drag them to the positions that represent how you want to move items between monitors. For example, if you are using two monitors and you want to move items from one monitor to the other by dragging left and right, position the icons side by side. To move items between monitors by dragging up and down, position the icons one above the other. The icon positions don’t have to correspond to the physical positions of your monitors. You can position the icons one above the other even though your monitors are side by side.


Displays all installed video adapters. If you are using more than one monitor, the adapter for your primary monitor is in position 1.


Displays the current screen resolution settings for the monitor whose video adapter appears in Display. Drag the slider to specify the screen resolution you want. As you increase the number of pixels, you display more information on your screen, but the information decreases in size.


Displays the current color settings for the monitor attached to the video adapter that appears in Display. To use a different color setting, click the arrow, and then click a setting.

If you need to set your color quality to 256 colors to run a game or other software program that requires it, right-click the program icon or name on your desktop or Start menu, then click Properties. Click the Compatibility tab, and then select the Run in 256 colors check box. Your monitor will revert to your default color setting when you close the program.


Specifies that your desktop will be extended onto the monitor corresponding to the icon you selected above. This check box is unavailable for your primary monitor because additional monitors are all extensions of the primary monitor.


Click to open the Properties dialog box for the monitor and video adapter that appears under Display.


Click to start the Display Troubleshooter.


Specifies that the monitor corresponding to the icon you selected above is the primary monitor. The primary monitor will display the logon dialog box when you start your computer. In addition, most programs will display windows on the primary monitor when you initially open them.


Click to display a number on the monitors that correspond with the icons shown above.


Lists the available DPI (dots per inch) sizes for the selected monitor. Increasing the DPI increases the size of everything on your screen. Decreasing the DPI decreases the size of everything on your screen.

To use a different size, click a DPI size in the list or choose Other, which allows you to customize the DPI setting for your monitor.


Specifies that your computer should restart automatically when you change system display settings. Windows will display a prompt asking you if you want to restart your computer. Be sure to save unsaved data before you click Yes.


Specifies that your computer should apply changes to system display settings without restarting.

Some programs might not display colors correctly without being restarted after you make changes. If this happens, close and then reopen the program after you change color settings.


Specifies that Windows should display a prompt asking you if you want to restart after changing system display settings. Be sure to save unsaved data before you click Yes.


Lists the available percentages you can use to set a custom DPI (dots per inch). The changes will be reflected under the ruler in Sample. The DPI size you specify affects all video adapters on your system.


To specify a custom DPI setting, click and hold down your mouse button to drag the ruler. After you drag, your changes will be reflected in the sample below the ruler, and an exact percentage will be shown in the list above.


Displays how the font will look based on your changes.


Displays options for changing your monitor color settings.


Displays the current video adapter type.


Displays information about your video adapter.


Click to view all of the video modes available for this adapter.


Lists all of the combinations of screen resolution, colors, and refresh rates available for the selected video adapter.


Click to display device and driver properties for this video adapter.


Shows the type of monitor you are using with the selected video adapter.


Lists the refresh rates available for the selected monitor listed under Display on the Settings tab. A higher refresh frequency reduces flicker on your screen.


Click to display device and driver properties for this monitor.


Specifies whether the list under Refresh Frequency will include modes that are not supported by your monitor. Choosing a mode that is inappropriate for your monitor may cause severe display problems and could damage your hardware. You must be logged on as a member of the Administrator’s group in order to view unsupported modes.


Lists the type of monitors you are using with the selected video adapter.


Adjusts the levels of hardware acceleration controlled by device drivers. Dragging the slider from Full to None gradually disables portions of hardware acceleration and enables you to detect which areas might be causing you to have problems with your graphics hardware.


Specifies whether "write combining" is turned on or off. Write combining improves video performance by speeding up the display of information to your screen. However, increased speed can cause screen corruption, so if you experience problems with your display, clear the check box.


Specifies that the marquee text should scroll across the center of your screen.


Specifies that the marquee text should scroll across random areas of your screen.


Adjusts the speed of the text as it moves across the screen.


List the available background colors.


Provides a space for you to type the text you want to display.


Displays how the settings will appear on your screen.


Click to specify a font, font style, and size for the displayed text.


Lists Polygon 1 and Polygon 2. You can specify individual settings for each polygon.


Specifies whether the selected shape is active. If this check box is cleared, the selected shape does not appear and your screen will become black when the screen saver is displayed.


Provides a space for you to type the number of lines for the selected shape.

This option is available only when the Active check box is selected.


Specifies that you want to choose two alternating colors for the selected shape, which you can select from the color list boxes.

Color options are available only when the Active check box is selected.


Specifies multiple random colors for the selected shape.

Color options are available only when the Active check box is selected.


Specifies whether the shapes appear on a black background or the shapes appear over your work.


Provides a space for you to type the number of Beziers in each loop (up to 10).


Specifies the number of loops (1 to 100).


Adjusts the speed of the image.


Adjusts the speed of the stars.


Specifies the number of stars displayed.