Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

Personalizing your computer, Part II

We will continue the feature started last time on customizing your desktop. Consider moving your icons (by dragging) to the outskirts of the desktop so you can get an uncluttered view of your desktop background. Normally you see the taskbar on the bottom. You can move it to the top or sides by dragging it with your mouse. When it moves you will only see an outline of the bar until you release the button. By moving the icons and the task bar, you can make your desktop original and easy to look at. (Those of you switching to Windows XP will find the trend is to a less cluttered desktop.) I have mentioned in the past how to line up the icons. As a reminder, this is done by right clicking on an empty place on the desktop and then left clicking on "Line Up Icons."

If you would like a little more room on your screen, you can hide the task bar. Right click in a blank space on the taskbar, left click properties and check the Auto hide box. Click on apply. When you wish to see the taskbar, move your mouse to near the edge of the screen where it is hiding and it will reappear to use. Then when you move the mouse away from it, it will hide again. Hiding the task bar makes for a cleaner desktop.

If you run many programs or have many files open at the same time, there may not be enough space on the taskbar for you to see what is open, as they will have been squeezed down to very small. To make the taskbar wider, put your mouse at the upper edge of it and when you see the double arrow, click and drag it until it is 2x as wide and then let it go.

Look again at your icons. If you have very long names underneath them, they may be covering the one below or it may be making the desktop appear too crowded. To make a change, right click the icon and select Rename from the popup menu. Type in a shorter name. This will also make the screen less cluttered.

You have probably noticed that when you point to the time in the lower right side of the Taskbar, you see the day and date. What if this is wrong? Double click on the time and a window comes up allowing you to change the date and the time. If you have a new computer, it may show the wrong time zone. This can be changed so that Eastern time will appear (click the Time Zone tab) and set the correct time making sure that you let the computer know you want it to change to and from Daylight savings automatically. On the appropriate day, the computer will let you know it has made the change when you first turn it on. Do not forget to click on Apply before clicking OK. (If you notice that the time changes when you reboot your computer, you may need a new clock battery. Techies charge a minimal amount to replace them.)

Here is a tip about an item on the taskbar. If you do not see the little speaker that you click on to change your sound volume, you can put it there by clicking on Start, Settings and Control Panel. Click on Multimedia and check the box "show Volume Control on the Taskbar.”

Now suppose you have selected a new photo for your wallpaper on your desktop and some of the icons are obstructing the view. Just drag them to where you want them on the screen. They normally will stay put. In addition, if you want to get photos on your desktop as a background, refer to my article of 10/05/01 to get one from the Internet. If, on the other hand, you have a photo in your computer, simply go to start, settings, control panel and display. Then, in the background tab, select browse and find your photo file. Click on OK. If the photo does not fill the screen, select Stretch in the field below the word Display.

If you find that the upper tool bars are too crowded, you can drag them around. If you prefer, you can drag your address window in your browser down to the task bar to make a little more room. To give yourself the most area to see the screen you are working on, move the essentials to places where there is nothing. Strive to keep the screen as large as you can make it, keeping toolbars to the minimum of the tasks you use very frequently, the ones you use less frequently can easily be found from a drop down menu.

In addition to changing desktop themes as I suggested in the last article on this subject, you can try changing the Scheme in the Display Properties Appearance tab. There you can change the colors of the borders, type font size or styles to make your computer completely personalized.

For those who have upgraded to Windows XP, you will note that all the customization you have made can be just for your own personal use and other people using your computer can change their desktop to please themselves without changing yours. In some ways, XP will self customize your computer in that tools and features you use most often will rise in any dropdown list, so that they are readily accessible. Another “new look” in XP is that most of the icons are missing from the desktop and programs are launched from a smart “start” button that prominently displays software that you use often while hiding others that do not interest you. (More about XP in a forthcoming article.)

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant. He can be reached at mouseclix2@yahoo.com

Previous articles can be seen at http://mouseclix.tripod.com