CUSTOMIZING WINDOWS XP

One important feature of Windows XP is that it allows the users to customize their desktop. Let us see how to do it?

Customizing Taskbar

Position :You can move the taskbar to any of the four sides of the desktop, unless it is locked. To do this, place the mouse pointer in an empty area on the taskbar. Then click and drag the taskbar to any of the sides where you want it to be placed.

Size :To change the size of the taskbar, point to the edge of the taskbar. Now the mouse pointer will change into a double-headed arrow. Click and drag the mouse to increase/decrease the size of the taskbar.

Taskbar Settings :Right click on the empty area of the taskbar.

From the shortcut menu,

• Select toolbars to add/delete a toolbar like address, links etc.


• You can arrange the windows the way you want with 'Cascade Windows', 'Tile Windows Horizontally', 'Tile Windows Vertically' and 'Show Desktop' shows the Desktop. For more details see show desktop


• Click on Task Manager to see the various processes running and also to perform operations like 'End Task' etc.


• To make the Taskbar fixed, click on 'Lock the Taskbar' so that the taskbar cannot be moved.


• Clicking on Properties will open the Taskbar and Start menu properties windows under the Taskbar tab. You can try selecting and deselecting the various options listed there to customize the taskbar. Changing it into Start Menu tab will give you the option to change the start menu style. For further details, see Classic Start Menu

Changing Wallpaper :

Wallpaper is the background of your desktop. There are several wallpapers that come along with XP. You can choose one among them or you can also use a picture of your own.

Right click on the blank area of the desktop. A menu pops up.

Click on 'Properties'. The 'Display Properties' dialog box appears. Click on Desktop tab. It looks similar to the figure below.

From the list of wallpapers, select the one you want. You can see a preview on the top half of the window. If you like it,click on Apply and then on OK.

Screen Savers :

With the constantly improving technology, screen savers are nowadays used more as a fun rather than for a specific purpose. Click on Screen Saver tab in the Display Properties dialog box. Click on the drop down list box just below the screen saver prompt. A list of available screensavers would appear as below.

Select any one and a preview would appear at the top half of the window. Specify the time to wait before displaying the screen saver (in minutes) in the wait text box. According to the figure below, the computer would wait for 5 minutes before displaying the screen saver.