This Document pertains to HP and Compaq PCs with Windows 98, Me, and XP.
You can customize almost any screen element in Microsoft Windows. This document explains how to do the following:
Change the background color or pattern of the screen
Add new wallpaper to the desktop
Add a new screen saver
Change the font and colors used for menus, title bars, and other elements
Change icons, the screen color, or display resolutions
Changing the amount of colors and desktop size
To change the display settings, follow the procedure below:
For Window XP
Right-click the desktop background, and select Properties
.
A Display Properties window opens.
Click the Settings
tab.
To change the screen area size, drag the slider under Screen resolutution. Drag the slider to the left to decrease the screen area, making icons and text appear larger, or drag the slider to the right to increase the screen size area, making icons and text appear smaller.
- To change the number of colors, select a color setting from the Color quality dropdown list.
Select the number of colors you want. When using more colors, pictures and images have better quality but use more memory.
Click OK
, and then Yes
to save the settings, or No
to cancel the change.
Close the Display Properties window.
For Windows 98 or Me
Click Start
, Settings
, and then Control Panel
. The Control Panel window will open.
In the Control Panel window, double-click the Display
icon. The Display Properties window appears.
Click the Settings
tab.
To change the screen area size, drag the slider under the Screen area heading. Drag the slider to the left to decrease the screen area, or drag the slider to the right to increase the screen size area.
To change the number of colors, click the arrow to the right of the drop-down menu under Colors. A list of items appears.
Select the number of colors you want. When using more colors, pictures and images have better quality but use more memory.
Click Apply
, and then OK
to save the settings. Restart the PC if prompted.
Changing the desktop background
Change the background of the screen by adding a patterned design or wallpaper (a picture or image that can display on the screen).
Change wallpaper to a full screen graphic or a small graphic that appears only in the center of the screen.
Stretch a graphic until it fills the entire screen or tile a graphic across the screen. Tiling a graphic is like tiling a floor. The small image is placed in the upper-left corner of the screen, and then the image is repeated until the entire screen is filled with the now tiled image.
To change the pattern or wallpaper on the screen, follow these steps:
For Windows XP
Change the wallpaper in XP:
Right-click the desktop background, and select Properties
.
A Display Properties window opens.
Click the Desktop
tab.
Change the Background by follow one of the listed instructions:
Click a picture in the Background list. Under Position, click Center, Tile,
or Stretch
.
To save a picture from a Web site as a background: right-click the picture and then click Set as Background
. The picture is listed in the Background box as Internet Explorer Background.
Click Browse
to search for a background picture in other folders or on other drives. Personal files with the following extensions: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .dib, .png, .htm can be use. In Position
, click Center, Tile,
or Stretch
.
For Windows 98 or Me
Click Start
, Settings
, and then Control Panel
. The Control Panel window will open.
In the Control Panel window, double-click the Display
icon. The Display Properties window will open.
Click the Background
tab.
In the Pattern list, select the pattern to modify, and then click Edit Pattern
.
To change squares from one color to another, click the squares in the Pattern area. Repeat this procedure until the pattern in the sample area looks right.
To change the wallpaper display, scroll to the wallpaper to use, and then click Setting
.
Click Center
or Tile
.
Click Apply
to set the new wallpaper. The wallpaper should appear behind the Display Properties window. To change another wallpaper image by following Steps 6 - 8 above.
Click OK
to save the wallpaper, and then close the Display Properties window.
Changing the screen saver
Windows is preloaded with a number of screen savers. Screen savers help to prevent an image from permanently "burning" into the display. To change the screen saver, follow these steps:
For Window XP
Right-click the desktop background, and select Properties
.
A Display Properties window opens.
Click the Screen Saver
tab.
In the Screen Saver drop-down menu, click the screen saver to be used.
After a screen saver is selected, it automatically opens when the PC is idle for the number of minutes specified in the Wait field.
To protect the PC when coming out of screensaver mode, enable the password protect feature in On resume.
To view possible option settings for a particular screen saver, click Settings
on the Screen Saver tab. Click OK
to change the settings. Click Preview
to see how the selected screen saver displays on the monitor.
To clear the screen saver after it has opened, move the mouse or press any key.
In the Screen Saver
pull-down menu, click the screen saver to be use.
After a screen saver is selected, it will automatically start when the computer is idle for the number of minutes specified in Wait
.
To clear the screen saver after it has started, move the mouse or press any key.
To view possible setting options for a particular screen saver, click Settings
on the Screen Saver
tab.
Click Preview
to see how the selected screen saver will appear on the monitor. Move the mouse or press any key to end the preview.
Click OK
to save the screen saver.
Click OK
to save the screen saver, then close the Display Properties window.
Windows 98 or Me
Click Start
, Settings
, and then Control Panel
. The Control Panel window will open
From the Control Panel window, click Appearance and Themes
, then click Display
.
Click the Screen Saver
tab.
In the Screen Saver
pull-down menu, click the screen saver to be use.
Click Preview
to see how the screen saver will appear on the screen. Click Settings
to modify the settings related to the selected screen saver (if available). Move the mouse to exit out of the screensaver preview.
To create a password to protect the PC when coming out of screensaver mode select Password protected
, and click Change
. If you do not want a password, skip to step 8.
Type the password, then confirm the password by typing it again, and then click OK
.
The screen saver will start if the computer is idle for the number of minutes specified in the Wait box. Change the number of minutes by clicking up or down on the arrows to the left of minutes. To clear the screen saver after it has been activated, move the mouse or press any key.
To customize power saving settings for your monitor, select and adjust settings under Energy Saving features of Monitor.
Click Apply
to set the new screen saver.
Click OK
to save the changes and close the Display Properties window.
Changing the appearance of windows and text
Appearance refers to the colors that are used by Windows for the default text color, text background color, window border color, title bar color, and many other elements. To change the appearance of your screen, follow these steps:
For Windows XP
Right-click the desktop background, and select Properties
.
A Display Properties window opens.
Click the Appearance
tab.
Click Advanced
. The Advanced Appearance window opens.
In the Item list, click the element to be change, such as Window, Menu, or Scrollbar, and then adjust the appropriate settings, such as color, font, or font size.
Click OK
to close the Advanced Appearance window, then click OK
to save any changes and close Display Properties.
For Windows 98 or Me
Click Start
, Settings
, and then Control Panel
. The Control Panel window will open.
In the Control Panel window, double-click the Display
icon. The Display Properties window will open.
Click the Appearance
tab.
The following sections explain how to change:
Changing the scheme
A scheme is a predetermined group of colors used for the menus, title bars, and other elements of the screen. Use the scheme drop-down menu to change the appearance of all screen elements simultaneously.
In the Appearance window, click the arrow to the right of the drop-down menu under Scheme. A list of color schemes appears.
Scroll to the desired scheme, then click the setting. The scheme appears in the Preview window and shows how the current settings will look on the computer screen.
Click Apply
to set the new scheme.
Click OK
to save the scheme
Changing individual items and fonts
Use the Items drop-down menu to change the appearance of individual screen elements.
In the Appearance screen, click the arrow to the right of the drop-down menu under Items. A list of screen items appears. Or, click an item in the Preview window, and it will appear in the Item dialog box.
Scroll to the desired item, then click the setting.
Use the arrows to the right of the item to change the size, color, and font associated with that item. The item appears in the Preview window and shows how the current settings will look on your monitor. Customize the appearance of as many desktop items as you wish.
After changing the individual settings, save them by clicking Save As
to the right of the Scheme
drop-down menu. A dialog box appears.
Give a title to the changes made, and the computer will save the settings as a scheme.
Click Apply
to set the new scheme.
Click OK
to save the screen colors and close the Display Properties window.
Advanced display settings
To access advanced display settings, such as monitor refresh rates, video hardware acceleration, and DPI settings, open Display Properties
, click the Settings
tab, and click the Advanced
button. A properties window appears titled with the names of the graphics hardware used. Refer to the various settings that are available from the tabs across the top of the top of the Properties window:
| NOTE: | Your PC may have more tabs than what is listed here. Many video card manufacturers provide settings designed for their video hardware. These extra settings vary by the type of video hardware used and are not discussed here. |
General
DPI:
Dots, or pixels, per inch. Changing this setting changes the size of everything displayed in Windows. Most software is designed using a setting of 96 and changing this setting to anything other than 96 may cause problems with the way certain software programs display menus or graphics (oversized menus or missing areas of windows).
Compatibility:
This setting changes the way Windows performs after a the display settings is made. After making a display setting change, you can have Windows restart the PC, do nothing... continue using Windows, or provide a prompt window before the display change is made.
Adapter
Properties:
To access the hardware properties for your video card or on-board video hardware, click the Properties
button. This is the same properties window that can be accessed through Device Manager.
List all Modes:
This useful feature lists all the supported graphic resolutions and refresh rates that can be sent to the monitor by the video card or on-board video hardware. You can use the list of valid modes to find a mode that is compatible with the monitor you are using. Once a compatible mode is found, you can change the refresh rate from the monitor tab, and the display resolution from the settings tab of the basic display properties window.
Monitor
Properties:
To access the hardware properties for your monitor, click the Properties
button. This is the same properties window that can be accessed through Device Manager.
Screen refresh rate:
This setting determines how many times the monitor displays an entire screen in one second. Higher refresh rates may be more pleasing, if noticed, but cause the video hardware to work harder and use more resources. Select a lower rate that is compatible with the adapter. If you can detect minute flickering or the change bothers your eyes, try adjusting the rate to the next available higher rate. Never exceed the rate available to the monitor.
| CAUTION: | Do not remove the selection next to Hide modes that this monitor cannot display. Changing the refresh rate to a rate that the monitor cannot accept may permanently damage the monitor. |
Troubleshoot
Hardware Acceleration:
Adjusting this slider to the left disables code used to optimize the performance of the display. Reducing the amount of hardware acceleration makes the video display more stable but not as fast, especially when using graphic intensive software, such as movie players.
Write combining is a method used to transfer more video data using less transfers. Normally, this makes the display more efficient, but may also cause some games and software to miss frames - making video not smooth.
| NOTE: | If you are experiencing graphical problems while watching movies or playing games, try adjusting the hardware Acceleration slider one adjustment to the left and turning off Write Combining. |
Color management
Color management: Provides settings to alter the color output to the monitor. Typically you would not use color management unless a special situation called for it, such as matching the colors on the monitor to the colors on a printer. Adjusting this setting changes the color out put for everything displayed in Windows and should only be done if needed.
Changing Plus! settings for Windows 98, 98SE, or Me
Microsoft Plus! provides several features designed to enhance the look of Windows and make computer maintenance easier. To change the Plus! settings on the computer (if available), follow these steps:
In the left bottom corner of the screen, click Start
, Settings, and then Control Panel
.
In the Control Panel window, double-click the Display
icon.
The Display Properties window appears.
Click the Plus!
tab.
Change desktop icons or visual settings.
Click Apply
to set the Plus! settings.
Click OK
to save the colors, then close the Display Properties window.
