Windows 7: The Missing Manual

Desktop Background (Wallpaper)Home Premium • Professional • Enterprise • UltimateWindows 7 has a whole new host of desktop pictures, patterns, and colors for yourviewing pleasure. You want widescreen images for your new flat-panel monitor? Yougot ’em. Want something gritty, artsy, in black and white? They’re there, too. And youcan still use any picture you’d like as your background as well.To change yours, right-click the desktop; choose Personalize; and, at the bottom ofthe box, click Desktop Background.Now you’re looking at the box shown in Figure 4-4. It starts you off examining theMicrosoft-supplied photos that come with Windows. Use the “Picture locations”pop-up menu to choose a category: ••Windows Desktop Backgrounds includes 37 absolutely gorgeous photos. ••Pictures Library displays all your own photos—at least those in your Pictures library. It’s more fun to use one of your own pictures on the desktop. That might be an adorable baby photo of your niece, or it might be Britney Spears with half her clothes off; the choice is yours. Feel free to click Browse to forage through other photo folders on your PC, if you have them. ••Top Rated Photos displays the photos in your collection to which you’ve given the highest star ratings (page 544). ••Solid Colors is just a palette of simple, solid colors for your desktop background. It’s not a bad idea, actually; it’s a little easier to find your icons if they’re not lost among the rocks and trees of a nature photo.gem in the roughFree Photos of Many LandsYou know how the standard set of Windows desktop back- In the resulting dialog box, use the pop-up menu to selectgrounds has a category called United States (or whatever some other countries, clicking Apply after each selection.your country is)? Yep, those are photos from your moth- If you’re using the U.S. version of Windows, for example,erland. But unbeknownst to you, Windows comes with choose Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and South Africa.photos from other people’s motherlands, too, and they all Finally, switch back to United States (or whatever yourmake great desktop pictures. Too bad Microsoft has hidden actual country is).them—and then buried them. Now, when you right-click the desktop and choose Person-But you, the enterprising Windows master, can unearth alize, all of those countries’ photo sets are available in thethem. Open the Start menu. Start typing location until you Desktop Background dialog box.see “Change location” in the results list; click it. Click and enjoy your newfound desktop worldliness.chapter 4: interior decorating windows 179

If you see something you like, you can click it to slap it across the entire background of your desktop. Or—and this is a big or—you can use the new Windows 7 feature that changes your desktop picture periodically, so you don’t get bored. Figure 4-4: Desktop back- grounds have come a long way since Windows 3.1. The desktop back- grounds include outdoors scenes, illustrations, and more. There are lots to choose from, so feel free to look around. Auto–Picture Changing The novelty of any desktop picture is likely to fade after several months of all-day viewing. Fortunately, in Windows 7, you can choose multiple desktop pictures from the gallery; see Figure 4-5. Now, from the “Change picture every:” pop-up menu, specify when you want your background picture to change: every day, every hour, every 5 minutes, or whatever. (If you’re really having trouble staying awake at your PC, you can choose every 10 seconds.) Finally, turn on “Shuffle,” if you like. If you leave it off, your desktop pictures change in the sequence shown in the gallery. Now, at the intervals you specified, your desktop picture changes automatically, smoothly cross-fading between the pictures in your chosen source folder like a slide- show. You may never want to open another window, because you’d hate to block your view of the show.180 windows 7: the missing manual

Note: If you have a laptop, by all means turn on “When using battery power, pause the slide show to savepower.” Changing wallpapers is nice and all, but not if it means showing up for your talk with a dead laptop.Making the Pictures FitNo matter which source you use to choose a photo, you have one more issue to dealwith. Unless you’ve gone to the trouble of editing your chosen photo so that it matchesthe precise dimensions of your screen (1280 × 800 or whatever), it probably isn’texactly the same size as your screen. Figure 4-5: To select an assortment of rotating wallpaper shots, turn on the checkboxes of the pictures you want. Or just use the usual icon-selection tech- niques; for example, Ctrl+click all the wallpapers you want to include, one at a time. Or click Select All, and then Ctrl+click the ones you don’t want.Fortunately, Windows offers a number of solutions to this problem. Using the “Pictureposition” pop-up menu, you can choose any of these options: ••Fill. Enlarges or reduces the image so that it fills every inch of the desktop without distortion. Parts may get chopped off, but this option never distorts the picture. ••Fit. Your entire photo appears, as large possible without distortion or cropping. If the photo doesn’t precisely match the proportions of your screen, you get “let- terbox bars” on the sides or at top and bottom.

••Stretch. Makes your picture fit the screen exactly, come hell or high water. Larger pictures may be squished vertically or horizontally as necessary, and small pictures are drastically blown up and squished, usually with grisly results. ••Tile. This option makes your picture repeat over and over until the multiple im- ages fill the entire monitor. ••Center. Centers the photo neatly on the screen. If the picture is smaller than the screen, it leaves a swath of empty border all the way around. If it’s larger, the outer edges get chopped off.Other Ways to Choose Desktop PhotosReally, the Desktop Backgrounds screen described above is the wallpaper headquarters.But there are “Set as desktop background” commands hiding everywhere in Windows,making it simple to turn everyday images into wallpaper. You’ll find that command,for example, when you do any of the following: ••Right-click a graphics icon in an Explorer window. ••Right-click a picture you’ve opened up in Windows Photo Viewer or Windows Live Photo Gallery. ••Right-click a photo you’ve found on a Web page. ••Open the first menu (to the left of the Home tab) in Paint, Windows’s little paint- ing program.Window ColorAll VersionsChoosing a theme or a desktop background is practically idiot-proof; even an adultcould do it. The real geektastic fun, however, awaits when you click Window Color(at the bottom of the window shown in Figure 4-3) and then click “Advanced ap-pearance settings.”Note: In Windows 7 Starter Edition, you get here by opening the Control Panel, then clicking AppearanceÆDisplayÆ“Change color scheme”ÆAdvanced.Now you find yourself in a dialog box that lets you change every single aspect of theselected visual theme independently (Figure 4-6).Note: The controls in this dialog box don’t work if you’re using one of the Aero themes as your startingpoint. Microsoft put a lot of work into the look of Windows 7, and it doesn’t especially want people dilutingit with their own random changes. “If you want the new look,” the company is saying, “it’s all or nothing.”In other words, you should start your customization odyssey by clicking a theme icon in the Basic and HighContrast category. Otherwise, the changes you make in the Window Color and Appearance box will haveno effect.

Proceed with your interior-decoration crusade in either of two ways: ••Change the elements of the scheme one at a time. Start by choosing from the Item drop-down list (or by clicking a piece of the illustration at the top half of the dialog box, like a title bar or a button). Then use the Size, Color 1, and Color 2 drop-down lists to tailor the chosen element—such as Desktop or Scrollbar—to suit your artistic urges. Figure 4-6: Click a part of the View pane (Desktop, Scroll- bar, and so on). Then use the menus to choose colors and type sizes for the chosen interface element. ••Some of the screen elements named in the Item drop-down list have text associ- 183 ated with them: Icon, Inactive Title Bar, Menu, Message Box, ToolTip, and so on. When you choose one of these text items, the Font drop-down list at the bottom of the dialog box comes to life. Using this menu, you can change the typeface (font, color, and size) used for any of these screen elements. If you have trouble reading the type in dialog boxes (because you have a high-resolution, tiny-type screen), or you wish your icon names showed up a little more boldly, or you’d prefer a more graceful font in your menus, these controls offer the solution.When you’ve exhausted your options—or just become exhausted—click OK to returnto the Personalization dialog box. chapter 4: interior decorating windows

SoundsAll VersionsWindows plays beeps and bloops to celebrate various occasions: closing a program,yanking out a USB drive, logging in or out, getting a new fax, and so on. You can turnthese sounds on or off, or choose new sounds for these events.Sounds, too, are part of a Windows 7 theme. To edit the suite of sounds that goeswith your currently selected theme, click Sounds at the bottom of the Personalizationdialog box (Figure 4-3).Note: In Windows 7 Starter Edition, go to Control Panel, and then click Hardware and SoundÆ“Changesystem sounds.” The Sound control panel opens, with the Sound tab ready to go.See the list of Program Events? A speaker icon represents the occasions when a soundwill play. Double-click a sound (or click the Test button) to see what it sounds like.Or, if you click the name of some computer event (say, Low Battery Alert), you canmake these adjustments: ••Remove a sound from the event by choosing (None) from the Sounds drop-down list. ••Change an assigned sound, or add a sound to an event that doesn’t have one, by clicking Browse and choosing a new sound file from the list in the Open dialog box.Tip: When you click the Browse button, Windows opens the Local Disk (C:)ÆWindowsÆMedia folder,which contains the .wav files that provide sounds. If you drag .wav files into this Media folder, they becomeavailable for use as Windows sound effects. Many people download .wav files from the Internet and stashthem in the Media folder to make their computing experience quirkier, more fun, and richer in Austin Pow-ers sound snippets.When you select a sound, its filename appears in the Sounds drop-down list. Clickthe Test button to the right of the box to hear the sound.Tip: Each set of sounds is called a sound scheme. Sometimes the sound effects in a scheme are even sonicallyrelated. (Perhaps the collection is totally hip-hop, classical, or performed on a kazoo.) To switch schemes,use the Sound Scheme pop-up menu.You can also define a new scheme of your own. Start by assigning individual sounds to events, and thenclick the Save As button to save your collection under a name that you create.Screen SaversAll VersionsThe term “screen saver” is sort of bogus; today’s flat-panel screens can’t develop “burn-in.” (You’re too young to remember, but screen savers were designed to bounce arounda moving image to prevent burn-in on those old, bulky, CRT screens.)

No, screen savers are mostly about entertainment, pure and simple—and Windows’sbuilt-in screen saver is certainly entertaining.The idea is simple: A few minutes after you leave your computer, whatever workyou were doing is hidden behind the screen saver; passers-by can’t see what’s on thescreen. To exit the screen saver, move the mouse, click a mouse button, or press a key.Choosing a Screen SaverTo choose a screen saver, click Screen Saver at the bottom of the Personalize dialogbox (Figure 4-3). The Screen Saver Settings dialog box appears.Note: In Windows 7 Starter Edition, go to Control Panel, and then click AppearanceÆDisplayÆ“Changescreen saver.”Now use the“Screen saver”drop-down list. A miniature preview appears in the previewmonitor on the dialog box (see Figure 4-7).To see a full-screen preview, click the Preview button. The screen saver display fillsyour screen and remains there until you move your mouse, click a mouse button, orpress a key. Figure 4-7: “On resume, display logon screen” is a handy security measure. It means you’ll have to input your password to get back into your PC once the screen saver has come on—a good barrier against nosy coworkers who saunter up to your PC while you’re out getting coffee.

The Wait box determines how long the screen saver waits before kicking in, afterthe last time you move the mouse or type. Click the Settings button to play with thechosen screen saver module’s look and behavior. For example, you may be able tochange its colors, texture, or animation style.power users’ clinicDesktop Icons: Sorting and SpacingNo matter how hard Microsoft tries to make people stop Even so, this setting doesn’t move icons into the mostleaving icons out on the desktop—remember the Automatic compact possible arrangement. If one or two icons haveDesktop Cleanup Wizard in Windows XP?—we keep doing wandered off from the herd to a far corner of the window,it. People like leaving icons out on the desktop. Things are then they’re merely nudged to the grid points closest to theirhandy that way. Gives people a sense of control, of order. current locations. They aren’t moved all the way back to the group of icons elsewhere in the window.“Well, fine,” Microsoft seems to say. “But as long as you’regoing to leave your junk strewn everywhere, at least make Consolidate. If you’d rather have icons sorted and bunchedit look neat.” And sure enough, you can control the sorting, together on the underlying grid—no strays allowed—thenspacing, size, and even the visibility of the icons you put choose ViewÆ“Auto arrange icons.” This command placeson the desktop. the icons as close as possible to one another on the desktop, rounding up any strays.Icon size. You can make all the desktop icons larger orsmaller by turning your mouse’s scroll wheel while pressing Sort. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop or in a window.the Ctrl key. (Or use the ViewÆLarge, Medium, or Small The “Sort by” menu sorts the icons according to differentcommands.) criteria: name, date, and so on. Now if you add more icons to the window, they jump into correct alphabetical position;Visibility. You can also hide all those desktop icons—for if you remove icons, the remaining ones slide over to fill inexample, when you’re trying to show someone the beauti- the gaps. This setup is perfect for neat freaks.ful baby photo that’s your desktop wallpaper, but yourQuarterly Expense Reports folder is covering her eye. To do Adjust the grid spacing. Finally, you can control the spacingthat, right-click the desktop; from the shortcut menu, choose of the grid used for your desktop icons—in a place you’dViewÆ“Show desktop icons” so that the checkmark disap- never think of looking.pears—along with all your icons. Use the same commandto make the icons reappear. Open the Start menu. In the Search box, type enough of the word metrics until “Change window colors and metrics”Align to grid. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop. In the appears in the results list; click it. (In Windows 7 Starter Edi-shortcut menu, the View command offers submenus called tion, type enough of the word color until “Change the Color“Auto arrange icons” and “Align icons to grid.” Scheme” appears in the results list; click it, and then click Advanced from the dialog box that appears.)If both of these options are turned off, then you can dragicons anywhere. For example, some people like to keep Now you see the dialog box shown in Figure 4-6. From thecurrent project icons at the top of the window and move Items pop-up menu, choose Icon Spacing (Horizontal) orolder stuff to the bottom. Icon Spacing (Vertical), and then adjust the Size number accordingly to nudge the grid spacing larger or smaller.Ordinarily, though, Windows tries to impose a little discipline Click Apply as you go to check your work; click OK whenon you. It aligns your icons neatly to an invisible grid. If you the desktop icons look perfect.choose this option, then all icons on the desktop jump to theclosest positions on the invisible underlying grid.186 windows 7: the missing manual

At the bottom of this tab, click “Change power settings” to open the Power Optionswindow described on page 326.Tip: If you keep graphics files in your Pictures folder, try selecting the Photos screen saver. Then click theSettings button and choose the pictures you want to see. When the screen saver kicks in, Windows puts ona spectacular slideshow of your photos, bringing each to the screen with a special effect (flying in from theside, fading in, and so on).Desktop IconsAll VersionsThanks to the “Change desktop icons” link at the left side of the Personalize screen,you can specify which standard icons sit on your desktop for easy access, and whatthey look like.Note: In Windows 7 Starter Edition, open the Start menu, type icons into the Search box, and then click“Show or hide common icons on the desktop.”To choose your icons, just turn on the checkboxes for the ones you want (see Figure4-8). Figure 4-8: Microsoft has been cleaning up the Windows desktop in recent years, and that includes sweeping away some useful icons, like Computer, Control Panel, Network, and your Personal folder. But you can put them back, just by turning on these checkboxes.

You can also substitute different icons for your icons. Click, for example, the Com-puter icon, and then click Change Icon. Up pops a collection of pre-drawn icons in ahorizontally scrolling selection box. If you see a picture you like better, double-click it.Click OK if you like the change, Cancel if not.Mouse MakeoverAll VersionsIf your fondness for the standard Windows arrow cursor begins to wane, you canassert your individuality by choosing a different pointer shape. For starters, youmight want to choose a bigger arrow cursor—a great solution on today’s tinier-pixel,shrunken-cursor monitors.Begin by clicking “Change mouse pointers” at the left side of the Personalize dialogbox shown in Figure 4-3. In a flash, you arrive at the dialog box shown in Figure 4-9. Figure 4-9: Left: The Pointers dialog box, where you can choose a bigger cursor (or a differently shaped one). Right: The Pointer Options tab. Ever lose your mouse pointer while working on a lap- top with a dim screen? Maybe pointer trails could help. Or have you ever worked on a desktop computer with a mouse pointer that seems to take forever to move across the desktop? Try increasing the pointer speed.

Note: As usual, it’s different In Windows 7 Starter Edition. Open the Control Panel, and then click Hardwareand SoundÆMouseÆPointers.At this point, you can proceed in any of three ways: ••Scheme. There’s more to Windows cursors than just the arrow pointer. At vari- ous times, you may also see the spinning circular cursor (which means, “Wait; I’m thinking,” or “Wait; I’ve crashed”), the I-beam cursor (which appears when you’re editing text), the little pointing-finger hand that appears when you point to a Web link, and so on. All these cursors come prepackaged into design-coordinated sets called schemes. To look over the cursor shapes in a different scheme, use the Scheme drop-down list; the corresponding pointer collection appears in the Customize list box. The ones whose names include “large” or “extra large” offer jumbo, magnified cursors ideal for very large screens or failing eyesight. When you find one that seems like an improvement over the Windows Aero (system scheme) set, click OK. ••Select individual pointers. You don’t have to change to a completely different scheme; you can also replace just one cursor. To do so, click the pointer you want to change, and then click the Browse button. You’re shown the vast array of cursor- replacement icons (which are in the Local Disk (C:)ÆWindowsÆCursors folder). Click one to see what it looks like; double-click to select it. ••Create your own pointer scheme. Once you’ve replaced a cursor shape, you’ve also changed the scheme to which it belongs. At this point, either click OK to activate your change and get back to work, or save the new, improved scheme under its own name, so you can switch back to the original when nostalgia calls. To do so, click the Save As button, name the scheme, and then click OK.Tip: The “Enable pointer shadow” checkbox at the bottom of this tab is pretty neat. It casts a shadow onwhatever’s beneath the cursor, as though it’s skimming just above the surface of your screen.Pointer OptionsClicking the Pointer Options tab offers a few more random cursor-related functions(Figure 4-9, right). ••Pointer speed. It comes as a surprise to many people that the cursor doesn’t move five inches when the mouse moves five inches on the desk. Instead, you can set things up so that moving the mouse one millimeter moves the pointer one full inch—or vice versa—using the “Pointer speed” slider. It may come as an even greater surprise that the cursor doesn’t generally move proportionally to the mouse’s movement, regardless of your “Pointer speed” setting. Instead, the cursor moves farther when you move the mouse faster. How much farther depends on how you set the “Select a pointer speed” slider.