Windows Customization

You can customize your computer's user interface to behave, look and feel the way you like. Windows XP, in particular, has a tremendously flexible user interface with a wealth of options that you can change at will.  Here are just a few suggestions.

Note: The following describes how to customize a Windows XP computer. Many, but not all, of these features are available in earlier versions of Windows, though they may have different names or be located in different places. Experiment and look around to see what you can do.

Start Menu and Taskbar

The Task Bar is the toolbar on the bottom of your desktop. On the far left end of the Task Bar is the Start button, which when clicked displays the Start Menu. To customize both the Task Bar and the Start Menu, right-click the Start button and select Properties from the context menu.

Get the Classic Start menu

If you want, you can use the classic Windows Start menu, which looks just like the Start menu from Windows 98/Me and Windows 2000.  This is nice if you want to upgrade to get the new features and security of Windows XP, but aren't yet ready to learn a new interface.

Group similar taskbar buttons

Windows XP will group the taskbar buttons of running and minimized applications together into one group taskbar button by default. You can disable this feature so each application gets its own button, even if there are several instances of that same program running (for example, multiple browsers). Right-click the Start Menu, select Properties, and un-check the 'Group similar taskbar buttons' option on the Taskbar tab.

One advantage of having them grouped, however, is that by right-clicking a grouped taskbar button, you can close, minimize or open all the group items at once (did you ever wish you could close all 26 web browsers in two mouse clicks?).

Start menu icons

By clicking the Customize button of the Start Menu page, you can customize which items appear in your Start menu and in many cases, whether they open up to separate windows or display a menu. 

For example, do you want the Control Panel to appear in the Start menu? You have three choices:

• Display as a link
• Display as a menu
• Don't display this item

The first option opens a Control Panel window when the user selected Control Panel from the Start menu. The second displays the Control Panel as a submenu of the Start menu (similar to the All Programs submenu). The third option eliminates the Control Panel item. 

There are numerous other Start Menu items that can be customized this way. Check out the various options available and create your own personalized Start Menu.

Desktop

You can also customize the way your desktop looks and behaves. For example, you can change the color or picture that displays in the background of your desktop, but you can customize much more than that.

Here are a few examples of what you can do.

Get rid of screen flicker!

Do you ever notice (usually out of the corner of your eye) that your screen flickers?  This is due to the fact that CRT monitors (not flat panels) redraw the screen many times per second, typically 60 times (60 Hz) or more. It is particularly noticeable when you look right next to the screen, or view the screen with your peripheral vision. (Trivia: That's because the light sensors in your eyes responsible for peripheral vision are more sensitive to light than those responsible for detailed focus.)  This causes a lot of the eye strain (and headaches) that people experience when working on a computer.

The more times per second that it redraws itself, however, the less flicker you see. So let's increase the refresh rate of your monitor to the maximum it can display.

1. Right-click your desktop background
2. Select Properties
3. Select the Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog. (While you're here, you may want to bump up the Screen resolution and Color quality to something you like. They can improve the quality of pictures on your screen.)
4. Click the Advanced button and then select the Monitor tab.
5. Make sure the 'Hide modes that this monitor cannot display' option is set (if available).
6. Select the highest value available in the Screen Refresh Rate field.
7. Click the Apply button and wait for the screen to reset itself (it may go black for several seconds).

Isn't that a little easier on your eyes?

Get the Classic Windows desktop

Do you still miss the good old days of Windows 98 or 2000? Well, you can have them back.

1. Right-click your desktop background
2. Select Properties
3. Select the Themes page
4. Select the Windows Classic theme
5. Click the Apply button

All your windows and the task bar will have the same appearance as they did in Windows 98 and 2000. Combine this with the Classic Start menu, and you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference between XP and your old computer. You can also select other themes, or save your current settings create your own themes.

Change your desktop background

On the Desktop page of the Display Properties, you can select a picture or a color for your desktop background. You can even select one of your own pictures to display in the background. In addition, you can click the Customize Desktop button and decide whether or not to display some of the standard desktop icons: My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places and Internet Explorer.

Cleanup your desktop icons

Desktop icons a little out of control? Let's start by lining them up in a nice neat grid:

1. Right-click your desktop background
2. Select Arrange Icons By
3. Select Align to Grid (if it doesn't already have a check mark Ö next to it)

Got too many icons? Windows can help you help you clean your desktop by telling you which ones you don't use and moving them to a desktop folder called Unused Desktop Shortcuts.

1. Right-click your desktop background
2. Select Arrange Icons By
3. Select Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard
4. Follow the wizard directions, which will help you remove some of your desktop icons.

Power Toys

Microsoft has a whole bunch of free tools for customizing and tweaking Windows that they call PowerToys. Some of these add useful little features, like virtual desktops. Some allow you to adjust Windows settings, such as automatic logon, customized search engines, and which user accounts to show on the Welcome Screen, along with hundreds of other options.

• PowerToys for Windows XP Pro
• PowerToys for Windows XP Home
• PowerToys for Windows 98
• PowerToys for the Pocket PC

For a full listing of available downloads for the various editions of Windows XP, visit Windows XP Downloads.

Tweak UI

One of the most useful of the PowerToys is TweakUI. This utility lets you tweak and customize hundreds of little known options about how Windows looks and behaves.