How to Personalize the Windows 7 Desktop

One of the first things you do when you buy yourself a Windows 7 desktop is to customize the home page to imprint your style to it. Windows 7 offers a number of cool ways in which you can do this. For instance, you can add a Windows 7 theme according to your mood, or according to the season, add gadgets such as a weather clock, or even desktop wallpapers with options to rotate them every few minutes or so. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to a few ways in which you can personalize the Windows 7 desktop.

Personalize the Windows 7 Desktop with Screensavers

Remember, Windows 7 comes with a set of pre-installed screensavers, but that doesn’t mean you have to use only the ones that are available. You can get creative and create your own custom screensavers from pictures you have on your PC, or you can even use ones you’ve downloaded from the web.

1. Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

2. Click Screen Saver.

3. The Screen Saver Settings dialog box is displayed.

4. From the Screen saver drop-down select an screensaver.

5. In the Wait text box set a time to display the screensaver and click OK.

You’ve now setup a fancy screensaver for your PC.

Personalize Windows 7 with Window Colors

The fun aspect of Windows 7 is that you can to get the right look and feel of your desktop in a number of ways. Did you know that you can even personalize the window colors, the Start menu, and the taskbar in a few simple steps? With the Aero feature, you can add and modify window colors to match the themes set on your desktop. The Windows Aero feature is a distinctive visual style that gives a translucent, glassy effect to the windows with the aim of offering a better taskbar preview experience.

Now, you not only have the option of using the custom colors that are available in the color palette, but you can also use the color mixer to add your own custom color to the window. Try out different options to get the best look.

1. Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

2. Click Window Color.

3. The Control PanelAppearance and PersonalizationPersonalizationWindow Color and Appearance window is displayed.

4. Select a window color from the list of options displayed.

5. If required, check the Enable transparency check box if you want to display a transparent window.

6. If required, move the Color intensity slider to increase or decrease the color intensity.

7. If required, click Show color mixer to add a hue, saturation and brightness effect.

8. If required, click Advanced appearance settings to apply additional settings using the Window Color and Appearance dialog box.

9. Click Save Changes.

Voila! Your window colors are now ready to complement your themes.

Personalize Windows 7 with a Desktop Slide Show

While in earlier Windows OS versions you had a default desktop background, in Windows 7, you can switch between various desktop backgrounds and set the time limit for switching between backgrounds. The backgrounds can be from one of the many Windows 7 themes that are available in the themes gallery, or you can put together photos that you saved on your PC to create a series of rotating background images.

To use images from the themes gallery to create the desktop slideshow:

1. Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

2. Click Desktop Background.

3. The Control PanelAppearance and PersonalizationPersonalizationDesktop Background window is displayed.

4. From the Picture location spin box, select a picture location or click Browse to navigate to a picture location.

5. In the list box, select the pictures you want to view as your desktop background. Click the Select all button to select all the pictures, or check the checkbox at the top-right of a picture to select a specific picture.

6. In the Picture position spin box, select a fill option to view the background pictures as tiles, centered, stretched, or fitted to the desktop.

7. In the Change picture every spin box, set the time limit for the slide show.

8.Check the Shuffle check box if you want to shuffle the order in which the pictures will appear on the slide show.

9. Click Save Changes.

To use your own photos and images to create the desktop slideshow:

1. Collate the pictures you want to use in the slideshow in a separate folder.

2. Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

3. Click Desktop Background.

4. From the Picture location drop-down list, navigate to the location containing the folder.

5. Select the pictures you want to add to the slideshow by checking the check boxes against each image.

6. In the Change picture every spin box, set the time limit for the slide show.

7. Check the Shuffle check box if you want to shuffle the order in which the pictures will appear on the slide show.

9. Click Save Changes.

You now have your very own customized desktop slide show to entertain you while you work.

Customize Icons in the Notification Area

The notification area is the area at the bottom right corner of the screen that displays icons showing you the status of your network connection, battery life, volume control, clock and more. Unlike earlier versions of Windows, where most software installers inserted their own icons in this area, in Windows 7, this is limited to some of the most important ones, leaving more room on the taskbar for pinning applications that you might access more often. If you still wish to make modifications to view only icons that you prefer Windows 7 makes it easy to customize the notification area to your requirements.

To Customize Icons in the Notification Area:

1. Right-click the taskbar and choose Properties.

2. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box is displayed. In the Taskbar tab, in the Notification area section, click Customize.

3. The Notification Area Icons window is displayed with each icon displays 3 sets of options;

• Hide icon and notifications: This will never display the icon and notifications.

• Only show notifications: This will display only notifications.

• Show icon and notifications: This will always display icons and notifications.

4. You can click the Turn system icons on or off link to remove an icon and turn off its notifications.

5. Apply the desired option and click OK.

6. Close the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box to complete the customization process.

The option to customize the notification area gives you more control over how you want to organize your desktop.

Activate Hidden Regional Themes in Windows 7

Windows 7 comes with a set of prebuilt themes, but did you know that it also includes some region-specific themes? Well, you may not have noticed it, because they are hidden from normal view. Some of the regional themes include ones from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, the United States, and South Africa.To activate hidden regional themes:

1. Click Start and select Computer.

2. On the toolbar, click Organize and select Folder and search options.

3. In the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab.

4. In the Advanced settings list box, select the Show hidden files, folders and drives option.

5. Uncheck Hide protected operating system files.

6. In the Warning message box, click Yes to display protected system files.

7. Click Apply and OK to apply the changes and close the Folder Options dialog box.

8. Navigate to C:WindowsGlobalizationMCT to view folders containing regional themes.

9. Open the theme folder and double-click on the theme file to activate it and add it to the themes gallery.

Now that you know plenty of customization options, go ahead and personalize your desktop to match your working requirements.

Create a Rotating Wallpaper in Windows 7

The Windows Personalization gallery is frequently updated with attractive themes and desktop backgrounds to add freshness to your desktop. If you are tired of using the Windows 7 themes and wish to add images of your own, maybe snapshots of your holiday in Thailand, you can create your very own rotating wallpapers.

1. Add all your photos to the Pictures library.

2. Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

3. In the Personalization window, at the bottom of the screen click Desktop Background.

4. In the Picture location spin box, select Pictures library.

5. You’ll notice that by default, all the images are selected by default. Uncheck images you don’t want to add and then in the Change picture every spin box, set a time limit and click Save changes.