The concept of personalization first appeared in Windows Vista. This is a set of several mechanisms united under one “roof”, with the help of which you can influence the appearance of the interface operating system. This mechanism was transferred to the new operating system practically unchanged, with some improvements in the interface and the use of additional effects.

As before, the Personalization mechanism is located on the Control Panel (Fig. 7.1).

Rice. 7.1. Launch the Personalization component

Using the Personalization mechanism, you have access to configure the following system interface parameters:

p Desktop themes;

p Desktop background;

p window colors;

r sounds;

p screensavers;

p desktop icons;

p mouse pointers;

p drawing account.

Let's briefly consider these parameters.

7.1. DESKTOP THEME

The visual design of the Desktop is the first thing that catches your eye after starting the operating system. As they say, “you are greeted by your clothes,” and it is this fact that affects whether you will be able to use the operating system with pleasure in the future or simply get used to it. It has long been proven that the visual perception of an object clearly affects its practical use.

So, let's see what the new Windows 7 operating system offers us in terms of visual design.

After launching the Personalization mechanism, you will see a window with the theme settings tab activated (Fig. 7.2). The Desktop Theme changes not only the Desktop background, but also sounds, window color and other parameters. However, once you select a Desktop theme, you can further change each of the components of the selected theme, including the background and sounds. How this is done is written below.

Rice. 7.2. Setting the Desktop Theme

The Windows 7 operating system in its standard configuration offers a choice of two theme options: Aero and standard basic themes. Users whose computer power meets the recommended operating system installation requirements Windows systems 7 are a little more fortunate because instead of the standard theme, they can choose one of the Aero themes, which have much more visual effects. Other users can also install Aero themes, but as a result they will only get the appropriate Desktop background and sound scheme, but will not be able to enjoy most of the effects: window transparency, taskbar additions, visual effects when switching between windows, etc.

Installing the theme is quite quick - you just need to select the theme you like from the list. As a result, you immediately see the result and can easily install the one

the theme that best suits your mood and idea of ​​how your desktop should look.

Also note that at the top right of the list is a link to More Internet Topics. Clicking on it will take you to the Microsoft website, to the personalization section, which contains a wide variety of themes and desktop backgrounds that are not included in the standard set. By clicking the Download button and selecting the Open option in the window that appears, you simplify the process of installing the theme into the operating system as much as possible. All you have to do is wait for the download process to complete and allow installation new topic. Any theme that is installed in a similar way, for example by downloading from the Internet, subsequently ends up in the My Themes section, located at the very top of the list of themes.

7.2. DESKTOP BACKGROUND

The Desktop background, as part of the theme, can also be changed at any time. For example, do you like sounds installed theme, but don’t like the background used? No problem: changing your desktop background is as easy as changing the theme itself, so don't worry, just choose a different one.

To change the background, click on the Desktop background link (see Figure 7.2). In the window that opens (Fig. 7.3) you will see a list of images that change depending on which location source is selected. For example, you can use images from an image library or select the most popular photos. If you don’t have enough of what you have, you can always click the Browse button and specify any folder with images.

As with the theme, background image changes on the fly, so you can immediately see the results. If you don’t like it, choose any other image, especially since there are quite enough ways to do this.

Now comes the fun part. The operating system allows you to set either one permanent image or set up a slide show of the images you select. Setting a “stable” image is very simple: select a suitable background and click the Save changes button. To set up an image slideshow, you need to do the following.

Rice. 7.3. Changing the desktop background

1. Mark the images that should be included in the slide show. In this case it is most convenient
save the desired images into one folder, and then specify it using the Browse button. After
To do this, you can click the Select All button to select all images at once. You can also
tag images using Ctrl keys or Shift.

2. Specify the position of the image by selecting one of the following from the list of the same name
values ​​Fill, Fit, Stretch, Tile, Center. If the image
higher screen resolution, this will not lead to problems, you just need to select from the list
Fill or Stretch position. If the image resolution is lower and when
stretching it becomes distorted, you can modify the Desktop background by choosing a color that
will complement the image. To do this, use the Change background color link at the bottom of the window.

3. Select the frequency of changing images using the Change images list
every. There are options from 10 seconds to 1 day. The most optimal and “calm” option is
set the frequency around 1 hour: it’s both pleasing to the eye and not boring.

4. Specify the method for changing images. By default, the images are rotated in order, as
shown in the list. If you want to add some variety to your slideshow, you can check the B
random order.

To apply the changes you have made, click the Save Changes button.

7.3. WINDOW COLOR

The ability to customize the window color scheme has been carried over from the Windows XP operating system, without any changes. To use this mechanism, you need to click on the Window color link at the bottom of the window shown in Fig. 7.2.

There are quite a lot of controls to choose from, the color scheme of which you can customize. Some of them apply only to the Aero theme, while most of them relate to the standard Desktop theme, as indicated by the inscription in the window that opens.

Here, in addition to the actual color design of windows and its elements, you can also customize the display of inscriptions, specifying the font and size. For example, you can set a different font for the window title, define the spacing between icons, the color of hyperlinks, and much more.

Sounds, that is, sound design, are directly involved in the perception of the Desktop, so it is only natural that the Windows 7 operating system allows you to customize them at your discretion.

To switch to sound management mode, select the Sounds link in the window shown in Fig. 7.2.

A similar configuration method existed in Windows Vista, and compared to this operating system in Windows 7, there were no significant changes in this regard.

Controlling sounds is very easy. There are more than ten different sound schemes to choose from, which you can set using the Sound scheme list. Once the sound scheme is selected, you can proceed to manage the sounds responsible for various operating system events.

In the central part of the window (Fig. 7.4) there is a list of all system events and sounds associated with these events. If the sound is installed, a loudspeaker icon is displayed next to the corresponding event. Regardless of whether the sound is installed or not, you can change it or link it to an event, for which you use the Sounds list: having marked the desired event, expand the Sounds list and select from it one of 40 sounds at your discretion. If you don’t need any sound for the event at all, select No from this list.

Rice. 7.4. Changing the soundtrack

You can do the same with any system event. This will create a new sound scheme, which you can save using the Save As button, allowing you to select it at any time.

If you are not satisfied with the set of system sounds, you can specify your sounds using the Browse button. By default, only WAV files can be selected. But is this a problem if there are a large number of programs with which you can easily convert any audio file to WAV?

SCREEN SCREEN

Because there are times when you are not at your computer, your operating system may display a splash screen when you enter power-saving mode. At the same time, in addition to saving energy, you get a pleasing picture. And in addition, you can make it so that exiting the screensaver mode will be possible only after entering the password. This means that the information on your screen can't be seen by anyone, especially people who don't need to see it in the first place.

The mechanism for working with screensavers has remained virtually unchanged since its appearance in earlier versions of the operating system. Why change anything in a useful and, most importantly, properly working mechanism?

To be able to manage screensavers, select the Screensaver link, which is located in the lower right part of the window shown in Fig. 7.2.

In the window that appears (Fig. 7.5), you can select any screensaver you like from the Screensaver list. At the same time, a small copy of the screensaver is displayed on a small screen at the top of the window. If you click the View button, you can see its work “live”, in full screen mode.

Rice. 7.5. Setting up your screensaver

Almost all screensavers have settings that can be customized. For example, if you select the Photos screensaver, as shown in Fig. 7.5, then after clicking the Options button you can specify the folder with your images that will participate in the slide show. You can also choose the speed at which these images change.

If you want to exit screen saver mode only when you enter your password, select the Start at login screen check box. This opportunity is very often used by office workers, especially if one office is shared between several colleagues.

7.6. CHANGING YOUR DESKTOP ICONS

As you may have already noticed, by default, immediately after installation, the operating system displays only the Recycle Bin icon on the Desktop. It is not clear what the reason for this decision is, because the Computer and Network icons are used much more often in practice, and yet the developers decided not to display them. This kind of “disgrace” is very easy to fix.

First of all, you need to launch the mechanism for working with icons, for which you use the Change desktop icons link on the left side of the window shown in Fig. 7.2.

As a result, a window will open in which you will see a list of standard icons, as well as parameters that show their current state (Fig. 7.6). If you want the Computer and Network icons to be present on the Desktop, simply check the appropriate boxes in this window.

Figure 7.6. Settings appearance and icon display

As with previous operating systems, in Windows 7 you can change the icon by clicking the Change Icon button. As a result, a window will open containing enough big set various icons. To return standard image icon, you need to click on the Normal icon button.

If you want the Desktop icons to change when you install a new theme, check the Allow themes to change icons to desktop. In this case, the icons may take on a more original appearance.

7.7. CHANGING MOUSE POINTERS

The ability to customize mouse pointers existed in the earliest versions of the Windows operating system, so the developers of Windows 7 decided not to reinvent the wheel and use an already established mechanism. At the same time, they took it in the form in which it is present in Windows Vista.

As before, the user has the ability to configure the following parameters.

p Mouse buttons. You can adjust the double-click speed, enable or disable sticking, and reconfigure the button layout for left-handers.

p Pointers. There are over 10 different signage designs to choose from. In this case, you can customize the appearance of the pointer for each mode and enable the display of shadows. It is also possible to allow or disable changes to pointers when installing new themes.

p Pointer options. You can customize pointer settings such as the speed of its movement, hiding from the screen when entering from the keyboard, setting the pointer to a button by default, displaying a “tail”, etc.

r Wheel. The mouse wheel can also be customized, for example, you can specify the number of lines by which you want to scroll the contents of the window with one scroll of the wheel. If you have a mouse whose wheel can be tilted left and right, you can also use this feature for scrolling, for example, you can set the entire screen to scroll, which is convenient when reading e-books.

7.8. CHANGING YOUR ACCOUNT PICTURE

The account picture is what you see when you enter your login password or when you exit screensaver mode. Additionally, this graphic also appears at the top of the Start menu. Not everyone likes the icon chosen by the system, such as a bunny or a fish. The icon can be changed, and this is done very simply.

As a result, a window will open in which you will see a set of images, as well as the image that is in this moment uses your account (Fig. 7.7). Any image present in the window can become a picture for your account; you just need to select it and click the Change picture button. You can also select your own picture. To do this, you just need to follow the Search for other pictures link and indicate its location on the disk. The main graphic file formats are supported.

Rice. 7.7. Changing your account picture

In the same way, you can change pictures for other accounts that are registered in the operating system. If you have administrator rights, of course...

Using and setting up gadgets

As mentioned earlier, unlike Windows Vista, in which gadgets could only be displayed in a special sidebar, in Windows 7 they can be placed anywhere on the Desktop (Fig. 9.1). In addition, it became possible to change the size of the gadget window.

Rice. 9.1. Example of gadgets on the desktop

The number of gadgets is increasing every day, and their quality is also increasing. Windows 7 has 9 standard gadgets. In addition, you can download new ones from the Microsoft website or from any other.

Gadgets vary in purpose. The most interesting ones are those that work as web services. Examples of such gadgets are weather, currency, news, etc. informers, that is, those that display data from the Internet. There are also gadgets general purpose, such as a clock, various mini-games, slideshows, etc.

To manage gadgets, use the Control Panel item called Desktop Gadgets (Fig. 9.2). After launching it, a window will appear (Fig. 9.3).

Rice. 9.2. Launching the Desktop Gadgets mechanism

Rice. 9.3. List of available gadgets

This window displays a list of gadgets that are currently installed on the system. Over time, as the number of gadgets increases, all of them do not fit in this window, so the list can be scrolled using the navigation bar in the upper left corner of the window.

Each element of this list is provided with a short description, which appears when the desired gadget is selected. By default, this window is displayed in compact mode, so you will need to enlarge it to see the description. To do this, select the Show details link in the lower left corner of the window.

As mentioned above, new gadgets can be downloaded from the Internet, in particular from the Microsoft website. To do this, use the Find gadgets on the Internet link in the lower right corner of the window.

To add a gadget to your Desktop, simply drag it from the list to your Desktop. Or right-click on the gadget and select Add from the context menu that appears. For example, let's look at the use and configuration of a standard weather gadget (Fig. 9.4).

Rice. 9.5. Example of a weather gadget

The window size of almost any gadget can be changed. In this case, increasing the window size can add functionality. For example, if you drag a weather gadget onto the desktop, by default it will be displayed in a smaller version, which implies displaying only the weather forecast in the selected city at the current moment. If you enlarge it, it will show the weather forecast for four days and in more detail (Fig. 9.5).

Rice. 9.5. Enlarged gadget window

The window is enlarged as follows. If you move the pointer to the gadget, an additional panel with buttons appears, among which there is a Larger button. When pressed, the window size increases.

On the same panel there is also a Settings button, which opens a window with gadget settings. In our case, if you click this button, the window shown in Fig. 9.6. Here
There are only two parameters that affect the operation of the gadget - changing the type of temperature display and choosing the city in which the weather should be shown.

Rice. 9.6. Gadget setup

To change the city to any other, for example, St. Petersburg, type part or all of the city name and click the search button. As a result, a list of matches will appear from which you must select the desired position. After that, click OK and enjoy the result.

The Windows 7 operating system allows you to change the background image, styles, screensaver, gadgets and other desktop elements.
Changing them allows you to make working on a computer, laptop or tablet as convenient and enjoyable as possible.

In this article we will look at how to do this step by step.

Desktop icons

There are five icons you can display on the desktop in Windows 7:

• My computer.
• Control Panel.
• Basket.
• Net.
• User files.

These icons are shortcuts and allow you to quickly access the main functions and settings of the operating system.

To specify which of the five icons you want to display, right-click on the desktop and select “Personalize.”

In the window that opens, mark the required icons and click “OK”.

That's it, the desktop setup is complete and the icons we need are displayed on it.

Background picture

The background image is the background of the desktop, the image on which icons and shortcuts are located.
By choosing the right background image you can make your desktop much more beautiful. However, it must be remembered that too vivid images will impair the visibility of the shortcuts, so it is better not to use them.

So, how to change the picture?
Right-click on the desktop, select “Personalization” and in the window that opens, follow the “Desktop Background” link.

If the provided images do not suit you, you can upload your own using the “Browse” button. It is important to upload a photo or image of a large enough size, otherwise it will look ugly on the screen.

Screensavers in Windows 7

The screensaver appears when the computer is not in use.
In Windows 7, you can specify how long after you stop using the computer the screensaver will turn on and what it will be like.

To select a screensaver, right-click on the desktop, select “Personalization” and in the window that opens, in the lower right part, click “Screensaver”.

If the existing screensavers are not satisfactory and you want something more original, then you can download screensavers for Windows 7 on the Internet and install them. For example, from here or from here.

We will tell you in more detail how to install third-party screensavers in one of the following articles.

Themes

Choosing themes is not only about customizing the Windows 7 desktop, but also about determining the appearance of program windows and Explorer.

To select a theme, right-click on an empty part of the desktop and select “Personalization”.
In the window that opens, we see available themes that can be used on your computer for free. We need to mark the one we like and wait until it installs and becomes active.

Additional themes can be downloaded from the Internet, for example, from the Microsoft website.
In Opera, when downloading, select “Open” and the theme will be installed automatically.

Gadgets

Gadgets are useful additions that you install on your desktop.
This could be a clock, an informer with a weather forecast, exchange rates and much more.

To install gadgets, right-click on the desktop and select “Gadgets.”

In the window that opens, select the necessary gadgets and drag them to the desktop.

Gadgets installed in this way can be configured; to do this, click on them and select the icon with the key on the right.

Each gadget has its own settings, so we will not consider them.

What is important to know about customizing the desktop in Windows 7

Themes, screensavers and gadgets are programs that are installed on your computer.
They require additional system resources, which means that it is undesirable to use screensavers and gadgets on weak machines, as well as themes with transparency effects.

In addition, themes, screensavers and especially gadgets directly affect the operation of the operating system.
Therefore, you need to download them only from trusted sites, otherwise you can not only install a virus on your computer, but also completely deprive it of its functionality, losing important data.

You need to be most careful with gadgets, as they have access to the Internet and can be used to obtain confidential information from your computer, including payment information.

If you still have any questions, ask them in the comments.

“Put it away so that it doesn’t get in the way, but take it closer so that it’s at hand” - a formulation that appeared long before the concept of “computer desktop” was used. However, in relation to the desktop Windows given the formulation is no less relevant than for any other desktop. Such a simply formulated problem in practice has many possible solutions. And given that client workstations have a variety of Windows operating systems - from Windows 3.1 to Windows 2000, it is impossible to give universal advice on setting up a desktop, if only because its capabilities depend on the installed OS. If in Windows 3.1x you can simply decorate the desktop with certain graphic images, then in Windows versions 95 and Windows NT 4.0, you can already place folders, files, and shortcuts on the table, which greatly simplifies direct access to information.

Let us recall the history of the development of the concept “worker” Windows table" After a successful Windows solutions 95, the user interface change began to evolve towards integration with Internet Explorer, resulting in the concept of the Active desktop in Windows 98. Another name for this technology - True Web Integration - more fully reveals the meaning of the innovation aimed at erasing the boundary between the local computer and the Internet.

Before the advent of Active Desktop, it was not clear in which direction to improve the desktop interface, the general concept of which in Windows 95 was already successful.

Active Desktop allowed you to enrich your desktop with active content from Web pages. The main feature of the technology is that the information on your desktop is updated following changes in the Internet. In essence, this was the integration of the browser into the operating system. For Microsoft, such a step was necessary, among other things, in order to resolve problems with the US Antimonopoly Committee. One way or another, Active Desktop technology has gained great popularity. According to Microsoft representatives, Active Desktop is not just a browser add-on, but a Windows 98 interface in Windows 95.

So, Windows 98 acquired a very convenient, highly customizable desktop, tightly integrated with the Web. Some parameters can be easily changed directly from the settings menu items; professional users can perform more subtle tuning by editing the registry. For less experienced users, special third-party programs are offered that allow you to edit the registry in safe mode from the appropriate programs.

Along with its wide modification capabilities, the Windows 98 desktop also has its drawbacks. At the very least, a large number of third-party programs have appeared to improve the Windows desktop. It must be said that the number of such developments is very large, although not all of them are successful. Among them there are very small utilities from 10 KB, and multi-MB shells. Some of these programs do not affect the general concept of the desktop and usually add only a small panel to the standard desktop that expands some functionality, others force you to completely change the style and concept of the interface, others offer cosmetic “repairs” on the principle of “change the wallpaper, rearrange the buttons” and have virtually no effect on work efficiency. Of course, Microsoft specialists also did not sit idly by and since the release of Windows 98 they have been working to improve the desktop functions that were developed in the Windows Millennium and Windows 2000 Professional operating systems. First of all, these improvements were aimed at making it easier to find information, optimizing everyday tasks and simplifying customization of the system.

Given that most home users still use Windows 98, we'll start this article with a quick look at desktop settings in Windows 98, then talk about third-party software and analyze how it optimizes the Windows 98 desktop, and finally look at what Desktop enhancements are available in Microsoft's latest client OS, Windows 2000 Professional.

Customizing your desktop in Windows 98

Right-click on the desktop field and you will get a settings menu. This menu allows you to organize existing icons on your desktop and add new ones. By selecting the Properties item in this menu, you will have access to the Properties: Screen settings panel (Fig. 1). This panel has six tabs that allow you to configure and edit the background, select a screensaver, set the design (color combination, fonts), define effects (types of icons, video effects when displaying menus, etc.), arrange Active Desktop elements on the desktop, and also determine the monitor settings.

The first four tabs are completely true to their names and probably don't need any commentary. But the Web and Settings tabs require some explanation.

Web tab

The Web tab allows you to configure your desktop as a Web page and, to a certain extent, truly blur the boundaries between environments local computer and Internet.

After switching to the Web view, you can place on your desktop links to both local files and remote documents located anywhere on the Web; the links will look exactly the same. In the Web tab you can add new element Active Desktop - and it will take, for example, the form shown in Fig. 2, where an active element associated with the 1C server has been added to the desktop. Apparently, optimal use of Active Desktop functions is only possible on a wide monitor with good resolution and constantly connected to the Internet. However, even in the absence of a dedicated channel, the presence of Active Desktop elements also provides certain advantages. For example, you can access this or that Network resource without connecting to the Internet due to the fact that some of the information downloaded during the last connection is available to you offline. Not all sections of the servers we use are updated frequently, and the possibility quick access in offline mode without an Internet connection can significantly speed up work.

However, you should always remember that you have to pay for all additional improvements with system resources. Therefore, in each specific case, performance is often a trade-off between the number of improvements and the availability of free resources, since Active Desktop elements can significantly reduce system performance. Turning your desktop into a Web page with links does not in itself slow down your work, but placing active elements, such as a ticker or a Web site, on the desktop and then periodically updating them can seriously slow down the system.

If you find that subscribing to a particular Web site is slowing down your system significantly, you should change your update settings. For example, you can set the mode so that instead of automatic update The page will simply display a message that an update is available. You can also reduce the frequency of automatic updates or turn them off altogether.

Here you can, for example, adjust the size of the icons (View parameter), determine whether you want to display only icons or icons with text (Show Text) on the panel. The panel has a Tool bars item, by accessing which on the same panel (Fig. 4) you can arrange the opened windows, arranging them with overlap (cascade) or without overlap (top to bottom and left to right).

Setting up automatically downloaded apps

The reader's attention should be drawn to the icons located at the right end of the taskbar. Each of them corresponds to an application that automatically downloads and uses a certain amount of system resources. Check if you need all of these items. Moreover, many programs included in the startup process are not visible on the desktop. You can monitor them and disable them if necessary using the system configuration utility. In the Program Launch panel, enter the msconfig command, then in the window that opens (Fig. 5), look through the list of programs and uncheck the names of those that you do not intend to run.

These are the basic desktop settings available using the system menus.

Customizing your desktop using registry editing programs

There are a number of programs that can be used to customize the Windows desktop without manually editing the registry. One such program is WinChanger 2000.

WinChanger 2000

WinChanger is distributed as shareware and is limited to 50 restarts, registration costs $8. Find this program available at www.pbnsoft.com or on our CD-ROM.

There are a number of programs similar to PowerBar. For example, the same eight virtual desktops can be configured by the Desktop Menu program. Both of these programs, while expanding the functionality of the desktop, practically do not change its appearance. Such programs also include Ten Clipboards (ten pockets in which you can store anything - from a spreadsheet to an audio file) and Toolman (does not create additional panels, but takes up space for its utilities in the systray).

In addition to the programs described, there are also so-called alternative graphical Windows shells, which usually offer more radical interface changes.

Alternative graphical shells for the Windows desktop

Many users like to experiment with the interface. Instead of the usual graphical shell and the usual Windows desktop, they prefer to have something original. As you know, demand creates supply. Therefore, you can find quite a few programs on the Internet that can change your desktop and offer some new elements of functionality. We will not dwell in detail on all the programs, but consider only one of them - Aston 1.2.6, which, judging by the number of downloads, is particularly popular. In Fig. 10 shows the appearance of the desktop that I set up on my computer after downloading this program. After working with this shell for about an hour, I still could not get used to the new interface and happily returned to the original appearance of my desktop. But, as they say, there are no comrades according to taste. So, perhaps, someone will find it more pleasant to work at such a workplace.

The program has an easily changeable interface, provides detailed configuration of each element, and takes little time random access memory, provides convenient toolbars of any size, custom-sized icons, forms with the ability to animate them, hotkeys and much more.

Aston contains essential elements regular Windows Desktop (desktop, taskbar, Tray) and supports drag-and-drop mode.

The unregistered version contains restrictions (the maximum number of menu items, desktop, toolbars, hot keys, etc. cannot exceed 10).

Aston's program is far from alone in its class. In table 2 presented short description programs that allow you to modify the Windows desktop, sometimes beyond recognition. These programs can, for example, be found on the server www.softbest.ru, and also downloaded from our CD-ROM.

Desktop “cosmetic” improvement programs

These programs basically allow you not so much to improve your desktop as to decorate it. The question of how useful they are is something everyone decides for themselves. As you know, computer users, like all people, have different tastes and habits. Some believe that the more ascetic the table and the less “pretty” on it, the more functional it is. Others, on the contrary, select wallpaper for their desktop as carefully as for their apartment. The debate about whether everyone should wear the same uniform or whether everyone is free to dress according to their own taste is not new. In table 3 provides a list of programs that will allow you to organize your desktop at your discretion. It’s up to you to decide how useful these programs will be to you. Perhaps, if the desktop you set up pleases you more than the standard one, then working with it will be more efficient.

Desktop enhancements in Windows 2000 Professional

The latest Windows client operating system released by Microsoft is Windows 2000 Professional. The basic means of customizing the desktop in it remain the same, however, the desktop has become more functional. For example, now you can easily familiarize yourself with the interface’s capabilities using the Balloon Help pop-up hint, which appears when you move the cursor to a particular icon (Fig. 11).

Windows 2000 Professional users have more options to customize their desk to suit the way they work. Personalized Menus reduce desktop clutter by dynamically customizing the Start menu to give users instant access to their most frequently used computer resources. Most Recently Used lists provide even faster access to resources.

A Windows 2000 Professional user can manage a large number of settings, and the operating system itself adapts to the specific user.

During work, the user installs many applications that form the Start menu. The number of these programs is constantly increasing, although not all of them are used frequently.

When describing the WinChanger program, we drew your attention to the fact that this program offers to eliminate an undesirable situation on the Windows 98 desktop, when too many items are collected in the start menu and some of them do not fit on the screen. As noted, in this case, instead of scrolling through a long list, you can organize a second menu column. However, even if you see everything at the same time available applications, choosing the right one can be extremely difficult. To avoid such situations, in Windows 2000 Professional, the system automatically tracks the applications most frequently used by users, as a result of which only the most frequently visited items are clearly present in personal menus, while the rest have a second nesting level (Fig. 12).

To display the remaining items, the user should hover the mouse over the double arrows. This technology allows you to automatically restore order and provide quick access to frequently used programs. The selected menu items change during operation depending on the frequency of access to them.

Windows 2000 Professional makes searching easier by creating a list of Most Frequently Used resources. The system tracks the resources visited by the user and saves a list of them.

To view network resources, an improved My Network Places tool has appeared, which stores a list of network resources that the user has accessed (Fig. 13).

Browsing network resources is done in the same way as browsing files on your local computer.

Most Frequently Used lists are supported in many parts of the Windows 2000 Professional interface, including the Search and Open/Save dialog boxes.

Windows 2000 Professional makes searching easier with AutoComplete, which can be used not only to enter addresses, but also across the entire desktop. When AutoComplete recognizes a fragment, instead of automatically completing the input line, it prompts the user to select the correct option from a list.

A Windows 2000 Professional user has many options for customizing the Start menu, including managing the display of folders such as Favorites and My Documents.

The Windows 2000 Professional desktop provides greater Web integration capabilities. You can browse the WWW or your hard drive from any window using single-click navigation. As a desktop background and separate windows you can use web pages.

An important element of Windows 2000 Professional is the Synchronization Manager, which allows you to synchronize data on the user's desktop and its network copy. The synchronization manager provides the user with the ability to configure the system so that synchronization occurs during pauses between work or when the user connects/disconnects. And since only changes are copied, this does not lead to a significant increase in traffic. Network failures will be invisible to the user.

In the new operating system, the My Computer folder has been simplified - now it contains only local storage devices and the Control Panel. Folders Remote access Dial-Up Networking and Scheduled Tasks have now been moved to the Control Panel - a better place for these items since they are used to manage settings.

The My Network Neighborhood folder has been renamed My Network Places and has been enhanced to provide a unified view of shared computers, files, folders and printers, and other resources on the network or networks to which a user's computer is connected.

The My Documents folder has become a central repository for user files, making it easier to find information and allowing you to redirect important user data to network directories for backup.

Improved work with the My Documents folder. Unless an application explicitly requires documents to be stored elsewhere, Windows 2000 Professional prompts you to save the file in the My Documents folder. Individual contents of the My Documents folder are generated for each user. Now, even if several people are working on the same computer, one cannot view the documents of the other.

The My Documents folder now has a My Pictures subfolder that makes working with images easier. The user can view and work with graphic files without opening a graphics editor. For example, the Image Preview tool displays the image at its maximum resolution.

The Search function has become adapted to a variety of searches - documents, resources, printers, personalities and information on the Internet.

A unified, enhanced search button is accessible from the Start menu, My Computer, and Explorer, making it easier to find information.

The advanced search bar allows you to select a topical section, such as Web sites, personalities, companies, or geographic maps, instead of a search engine.

Windows 2000 Professional provides additional option Open With, which makes it easier for users to work with files of unknown format. Right-clicking on a file name prompts you to select from the Open With menu one of the applications registered in the operating system that are likely to be able to open a file of this type.

In conclusion, I would like to offer the reader one trivial thought: if as a result optimal settings your desktop every day you will save only 10% on “unnecessary operations”, then in a year you will have enough time for a quite decent vacation! Good luck!

ComputerPress 8"2001

From past classes you have already realized that learning a computer is useful and necessary. And it doesn’t matter at all how old you are. For some reason, many people believe that studying a computer at three years old is too early, and at sixty it’s too late. It is not right. Knowledge of a computer opens up opportunities for you that at three years old you are not yet aware of, but at sixty you are afraid that you will not have time. Many older people's greatest fear is that retirement will cut them off from communicating with people and deprive them of their income. So, it is with the help of a computer that you will make many new interesting friends, and you can even make money from your experience and knowledge. We will talk about all this later. Now let's get back to our lesson.

In the last lesson, we got acquainted with the Windows operating system, and found out that you can customize your desktop the way you like. Let's start with the appearance of the Desktop.

If you're just starting to learn about computers, then most likely your desktop displays a standard checkbox on a blue background (this is in Windows 7) or a picture with a white window on a dark blue background (in Windows 10). This and the other are not pleasing to the eye. Therefore, let's learn how to change your desktop wallpaper to your liking.

I show all the steps using the Windows 10 operating system as an example. For those who have Windows 7 installed on their computer, all the settings are shown in the video at the end of the article. As you already understood, the settings differ in different operating systems. For information about what an operating system is and how to determine which system is on your computer, see. If you have the Starter version of the operating system, you will not be able to customize your desktop. These settings simply aren't there.

In order to change the picture on your desktop, we first need to prepare pictures or photographs. Surely you already have some photographs or pictures on your computer. If not, then you need to download them from the Internet or upload your photos from your camera. For now, I will not teach you how to do this, otherwise our lesson will take a completely different direction.

You can type the phrase “ desktop wallpaper"(without quotes), and download any pictures. I think that you can handle this, since you were able to get to my site.

For your desktop, it is better to select images with a size of at least 1024x768 or from your monitor.

If you don't yet know how to upload photos and download pictures from the Internet, ask someone to help you with this. Place all the pictures in one folder and remember where it is.

Right click on free space his Desktop, and in the drop-down context menu select the very last item - Personalization.

A window will open Options, and on the first tab Background we need to go to the right side of the window and set in the window Background recording Photo, and just below select the already proposed picture or press the button Review.

A new window will open called Opening, in which you need to find your folder with pictures, open it, select the one you like with the mouse, and click on the button below Selecting a picture.

As soon as you do this, the wallpaper on your desktop will immediately change.

Just below in the window Options, you can select the position of the picture:

• Filling
• To size
• Stretch
• Pave
• Centered
• Extension

Pick each one and see what you come up with.

If in the field Background you select an item Solid color, then instead of a photo on your desktop, you will have a solid colored background, which you can choose from the palette below.

If in the field Background set item Slide show, below under the entry Selecting albums for slideshows, click on the button Review, and specify the folder with pictures, then after a certain period of time, which you can specify yourself in the field Change images every, your desktop images will change.

There, below, you can set the switch to the position Change images randomly ok or not. And select the Desktop filling type.

In Windows 7, there is also the ability to specify which pictures to show on the desktop.

To better understand what I have described here, watch the videos.

How to customize the Desktop in Windows 10:

How to customize the Desktop in Windows 7:

Surely almost every novice user personal computer I encountered a problem setting up the Desktop.

In this article I tried to provide detailed, step by step instructions on setting up the Desktop.

I want to say right away that everything written below is more suitable for beginners, although... perhaps it will help those who already consider themselves confident PC users to remember forgotten truths.

So, let's start decorating our Desktop.

Screen properties

Selecting a Desktop Theme

The Desktop theme set includes all the design elements we can see and hear (background image, set of sounds, mouse cursor appearance, “screen saver” and others).

To set up a theme, follow a few simple steps:

1. Right-click on an empty area Desktop to open the context menu and click on the item in it "Properties".

2. Go to the tab "Themes"

and select the design you like from the drop-down menu.

3. Click on the button “Apply” for the changes to take effect.

Setting the desktop background image (wallpaper)

4. Go to the tab "Desktop " and select a background image from the list provided; if you don’t like the images proposed by the system, you can specify your own.

To do this, click on the “Browse” button and indicate where it is located.

The picture on the monitor screen can be centered, stretched or tiled.

5. If for some reason you don’t want to be in the background Desktop When you make a drawing, you can fill it with the desired color. Click on the drop-down list "Color" and go to "Other".

It is believed that this color strains the eyesight less than others. However, customize, experiment, try!

Creating icons on the desktop

Click on the button “Desktop settings”, a window will appear in front of you “Desktop elements”. Go to the tab in it "Are common". Here you can check the boxes by clicking on the box next to the desired icon name.

My computer - we get access to the content hard drive and to the Windows Control Panel.

My Documents - a folder specifically designed for storing documents.

network - you can access all computers connected to the local network.

Using a button "Change icon" you can change the appearance of the icon.
To do this you need:

1. Mark the desired icon with the left mouse button (the icon will have a blue background)
2. Click on the button “Change icon” in the window “Desktop elements”. You will see a window “Change icon”
3. Here you are asked to select the icon you need, left-click on it and click on the button "OK" to apply the settings.

If you are not satisfied with the selected icon, click the button “Regular icon” in the window " Desktop elements” and the icon will appear as default.

When you press the button “Clear desktop” Unused items are moved from it to a special folder. When checking the box next to the inscription “Clean your desktop every 60 days” the latter will be automatically cleaned of unused elements.

Don't forget that you can organize your desktop icons. To do this, select “Arrange icons” in the desktop context menu. Here you can align them by name, by type, by size, and also arrange them automatically or align them to a grid.

This is probably the end of the basic settings.

In addition, in the window "Desktop elements" You can add a link to your desktop home page web browser. To do this, go to the tab "Web" check the appropriate box.

Here you can prohibit moving or resizing elements on the desktop by checking the box "Pin desktop items"

Next tab in window "Desktop elements" -"Screen saver".
A screensaver is an image or animation that will appear on the screen after some time of user inactivity. This can be various types of animation or arbitrary text specified by the user.

On the tab "Decor" you can change the design style, color scheme, as well as font size.