Tip #1952 - Create New Themes or Modify Existing Themes
Printer Friendly Version | E-Mail This Tip
Redecorating with Personalized Style
In a previous
tip, we talked about how to choose your desktop theme from those available
on your system. Those are pretty basic. You can also modify them or create your
own!
Note: These directions
are for XP users. Other versions of Windows will look slightly different
and have the settings in slightly different places. Look in the Control
Panel as a starting point.
All right, let's get
started. Right-click
your desktop and choose Properties.
The Display Properties
window will appear. Click the Themes tab and select the
theme you want to change. Just be sure to Save your changes
with a new theme name. Otherwise, your changes will be lost when you select
a different theme. In the Save As window that opens,
notice the file extension. This means you can use .theme
in the search function to find all the theme files on your PC!
Now it's time for
the fun part! Let's tinker with the individual pieces of the theme: backgrounds,
icons, screen savers, color schemes, window and button styles, font sizes,
mouse pointers, and sound schemes.
To change your background,
go to the Desktop tab and pick one from the list or Browse
the picture files on your PC until you find one you want to use for your
wallpaper. DO NOT CLICK OK. For our
example, I'll be going with an island theme. If you want to change the
icons Windows uses for your programs, folders, or files, click the Customize
Desktop button. I'm going to leave these alone because I tend
to recognize things visually, and I don't want to confuse myself looking
for the program with the green blobby icon!
Next, let's pick a
screen saver for our new theme. Click the Screen Saver
tab and choose one from the list, then fine-tune it with the Settings
button. If you're concerned about someone hopping on your PC, you can
password-protect your screensaver. Just be sure to remember your password!
Again, DO NOT CLICK OK.
Under the Appearance
tab we can pick the window and buttons rules and the font settings. I'm
going to select XP style windows the the silver color scheme to coordinate
with the island picture. I tend to get eyestrain by the end of the day,
so I'm going to make the text larger. If you click the Advanced
button, you can adjust individual settings for certain windows.
The Effects button changes how windows visually behave.
DON'T CLICK OK... YET. Leave the Display Properties window
open.
Now let's change the
mouse scheme and the sounds. Go to the Start menu and
select the Control Panel, and then (XP) Mouse
or (Classic) Printers and Other Hardware, then
Mouse. This will look different in the Classic view than in the
XP view. Either way, the Mouse Properties box will appear.
Change the Pointers
and Pointer Options under their respective tabs. You
can Browse for other pointer images. When you have them
just right, click OK in the Mouse Properties window.
For the sounds, go
back to the Control Panel and choose Sounds and
Audio Devices Properties. In the window that appears, choose
the Sounds tab. If a previous owner has put a sound scheme
in place (like spongebob 2001, for example), you'll see it there. You
can also pick a specific sound for each event that your computer performs.
You can also Browse for additional sounds, like music
clips and voice clips. When you have everything as you like it, click
OK.
All right! Now you
can go back to the Display Properties window and select
the Theme tab. You'll see your new theme
name(Modified). Save As whatever name you want your finished
new theme to have and
click OK.
Enjoy your PC's new,
personalized look!
~ Chris
Fisher
