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2011-07-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

Windows XP Desktop Management Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Icons displayed on the desktop are spaced according to values defined in the display properties. To change these values, perform the following steps:

Start the Display Control Panel applet (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click Display).
Select the Appearance tab.
Under Item, select Icon Spacing (Horizontal) and modify the size.
Select Icon Spacing (Vertical) and modify the size.
Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

Note: For the change to take effect, you need to unselect Auto Arrange from the Arrange Icons context menu that displays when you right-click the desktop.

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View Thumbnails In Folder Window

Do you have a hard time identifying photos or graphics images by their names only? Opt to view thumbnails, or mini-versions of the images, right inside their folder window.

Open the folder that contains the graphics you want to identify
Select View, Thumbnails.

Now you can find what you need at a glance. What's more, this setting sticks for that folder until you turn it off.

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Display the QuickLaunch Toolbar

By default, Windows XP does not show the QuickLaunch toolbar as did Windows 98.

To enable it:

Right click on an open area of the toolbar
Select Toolbars
Select Quick Launch

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Ungroup Taskbar Items

By default, Windows XP groups similar taskbar items on the same taskbar button, for example, if you have four folder windows open, you'll see a single button that reads "4 Windows Explorer." If you prefer, you can view each open window on its own taskbar button. Right-click a blank area of the Taskbar and select Properties. On the Taskbar tab of the resulting dialog box, deselect "Group similar taskbar buttons" and click OK.

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Display a Photo on your Desktop

If you would like to display your favorite picture on your desktop, Windows XP makes this a simple task. Here's how:

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the picture file and right-click it.
In the resulting right-click menu, look for the "Open With" option. Choose to Open it in Internet Explorer.
Once Internet Explorer has opened your picture file, right-click the image and select "Set as Background".

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Installing Wallpaper on the PC

One thing that I change a lot is the desktop wallpaper. I get tired of looking at the same thing day in and day out. Using Google Images or Yahoo Images, you can go out into the Internet and find millions of background photo's to use. Here's how:

Open your browser and type in: www.google.com
Select the Google Images tab
Type in your screen size, then use a one or two word description of what you are looking for. Here are a few example searches:

1024x768 hawaii sunset
1024x768 nascar
1024x768 lakes
1024x768 mountains
1024x768 waterfall
...you get the idea

Note: Replace the 1024x768 with your screen size. If you do not know what your screen size is, simply right click an open area of your desktop and select Graphic Options>> Graphic Properties from the resulting menus.

Open the image from its thumbnail view to full-size view.
Once you have selected the photo that you would like to use as your background, right click the image and choose the "Set as background" option.

Your selected background will now reside on your desktop. Change this as often as you like, you'll never run out of photo's.

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Transparent Desktop Icons

If you would like the background of the desktop icons to have a transparent appearance, here's how:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> System
Once at the System Properties windows, select the Advanced tab
Under the Performance category, select the Settings button
In the Performance Options windows select the Visual Effects tab
Scroll down the list of settings and place a checkmark next to the entry titled: Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop.

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