AnGeLz_Tech: Computer Tips

Windows XP Customisation

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Windows XP Customisation</h3>
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<strong>1. Remove the Recycle Bin</strong></div>
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If you prefer to work with a completely clear desktop, you can hide the Recycle Bin with a little Registry hack. You can still use the [Shift] + [Delete] shortcut to access the Bin when you need it.</div>
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Choose 'Start > Run' and type 'Regedit' in the 'Open' bar. Click 'OK'. Now browse to: HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\HideDesktop Icons\NewStartPanel. Create a new DWORD value and name it: '{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}'</div>
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Double-click this and change its value to '1'. Quit Registry Editor, then right-click an empty space somewhere on your desktop and choose 'Refresh'. The Recycle Bin icon will magically disappear from the desktop. You can get it back again at any time by changing the value back to '0'.</div>
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<strong>2. Make folders stand out</strong></div>
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When you're navigating your hard drive you can spend a lot of time looking at folders, so it's a good idea to customise them to suit your taste. Open the Folder Options control panel.</div>
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Here you can choose whether to show common task links to the left of folder windows, as well as the type of files you'd like displayed. You can change the icon or picture used to represent a folder (see tip 5), but you can also add a background image or colour to folders.</div>
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You could do this the hard way - by manually editing configuration files - but a better and easier way is to use a third-party program that can do the hard work for you. Windowpaper XP is that tool. Once installed, just select your chosen image, click 'Change Image' and select the image you want to use.</div>
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Note that you can't stretch or centre your chosen image - if it's smaller than the window in question it will tile, so bear that in mind when choosing your image. If the image is too vibrant, consider creating a copy in your image editor, then increasing the brightness and lowering the contrast to produce a washed-out look that won't distract you when browsing the folder.</div>
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Windows XP Customisation

Windows XP Customisation 1. Remove the Recycle Bin If you prefer to work with a completely clear desktop, you can hide the Recycle Bin...

3. Organise Your Applications

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:39

3. Organise Your Applications

3. Organise your applications On any new Windows XP installation, it's a good idea to stack the Quick Launch toolbar on top of a...

4. Create Your Own Theme For Windows XP

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:38

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<strong>4. Create your own theme for Windows XP</strong></div>
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Given that it's so important, and so easy to change, you'd have thought that Microsoft might have included more than two themes with Windows XP. Fortunately, it's easy to change the existing ones.</div>
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To change themes or colours, you'll need to get into the Display Properties. To do this, go to the Start menu and select 'Settings > Control Panel', then in the Control Panel select 'Display'.</div>
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Click the Appearance tab at the top of the dialog. You'll see that you can manually go in and change the colour of every menu, piece of text, dialog box and so on. If you don't like the default colours in the colour palette, click 'Advanced', then click the colour square, select 'Other' and you can create your own colours using RGB or HSV values.</div>
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For easier re-selection of colours that you create manually, click the 'Add to Custom Colours' button once you've created a new colour you're happy with, and it will now be added to the User Palette.</div>
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Finally, click the 'Desktop' tab. Here you can select an image to use as a background picture for your desktop. You can either use a small repeating pattern that can be tiled to fill the desktop, or you can use a single larger picture that fills the entire screen. If the picture is too small for the screen, you can select the stretch option to ensure that it fits.</div>
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Click the 'Browse' button to select a picture file from your hard drive. Windows XP recognises BMP, GIF, JPG, JPEG, DIB and PNG picture formats, as well as HTM and HTML web page formats. If your image is in another format, such as TIFF, you'll need to convert it using your favouriteimage editing program.</div>
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Having customised your display, click the left-hand tab in the Display Properties dialog, and you'll see the Themes window appear. From here, you can select one of the defaults from the drop-down list. More importantly, you can save the current theme for future use.</div>
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4. Create Your Own Theme For Windows XP

4. Create your own theme for Windows XP Given that it's so important, and so easy to change, you'd have thought that Microso...

5. Change Your Ions

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:37

5. Change Your Ions

5. Change your icons If you're not happy with the icons used for some of your shortcuts, you can change them to something else that ...

6. Make Custom Icons

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:36

6. Make Custom Icons

6. Make custom icons If you decide to make your own custom icons, there are a few things to be aware of. First, they come in differe...

7. Remove Text From Icons

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:35

7. Remove Text From Icons

7. Remove text from icons You can improve the general look of your PC's desktop by removing the names of shortcuts, leaving the icon...

8. Remove Programs From The 'Open With' List

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:34

8. Remove Programs From The 'Open With' List

8. Remove programs from the 'Open With' list Stop programs appearing on the 'Open with' list when you're trying to o...

9. Choose A New Screensaver

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:33

9. Choose A New Screensaver

9. Choose a new screensaver Windows XP comes complete with a selection of screensavers, and it's easy to switch between them. Ri...

10. Personalise Your Folders With Images

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:32

10. Personalise Your Folders With Images

10. Personalise your folders with images Right-click inside a folder and select 'Customize This Folder...'. If you decide yo...

11. Edit Your Drive Names

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:32

11. Edit Your Drive Names

11. Edit your drive names If you've split your hard drive into two or more partitions, renaming drives can make them easier to i...

12. Disable Autorun For Discs

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:31

12. Disable Autorun For Discs

12. Disable autorun for discs Put a disc in your CD/DVD drive and you'll notice an appreciable lag as it spins up, even if you'r...

13. Add Your Own Sound Effects

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:30

13. Add Your Own Sound Effects

13. Add your own sound effects You can configure your system so that it plays sounds to accompany various events, such as when dialo...

14. Create A Mute Shortcut

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:29

14. Create A Mute Shortcut

14. Create a mute shortcut You can make a custom shortcut that mutes and unmutes your PC's sound by downloading a small utility call...

15. Correct File Sorting

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:29

15. Correct File Sorting

15. Correct file sorting By default, a file named '2.jpg' will be sorted after one called '20.jpg'. Many people work aro...

16. Display Shortcut Keys

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:28

16. Display Shortcut Keys

16. Display shortcut keys When you open a menu or My Computer window in XP, you can see what shortcut keys are available by pressing [Al...

17. Perform A Complete Redesign With These Tools

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:27

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<strong>17. Perform a complete redesign with these tools</strong></div>
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If you want to go beyond the options in Windows XP itself you can try an overhaul using these customisation tools:</div>
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<strong>TweakUI: </strong>No discussion about personalising your PC would be complete without mentioning TweakUI - the indispensable Microsoft tool from the team behind Windows XP. There are so many small but important changes you can make to your system with this program, but by far the best way to find out about them is to download it and experiment.</div>
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<strong>Talisman Desktop: </strong>If you're interested in more extreme forms of computer personalisation, Talisman Desktop can completely transform the appearance of your desktop - even the default theme is something to behold, but there are plenty more available for you to choose from.</div>
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<strong>WindowBlinds: </strong>Next you should head over to Stardock, where you'll find even more desktop enhancements. One such example is WindowBlinds, which enables you to not only change the appearance of your windows, but also the way they act. It's one of the most powerful customisation tools, and you'll find plenty of other tools on offer too - the full set is available for £32/$50 as part of the Object Desktop suite.</div>
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17. Perform A Complete Redesign With These Tools

17. Perform a complete redesign with these tools If you want to go beyond the options in Windows XP itself you can try an overhaul using...

18. Make Windows XP Fun For Your Kids, Part 1

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:26

18. Make Windows XP Fun For Your Kids, Part 1

18. Make Windows XP fun for your kids, Part 1 The first thing you should do before installing anything on your system is create a se...

19. Make Windows XP Fun For Your Kids, Part 2

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 02:25

19. Make Windows XP Fun For Your Kids, Part 2

19. Make Windows XP fun for your kids, Part 2 Since we're forgetting all concepts of taste in pursuit of an appealing children...

20. Make Windows XP Fun For Your Kids, Part 3

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 01:00

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<strong>20. Make Windows XP fun for your kids, Part 3</strong></div>
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You can really go to town on your desktop if you use a shell program.DesktopX is a great way of combining an enjoyable environment with access control. In Edit mode you can set up the desktop, and in User mode, you lock everything down.</div>
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You can import large pictures and use them as shortcuts to specific programs, and you can include sounds and animations too. The program comes with a couple of basic examples, such as a theme called Kids, which includes an embedded web browser and links to five sites. Your children can only access those sites, and they're unlikely to encounter anything dubious no matter how many external links they manage to follow.</div>
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Load DesktopX Builder by selecting 'Start > Programs > StarDock > Desktop Object > DesktopX Builder'. Load the 'Desktop Playground' theme if it isn't already. This mode enables you to customise the desktop in many ways - we'll add a web shortcut.</div>
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If you want to do some editing then right-click one of the frames and select 'Properties > States'. The 'Appearance' tab below should be selected. Click the 'Browse' button and select the PNG files, now click the 'Mouse Over' state and select the PNG file.</div>
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Click the General tab, then clear the location menu and add the URL - in this example it's http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies. Finally, click the OK button and you'll see you now have a special shortcut to the Cbeebies home page that can be double-clicked.</div>
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20. Make Windows XP Fun For Your Kids, Part 3

20. Make Windows XP fun for your kids, Part 3 You can really go to town on your desktop if you use a shell program.DesktopX is a gre...

21. Use Group Policy Editor

Unknown 0 Computer Tips 00:58

21. Use Group Policy Editor

21. Use Group Policy Editor Windows XP Professional Edition includes the Group Policy Editor, which is a very powerful tool that enables...

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