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| Atryeu Designs » Computers & Internet » Tutorials & Guides » Windows Themes and Screen Ratio |
The following guide will help you make your desktop your own by changing the way text appears along with colors of various parts of windows you have open. I will also walk you through changing your screen ratio as well.
Screen Ratio
To begin with, we'll learn how to change the screen ratio. Certain monitors may have a minimum and maximum size you are allowed to adjust your monitor to and others may not. Depending on your graphics card and/or monitor software you may be able to get around those limits.
The most common place to change your screen ratio is through the Display Properties. You can get there by either going through the Control Panel and double clicking on the Display option, or you can right-click your desktop and click Properties. Under the Settings Tab, you will find a slide bar that allows you to change your screen ratio. Click Apply to change the settings when you are finished and the screen will resize itself for you and give you an option to switch back automatically after so many seconds in case of problems.
Windows Themes
Most computers will come with a few preset themes or you can make your own or download premade ones from the internet. This part of the guide will show you the basics to change a theme, save a theme and show you were to adjust the windows colors and fonts for your theme.
To begin with, get back into the Display Properties window. The very first tab that opens is called “Themes” and this is where you can change or save a theme. If you have changed your desktop wallpaper, you may see “Modified Theme” listed in the drop down list. If you open it up you may also see a few other options to choose from along with a Browse... option which will open a window to search for other theme files on your computer. In Windows XP, themes are stored at: C:\Windows\Resources\Themes
Lets start by adjusting some color and font settings for a new theme... In the Display Properties, click the Appearances Tab and then click the Advanced button. (Note that if you are going to change colors to your windows you need to first look under the “Windows and Buttons” on the Appearances tab and change the drop down menu to Windows Classic Style or your color changes won't apply) This brings up a window where you can make adjustments to a variety of desktop and windows areas. I will not be covering all of the details for each setting you can change, but if you start going through the drop down list and selecting different areas, you will notice you can choose different colors for them and some allow you to change the fonts. You can even adjust the desktop icon size if you choose. If you do not wish to make any of the changes you did, click Cancel, otherwise you can click OK to go back to the Display Properties window. From there, if you adjusted anything, go back to your Themes tab and click the Save As... button. The save window comes up asking where to save your file and you can give it a unique name. As soon as you click the Apply button after you are done, windows will adjust the screen to your new theme. If you used the Windows Classic Style on the Appearances tab then the title bars and any other settings to your windows should have changed. If you left it as the XP style, windows will keep whatever style you have the XP settings set to instead.
If you saved your theme, you now have a new theme to choose from to use on your desktop. You can combine this tutorial with the “Change your Desktop Wallpaper” tutorial and the theme will save your wallpaper settings as well when you save the theme. If you wish to remove a theme you created, you can select it from the list on the Themes tab and click the Delete button.
I hope this guide has helped you learn more about themes and customizing your desktop. Keep an eye out for future guides and tutorials for more customizing help!
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