Windows display settings and properties demystified
Submitted by: Sweet Witch & Paul
Date: March 11, 2006
About Sweet Witch: When she's not fixing computers, you can find Sweet Witch at dslreports.com helping people solve their Windows and PC problems.
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DISPLAY PROPERTIES
In order to access the display properties options, right-click anywhere on the desktop (away from icons) and select “Properties”. A box will open with the tab options:
- Themes
- Desktop
- Appearance
- Screensaver
- Settings
Themes
The theme is how your computer displays things like icons, program lists via the Start Button and also what sounds it uses in certain cases.
Pre-set choice is limited to Windows XP and Windows Classic. Unless you are a former Windows 98 user who prefers to keep the same style of display, there is no real reason to not have Windows XP.
Desktop
This is where you can set your wallpaper – the image that appears on the desktop behind the icons. Select from the wallpapers listed or click “Browse” to select an image stored on your hard drive.
Once selected, you can alter how the image is displayed under the “Position” option. Choose from “Center” (displays the image in the center of the screen), “Tile” (repeats the image multiple times to fill the screen) or “Stretch” (stretches the single image to fill the screen).
When you are happy with your choice, click “Ok” or “Apply” to set the wallpaper.
You can also change the background color here using the “Color” option.
Finally, there is the “Customise Desktop” option. Clicking on this opens up a new box with options allowing you to change certain default display icons. You can choose to have them appear on the desktop or not, and also change the icon image.
Appearance
This page sets the appearance of the windows and buttons. The style will be set according to the theme you selected under “Themes”, eg “Windows XP”.
Below that are options to change the color scheme and font size used on the windows and buttons. When you select a color scheme or font size from the list, the display will show you a preview of it.
When you are happy with your choice, click “Ok” or “Apply” to set the scheme.
Additional options under this tab are “Effects” and “Advanced”. “Effects” gives you extra display options such as applying shadows to menu displays while “Advanced” lets you override your selected Theme by choosing a different type of windows and buttons. Use the “Advanced” button to change the size of the title bar buttons, scroll bars, title bar colors, font and font size shown in Windows. When you’re happy, you can save your settings with your own file name.
Screensaver
The screensaver is the moving pattern/image that the computer switches to in periods of inactivity. If you select “None”, the screen will just go blank. Otherwise you can select from the patterns listed.
When you select a screensaver from the list, the display will show you a preview of it. You can also select a full-screen preview by clicking “Preview”.
When you are happy with your choice, click “Ok” or “Apply” to set the scree nsaver.
Other options on this page are to set the period of inactivity before the screensaver kicks in and to set a time at which the monitor will power-off if the PC is unused for a period.
Settings
In here is where you set the screen resolution and color quality. The higher the screen resolution, the smaller your windows will be so you can fit more on the screen at one time. Some people prefer a very high resolution with small text while others prefer a lower resolution and larger text. It’s all a personal choice.
In the Advanced section, you can make finer adjustments to your display. The dpi box lets you change just the fonts to larger while in smaller windows. The monitor tab lets you adjust the refresh rate for CRT monitors. If you’re seeing flashing on the screen, raising the refresh rate will usually stop this. Do this in small increments because different monitors prefer different settings and you can find you have no picture if you do it wrong.
In all of these sections are choices not mentioned here. They aren’t mentioned because you should not change them unless you’re a very advanced user.
More info:
More help setting your screensaver
Return to the Windows How To page
Re: Windows help: Display settings explained
New internet explorer windows open very small and have to be resized each time. I cannot find in advanced settings, or anywhere else, how to change that. I seem to remember in earlier operating system I was able to change that, or else the computer learned to open them the size they were when closed.
after reinstall Text size big.
Text size way to big.
I installed Windows XP Pro, logged in installed the basic drivers and everything seemed fine. After rebooting all the text and icons everywhere are bigger and while I was able to shrink most of them to normal size, they look a littel distorted or something. Also in windows explorer the text for folder names on the left is about 2pts bigger than whats on the right and it bugs the crap outa me. I havent been able to find a way to fix this anywhere or with any settings that win xp lets me see...
XP text size and screen settings
Go to the website of your video card manufacturer and download the latest drivers.
also, try setting the resolution to a higher setting.
windows XP behaviour
i remember in win 98 there was a setting that would make a window flash if it had progressed of finish doing what ever it is doing.
right now if you are eg typing and your anti virus would find some thing, the scanner maximises a window by it self. basically interrupting your typing and now you just typed a paragraph into nothing. because you are no longer on that window.
what is this setting called and is it in windows xp
thank you for your time