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Tags: computer software, personal technology, customizing your desktop is pretty easy
 For this edition of PC maintenance, I want to teach you and show you the benefits of customizing your desktop. A lot of people tend to overlook stuff like this and leave their desktop cluttered with shortcuts of applications they don't use and files that have been directly downloaded onto it. It isn't really maintenance in the sense that leaving it be might ruin your hardware or software, but it'll give you a nice sense of order and style. I picked Windows XP as the subject since it's in a lot of netbooks and because you may want your XP to look like Vista, but not to run like Vista.
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With that said, it can also look like anything you want to, even an OS X. Customizing your desktop is pretty easy. It can also be more than just changing your wallpaper and screensaver since you almost have total freedom over your settings. It can range from the outer appearance of your desktop to the way that your windows explorer can look like. So let's get to it. The first move is to clean up. You might have a lot of shortcuts and programs laid out in order or spread out. I want you to delete the shortcuts that you don't use and put any of the applications or files that you have into folders inside My Documents or anywhere you keep files basically.
Clean it up and shove it into a folder that you can easily find. As for me, I practically just have Recycle Bin left because that's the only application that I can't put anywhere else. Whenever I want to access My Computer, My Documents or anything at all I go through the Start button at the bottom left of the screen or sometimes I put it on the quick launch tab next to the start button. IF you want to customize the windows that you open, you can access it by going to the appearance settings of your computer. You can access it by right clicking on the wallpaper. You click the properties button and then you'll see the new window. Click the appearance tab and then you'll be able to see what you can change. You should be seeing: Windows and Buttons, color scheme and font size. If you click on the advanced button you can select what color you want to use on the fonts and windows and the size of the fonts. You can do a little experimenting here and do whatever you want because you can always revert the settings to default and start from a clean slate. If you want to make things easier on yourself, you can try the prepared themes that are already available on your computer. If you want do a little more advanced work, you can go and download different desktop themes. I browse through customize.org since it has a great community of users and because they give reviews on the different applications available. Another thing that's great about the site is that it can really cater to beginners. The styles are all different and they can even make your XP look like a Mac. You can pick free desktop themes there or you can search for themes on a search engine. The theme developers usually give instructions on how to apply the theme and they’re mostly safe. If you’re unsure of a certain theme just check the comments since they’re like snippet reviews and they can attest to the functionality. Don’t be afraid. Experiment is the word of the day.
About the author
Jego Goldstein is a successful Computer Analyst who has been testing and developing software for many years. Learn how to master Microsoft Excel with this VIDEO COURSE . Click here for more information about Easy Excel Basics.
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