Color Scheme

1. Right-Click the Desktop
2. Click Properties
3. Select the Appearance tab.
4. Select one of the predefined color schemes, or build your own (remember to give it a name and save it).

Taskbar Positioning

The Taskbar will migrate to any one of the 4 sides of your computer screen (top, bottom, right, left).  Personally, I keep mine at the left side of the screen instead of the bottom because it is easier to keep track of all the windows that I have opened at any moment (the buttons get too small if I leave it at the bottom.  To move it, all you need to do is:

1. Move the cursor over it
2. Grab it (press & hold the left mouse button)
3. Drag it to whichever side you want it
4. Drop it (release mouse button)

Hiding the Taskbar:

1. Move the cursor over Taskbar
2. Right-click mouse once
3. Select "Properties"
4. Select "Auto Hide" & "Apply"

The taskbar will hide until you move the mouse near it.  If you keep opening the Taskbar accidentally, move it to a different side of your screen (see Taskbar Positioning).

Important!:  Never turn off the "Always On Top" property of the Taskbar (see Step 3 above).  It's too easy to lose sight of the Taskbar and get confused.

Resizing the Taskbar

You can change the width of the Taskbar by moving the cursor to its "inner edge" and then dragging the edge in or out.

Important!:  I have seen people accidentally move the Taskbar until it was just a thin gray line at the edge of their screen.  While this is easy to fix - their computer becomes unusable because they can't find their Start Button.

Add the Volume Control icon to the Taskbar:

1. Click the Start Menu, Settings, & Control Panel
2. Double-click the Multimedia icon
3. Click the Audio tab
4. Click "Show volume control on the taskbar" checkbox
5. Click the "OK" button at the bottom

The Volume Control icon (a little speaker) is now installed on the Taskbar. Click the speaker icon to change or mute the volume.  Double-click the speaker icon to access your mixer controls.

Adding items to the Start Menu:

Simply drag an object (shortcut, program, folder, or document) and drop it on the Start button. If you install a folder, its contents are displayed when you point to it.

Add an option to Send To:

You can drag and drop any shortcut to the SendTo folder. This could be to a printer, network drive, fax, or Windows application.

1. Click the Start button
2. Click Run
3. Type Sendto in the Run dialog box
4. Drag & drop the desired item's icon into the SendTo window (use the right mouse button)
5. The shortcut will appear on the Send To menu
6. Right-click a document or folder icon
7. Select Send To
8. Select a destination

This method can be use to send text files to Notepad or Wordpad.

Changing Desktop Properties:

1. Right-click the Desktop
2. Select Properties

You can change video settings, background, screen saver, display fonts, etc.

Master Volume Control Panel:

On the Audio page of the Multimedia control panel applet, select the "Show volume control on Taskbar" option. Once enabled, clicking the speaker icon on the Taskbar will launch the volume control slider. Double-clicking the speaker icon will launch the full volume control applet.

Displaying Network Properties:

1. Right-click Network Neighborhood
2. Select Properties

Displaying your IP configuration:

1. Click the Start button
2. Click Run
3. Type in WINIPCFG
4. Click OK

Displaying free disk space:

1. Double-click My Computer
2. Select your hard disk
3. Amount of free space is diplayed at the bottom of the window

If you right-click on the hard disk icon, you can select Properties to see more detailed information. You will have to view Properties to see disk space information for floppy drives.

Printing out a System Summary:

1. Right-click My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Device Manager tab
4. Click on Computer
5. Click the Print button.

More Windows Icons

Additional icons can be found in the shell32.dll & cool.dll files in the Windows folder.

Your Webmaster is  Dave Dockery aka Doc
This page was last edited on 02/03/00