Overview
This article describes how to configure the desktop environment through desktop themes. A desktop theme is a set of predefined window elements that let you personalize your computer to give it a distinctive look. Themes affect the overall look of your desktop, including backgrounds, screen savers, icons, fonts, colors, windows, mouse pointers, and sounds. In Windows XP, you can use the Windows Classic look and feel as a theme, you can switch desktop themes, or modify the elements of an existing theme to create a new theme and customize the desktop with the look you want. Select a different desktop theme
To select a different desktop theme, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display. Alternatively, right-click an empty area of the desktop and click Properties. 2. Click the Themes tab and select a new topic in the list of topics. A preview of the theme is displayed in the sample box. 3. Select the topic you want and click OK. Your desktop theme is now applied to your computer. Create your own desktop theme
When you modify any element of a theme, it is recommended that you always save your changes with a new theme name. If a new theme is selected if it has not been saved, changes to the original theme will be lost. To create your own desktop theme, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display. Alternatively, right-click an empty area of the desktop and click Properties. 2. Click the Themes tab and then click the topic you want to modify in the list of topics. 3. Make changes to the theme elements you want to modify as you want. The following list lists the various desktop theme elements, along with the corresponding Display Properties dialog tabs or their locations on the control panel: • To change the position of the background design, color, or background design on the screen, click The Desktop tab in the Properties dialog is displayed. To change the icon on your desktop, click the Desktop tab in the Display Properties dialog box, and then click Customize Desktop. To change the screen saver, click the Screen Saver tab in the Display Properties dialog box. To change the color scheme, window and button styles, or font size, click the Appearance tab in the Display Properties dialog box. To change the color, size, and font settings for a specific window element, click the Appearance tab in the Display Properties dialog box, then click Advanced. To change the look of a mouse pointer scheme or a specific pointer, click the Pointer tab in the Mouse Properties dialog box. (Click Start, click Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click the mouse.) To change the sound scheme or apply a sound to a specific program event, click Sounds and Audio Devices Sounds tab in the Properties dialog. (Click Start, click Control Panel, click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, and then click Sounds and Audio Devices.) 4. When you have completed the desired changes, click the Theme option in the Display Properties dialog box. Card and then click Apply. Changes you make to the theme are saved as "Previous topic name (change)." This name appears in the list of topics, and it is the default subject name when you make changes to the theme (but before saving it with a new name). 5. Click Save As. 6. In the Save As dialog box, type a name for your new theme (for example, MyNewTheme) and click Save. 7. Click OK. This new theme will appear in the list of topics and be applied to your desktop. The new theme is saved in the "My Documents" folder with a .theme file extension (for example, MyNewTheme.theme). To open the My Documents folder, click Start and then click My Documents. Deleting a desktop theme
You can delete any theme that you created, that was installed from a CD-ROM, or downloaded from the Internet. You cannot delete the themes that come with Windows XP, such as Windows XP and Windows classic themes. To delete a desktop theme, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display. Alternatively, right-click an empty area of the desktop and click Properties. 2. Click the Themes tab and then click the topic you want to delete in the list of topics. A preview of the theme is displayed in the sample box. 3. Click Remove. The desktop theme you selected is removed from your hard drive.