Chapter 10: Personalizing the Desktop

IN THIS CHAPTER

Personalizing your screen, mouse, and keyboard

Personalizing your taskbar

Using Windows gadgets

On a touch device, the Start screen is probably where you'll spend most of your time. On a more traditional PC, however, the Windows desktop is probably your main workplace. Or maybe “play place,” depending on how you use your computer.

We all like to set up our own desktops and work environments in unique ways. What works best for one person isn't necessarily great for someone else. Fortunately, the way things look and work on your Windows 8 desktop aren't set in stone. You can personalize your desktop and features in a variety of ways to make them look and work the way you like. That's what this chapter is all about — having your Windows environment set up your way.

Most of the options described in this chapter apply only to the user account you're currently logged in to, so any changes you make to your own desktop apply only to you (assuming that you're logged in to your own user account). This means that all users of a computer can have their settings just the way they want them without stepping on each others’ toes.

Using the Personalization Page

Many options for personalizing the look and feel of Windows 8.1 are on the Personalization page, shown in Figure 10.1. As with most aspects of Windows 8.1, there are many ways to get to the Personalization page. Use whichever is most convenient for you at the moment:

• Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.
• Open the Control Panel and choose Appearance and Personalization ⇒ Personalization.

The following sections look at how you can use the various options on the page to fine-tune the look and feel of Windows 8 on your screen.

Choosing a theme

A theme is a collection of appearance settings that determine how things look on your screen. For example, Figure 10.2 shows how Windows 8.1 looks with the default theme selected. Figure 10.3 shows how it looks with the GT Graphics 2 theme downloaded from the Microsoft website.

To choose a theme, open the Personalization window from the Control Panel. You see a selection of themes from which to choose. A good way to personalize your screen is to choose a theme that looks most like how you'd like your screen to look. You can certainly modify it to your preferences or even create your own custom themes. Using a predefined theme that has many of the characteristics you like, however, is a good way to get started.

To try a theme, just click the theme in the Personalization page. The theme is applied to your desktop. If you don't like the results, just click another theme or your previous theme.

Feel free to try out as many themes as you like. If you plan to further customize things, click Save Theme, a link located on the Personalization page. Then enter a name for the theme and click Save.

Personalizing your desktop background

You can wallpaper your desktop with any picture or color you like. In the Personalization window, click Desktop Background to open the Desktop Background page, shown in Figure 10.4.

Click the drop-down button and choose Solid Colors to choose a solid-color background for the desktop, or choose Pictures Library to view pictures from your own Pictures folder (see Figure 10.5) and from the shared Public Pictures folder. Of course, if these folders are empty or don't contain any compatible picture types, you won't see any pictures after making your selection. After you choose a category, point to or click any picture to see it applied as your desktop background.

The Top Rated Photos option lets you choose from photos in your own Pictures folder or in the Public Pictures folder that have a rating of 4 or higher.

If you have pictures in some folder other than the Pictures folder for your user account or the Public Pictures folder, click Browse. Navigate to the folder that contains those pictures. Then click (or double-click) the picture you want to use as your desktop background. All pictures from that folder will appear in the Desktop Background window. Click whatever picture you want to use.

If the desktop is covered, hover the mouse over the Show Desktop button at the lower-right corner of the screen to make all windows invisible and show the desktop. Try out different pictures until you find one you like.

You might have noticed that you can choose more than one picture for your desktop. The Change Picture Every option lets you choose how often Windows displays a new desktop picture. Enable the Shuffle option if you want the photos to be shown randomly from the selected group.

Try the options under Picture Position to view it in different ways. The options have little or no effect on large pictures. But if you choose a small picture of your own, the Tile option shows it repeatedly, like tiles. The Center option shows it centered on the screen. If you choose the Center option, you can click Change Background Color to color the desktop surrounding the picture.

If you don't want a picture on your desktop, choose Solid Colors from the drop-down list. Then click whatever color you like, or click More for a wider selection of colors. When you've found and chosen a picture or color you like, click Save Changes.

Personalizing your color scheme

To choose a basic color scheme for your screen and selected theme, click Color in the Personalization window (see Figure 10.6).

Most of the options are self-explanatory. Click any color sample to apply that color to your windows. Use the Color Intensity slider to adjust the amount of color used.

If you want to create your own colors, click any color selection other than Automatic, and then click Show Color Mixer to see the additional sliders shown in Figure 10.7. You can use those to create your own color.

Before you start creating a color, you might find it useful to drag the Intensity slider to the middle or far-right end of the bar and deselect the Enable Transparency check box. Also, drag the Saturation and Brightness sliders to the middle. Doing so will make it easier to see your color selection on the window's border.

Drag the Hue slider along the rainbow bar until you find a color you like. Move the Saturation slider to adjust, deepen, or fade your selected color. Use the Brightness slider to brighten or darken the color. Just keep playing around with things until you get a color you like.

Making text sharper with ClearType

ClearType is a technology that makes fonts look clearer and smoother on a display. ClearType is particularly effective for LCD displays but can have some effect on CRT displays as well. Windows 8 supports ClearType.

To adjust ClearType on your Windows 8.1 computer, first open the Control Panel. Then click Display and click Adjust ClearType Text. The ClearType Text Tuner appears (see Figure 10.8).

The ClearType Text Tuner is a wizard that steps you through a couple of settings to fine-tune font display on your computer. Select the Turn On ClearType check box and then click Next. Windows 8 checks your computer's display resolution and offers to change resolution to the display's native resolution or keep the current resolution. Choose the desired option and click Next. Windows 8 then displays four pages with different text samples, prompting you to choose the ones that look the best to you. Click Finish when you're satisfied with your selections.

Personalizing sound effects

You might have noticed some little beeps and whistles as you do things in Windows 8. Those are called sound effects, and you can customize them from the Personalization window. Just click Sounds in the Personalization window to open the Sound dialog box, shown in Figure 10.9.

If you don't want to assign sound effects one at a time, you can choose a predefined sound effects scheme from the Sound Scheme drop-down list. Choose No Sounds if you don't want any sound effects.

The Program Events list shows different events to which you can assign sounds. Items that have a speaker icon to the left already have a sound effect associated with them. To hear one, click any program event that shows a speaker icon. The Sounds drop-down menu below the list shows the filename in which the sound effect is stored. Click the Play button to the right of the sound effect name to hear that sound effect.

Sound effects play only when your computer has a sound card with speakers plugged into the correct jack. If the speakers have their own power switch, they must be turned on. Likewise, if the speakers have their own volume control, the volume must be turned up high enough. And if the speakers have a Mute button, it must be turned off. Likewise, the volume control in the notification area must have its volume set to a level you can hear and must not be muted, as in Figure 10.10.

In the Sound dialog box, you can assign any sound effect you like to any program event. First, click the program event to which you would like to assign or change a sound effect. Then click the drop-down button under Sounds to see a list of built-in sound effects. Click the sound effect you'd like to assign. Then click the Play button to hear that sound effect.

If you have your own sound effect to assign to a program event, click the Browse button and navigate to the folder that contains your sound effects. Then double-click the sound effect you want to assign to the program event.

If you change the sound effects associated with program events, you'll want to save all that work as your own sound scheme. Click the Save As button and give the scheme a name.

Personalizing your screen saver

A screen saver is a moving picture or pattern that fills the screen after a period of inactivity. The name “screen saver” harkens back to the earlier days of computing when leaving a fixed image on the screen for too long a time could cause permanent damage to the screen. This type of burn-in can still be a problem with CRT displays but isn't generally a problem with LCD and LED displays, so a screen saver is typically optional nowadays. Still, it's a nice way to have your screen do something entertaining when the computer is on but nobody is using it. Plus, it can be a way to protect your computer from prying eyes when you walk away from it. Better still, lock your workstation before you leave.

In the Personalization window, click Screen Saver. The Screen Saver Settings dialog box shown in Figure 10.11 opens. Click the drop-down button to see a list of screen savers from which you can choose. Click any name in that list to get a sneak peek at how it will look if you apply it.

Some screen savers are customizable. Click the Settings button to see whether the screen saver you selected has optional settings you can change. If it does, you'll see those options in a dialog box. Choose whatever options look interesting.

If you have pictures in Photo Gallery, choose Photos from the drop-down button. The screen saver will be a slide show of pictures from your gallery. If you choose Photos from the drop-down list, you can also click the Settings button to see the options shown in Figure 10.12.

For the goods on photos and Photo Gallery, drop by Chapter 17.

As you can see in Figure 10.12, the default setting is for the screen saver to show all pictures and videos from your Pictures library, which includes your own Pictures folder and the Public Pictures folder. You can click Browse to choose a different location, if desired.

Use the Slide Show Speed drop-down button to choose the slide show speed, and choose the Shuffle Pictures option to have Windows randomize the photo selection. Click Save after making your choices.

Regardless of which screen saver and settings you choose, the small preview window in the dialog box shows you how it will look. For a larger view, click the Preview button. Your selected screen saver will play full screen. To make it stop, just move your mouse.

After you've chosen your screen saver, specify how many minutes of inactivity are required before the screen saver starts playing. A period of inactivity means that nobody has touched the touchscreen, mouse, or keyboard. So, if you set the Wait option to five minutes, the screen saver kicks in after the computer has been unused for five minutes. The screen saver plays until someone moves the mouse or presses a key on the keyboard.

Choosing On Resume, Display Logon Screen causes the screen saver to show the login page rather than your desktop when someone moves the mouse. If you're using a password-protected user account, showing the login page prevents that other person from accessing your desktop. It also means that when you want to start using the computer again, you have to enter your password to get back to your desktop. Your programs will still be running so this isn't the same as logging out and logging back in again.

The screen saver won't kick in at all if your power options are set to turn off the monitor before the screen saver kicks in. The Change Power Settings link in the dialog box lets you check, and optionally change, when the monitor goes off.

For example, the Power Save plan turns off the monitor after 20 minutes. If you set the screen saver to kick in after 21 or more minutes, you'll never see the screen saver because the monitor will be off. If you prefer the screen saver to an empty screen, make sure to set the screen saver timeout to a shorter time period than your screen power-off setting.

See Chapter 36 for more information on using power options.

When you're happy with your screen saver selections, click OK. Remember that the screen saver won't actually play until you've left the computer alone and untouched for the number of minutes you specified in the Wait box on the Screen Saver Settings dialog box.

Personalizing desktop icons

In the left column of the Personalization window, you see a link titled Change Desktop Icons. Click that link to see the dialog box shown in Figure 10.13. Select the check boxes for any icons you want to see on your desktop. Clear the check box for any icon you don't want to see. As always, choosing icons is purely a matter of personal taste. Also, you can change the icons you see on your desktop at any time. Click OK after choosing the icons you want to see.

Creating your own desktop icons

The Desktop Icons Settings dialog box shows only the few desktop icons built into Windows 8.1. Many programs you install create other desktop icons. You're also free to create your own desktop icons. Most desktop icons are actually just shortcuts to other places or programs.

Shortcut icons are unique in a couple of ways. For one, they show a little curved arrow like the example in Figure 10.14. For another, deleting a shortcut icon has no effect on the item that the shortcut opens. Instead, deleting a shortcut icon deletes only the icon. The program or folder to which the icon referred still exists. You can still open that item through a non-shortcut method.

If you often go through a series of clicks or steps to open some item, creating a desktop shortcut will make opening that item quicker and easier. Get to the icon you normally click (or double-click) to open a program, folder, or document. Then right-click that icon and choose Send To ⇒ Desktop (Create Shortcut).

Sizing, arranging, showing, and hiding desktop icons

You can size and arrange desktop icons as you see fit. First, minimize or close all open program windows so that you can see the entire desktop. Then right-click any empty area on the desktop and hover the mouse over the View menu.

The View submenu, shown in Figure 10.15, contains several options for arranging icons. An item on that menu that has a check mark is currently selected and active. An item without a check mark is deselected and inactive. Clicking an item selects it if it's not already selected, or deselects it if it's selected. Here's what each option does:

• Large Icons: Shows desktop icons at a large size.
• Medium Icons: Shows desktop icons at a medium size.
• Small Icons: Shows desktop icons at a smaller size, similar to earlier Windows versions.

• Auto Arrange Icons: Choosing this option keeps icons neatly arranged near the left side of the desktop. If you clear this option, you can put desktop icons wherever you like. Just drag any icon to wherever you want to put it on the desktop.
• Align Icons to Grid: Choosing this option keeps icons aligned to an invisible grid, to make the spacing between them equal.
• Show Desktop Icons: If this option is selected (checked), desktop icons are visible. Clearing this option makes the desktop icons invisible. It doesn't delete them, however. They'll come back into view when you choose this option again.

The Sort By option on the desktop shortcut menu lets you quickly sort icons by name, size, file extension, or date modified. Regardless of which option you choose, built-in icons are always listed first, followed by your own custom icons in whatever order you specified.

The remaining options are similar to their counterparts in folders. The Refresh option ensures that icons on the desktop are up to date with changes you may have made elsewhere in the system. If you accidentally delete a shortcut icon, you can choose Undo Delete (or press Ctrl+Z) to bring it back. The New option lets you create a new folder or document on the desktop. Personalize opens the Personalization page (refer to Figure 10.1).

Customizing icons

To change a built-in icon, open the Desktop Icon Settings dialog box (refer to Figure 10.13). Then click the icon you want to customize, and click Change Icon. To change the appearance of a shortcut icon, right-click it and choose Properties ⇒ Change Icon. The Change Icon dialog box opens, displaying possible alternative icons. Figure 10.16 shows a general example.

If you have your own .ico files and would prefer to use one of those, click the Browse button in the Change Icon dialog box. Navigate to the folder that contains the .ico file and choose the icon you want to use. Note that some .dll and .exe files also contain icons you can use.

Choosing a screen resolution

One of the changes you might want to make in Windows is to adjust your screen resolution because your screen resolution determines how much stuff can fit on your screen. Resolution is measured in pixels, with each pixel representing a tiny, lighted dot on the screen. The higher the resolution, the smaller everything looks, and the more stuff you can get on the screen. To choose a resolution, right-click the desktop and choose Screen Resolution. Doing so opens the Screen Resolution page shown in Figure 10.17.

There is no right or wrong setting for the screen resolution. A high resolution is good because you can see more stuff on your screen. But a high resolution isn't good if things are so small on your screen that you can't see them. On the Screen Resolutions page, click the Resolution drop-down list and then move the slider from one resolution to the next. As you move the slider, you can see a sample of the aspect ratio of the current selection. You can't really judge how small things will look on your screen as you move the slider, so it may take a little trial and error to get things just right. But let's stop a second to talk about that aspect ratio term here.

There was a time when all computer monitors had a 4:3 aspect ratio, which meant that for every 4 pixels of width, you got 3 pixels of height. These days, you'll come across other aspect ratios including 5:4 and the 16:9 ratio found on widescreen TVs. There are some others, too. You can check the manual that came with your monitor or notebook computer for your screen's exact aspect ratio, or just choose a resolution that looks good on your screen (and is supported by the computer's video adapter). Table 10.1 lists some common aspect ratios and resolutions that fit them.

TABLE 10-1 Common Aspect Ratios and Resolutions

So, the trick here is to move the slider to a resolution (for example, 1024 x 768) and then click the Apply button. The new resolution is applied to your screen. If the screen goes blank, don't panic: You just chose a setting that won't work. The setting will be undone automatically in about 15 seconds and everything will be okay again. To try a different resolution, move the slider to another setting and click Apply again. If you find a setting you like, you can click OK and be done with it.

Using multiple monitors

Windows 8.1 supports the use of multiple monitors in a variety of configurations. In many cases, adding a second monitor is a simple matter of connecting to the external monitor and turning it on. If the display supports Extended Display Identification Data (EDID), Windows will detect it and adjust the resolution automatically.

If the external monitor is a television set, you may need to connect, turn on the TV, and then use the Input Select or TV/Video button on the TV or remote control to select the external input (often shown as AV1, PC, or Component on the TV screen). You can also add multiple video cards to the PC and connect a monitor to each one. Many newer display adapters support multiple monitors, so you can use a single adapter to drive more than one monitor.

After you connect to an external monitor and configure it to show input from the plug to which you connected the computer (if necessary), you can configure settings in Windows for the displays. Right-click the desktop and choose Screen Resolution to display the Screen Resolution page shown in Figure 10.18.

The Screen Resolution page will show the additional displays after you connect the other displays to the computer. The displays are identified by numbers. The graphics on the displays indicate which is primary (that is, where the Start menu will appear) and which are secondary. Click the Identify button to have Windows display a large number on the display to help you identify which is which.

The following list explains the controls on the Screen Resolution page:

• Display: Use this drop-down button to choose a display to configure.
• Resolution: Select the display resolution from this slider button.
• Orientation: Choose between Landscape and Portrait modes, as well as Landscape (Flipped) and Portrait (Flipped) modes (which rotate the display).
• Multiple Displays: Choose Duplicate These Displays to display the same information on both displays. Choose Extend These Displays to extend the desktop across both displays. The other two options show the desktop only on display 1 or 2, depending on which you select.
• Make This My Main Display: Select this option to make the display number selected in the Display button the main display where the Start menu will appear.
• Detect: Click this button to have Windows detect the new display.
• Identify: Click this button to display an identifying number on the displays so that you can tell which is which.
• Make Text and Other Items Larger or Smaller: Click this link to open a Display page, where you can choose the font size to use on the displays.

You can also display content on the second monitor only, leaving the first monitor black. If you're using a mobile computer on batteries, this option conserves battery power.

Regardless of how you set things in the New Display Detected window (or even if it doesn't appear at all), you can use the Display Settings dialog box to configure the second monitor. Open Display Settings as described at the top of this section. Then click the second monitor's box (with the number 2 in it). If that second monitor is grayed out, choose Extend My Desktop onto This Monitor. If the second monitor still doesn't light up, click Apply.

You can arrange the squares in the dialog box to match the arrangement of the monitors. For example, if monitor 2 is to the left of monitor 1, drag the 2 square to the left of the 1 square. If the monitors are stacked with 1 on top of 2, drag the 1 square so that it's above the 2 square.

Reducing monitor flicker

If a monitor seems to flicker, adjusting its refresh rate can help. You shouldn't change the refresh rate just for the heck of it, however. Do so only to reduce flicker. First, click the Advanced Settings link. Then select the Monitor tab in the dialog box that opens. Use the drop-down under Screen Refresh Rate to try a higher setting.

After you choose a new refresh rate, click Apply. The monitor might go blank for a few seconds. When it comes back on, see whether the situation has improved. If not, you can try another refresh rate (followed by a click on the Apply button) until you find an optimal setting. When you find the best setting, click OK to close the Advanced Settings dialog box.

Don't forget to click OK after adjusting settings in the Display Settings dialog box. Remember that the settings you choose aren't set in concrete. You can re-open that dialog box and change things any time you like.

Adjusting the font size (dpi)

Windows 8.1 lets you change the size of text and other items on the display, which can be particularly useful for high-resolution displays, making the screen more readable (which becomes more important the older we get!). To change text size, open the Display item from the Control Panel. Or right-click the desktop, choose Screen Resolution, and then click Make Text and Other Items Larger or Smaller. Figure 10.19 shows the resulting page, where you can change the size of all items (choose a custom DPI size). Just drag the slider control left or right to change the overall size.

The new setting will be applied after you log out and log back in again. If the items on your screen are too large, repeat the preceding steps, choosing a smaller size.

Adjusting the font size dpi isn't the only way to enlarge text on the screen. Many programs offer a Zoom option on their View menus that enables you to resize text. The Accessibility options described later in this chapter also offer some alternatives.

You can also change a scaling level for all your displays. To do so, click the check box labeled Let Me Choose One Scaling Level for All My Displays. The dialog box changes as shown in Figure 10.20.

Personalizing your mouse

If you grow tired of the same old mouse pointer, or you need to make your mouse pointer easier to see, click the Change Mouse Pointers link in the Personalization window. You see the Mouse Properties dialog box with the Pointers tab selected, as shown in Figure 10.21.

To change your mouse pointers, choose a scheme from the drop-down menu. The list under the Customize heading shows you how the pointers in that scheme look. You can keep all the mouse pointers in the scheme by clicking OK, or you can assign a mouse pointer of your own. Double-click the pointer you want to change, or click it and click the Browse button. Clicking Browse takes you to a folder named Cursors, which contains all the built-in Windows 8 mouse pointers.

If you do assign mouse pointers on a case-by-case basis, click the Save As button to save your selections as a theme with any name you like.

Mice for lefties

If you're left-handed and you want the main mouse button to be below your left index finger, you need to reverse the normal functioning of the buttons. Generally, the left mouse button is the primary button, and the right mouse button is the secondary button. To reverse that setup, first select the Buttons tab in the Mouse Properties dialog box so that you see the options shown in Figure 10.22. Then select the Switch Primary and Secondary Buttons check box.

If you do reverse your mouse buttons, you have to adjust all the standard mouse terminology accordingly. Table 10.2 shows how the various mouse terms apply to right-handed and left-handed settings.

TABLE 10-2 Mouse Terminology for Righties and Lefties

Adjusting the double-click speed

To double-click an icon, you have to tap the primary mouse button twice very quickly. Otherwise, it counts as two single clicks. If you have trouble tapping the button quickly enough, or if you're so fast that two single clicks are being interpreted as a double-click, adjust the Double-Click speed slider on the Buttons tab of the Mouse Properties dialog box.

To test your current setting, double-click the folder icon. If the closed folder doesn't change to an open one (or vice versa), you didn't double-click fast enough. Move the slider box toward the slow end of the scale and try again. When the slider is at a place where it's easy to open/close the little folder next to the slider, that's a good setting for you.

Using ClickLock

If you find it difficult to select multiple items by dragging the mouse pointer through them, you may want to try activating the ClickLock feature. Enabling that feature lets you select multiple items without holding down the mouse button. First you need to choose Turn On ClickLock on the Buttons tab of the Mouse Properties dialog box. Then use the Settings button to specify how long you need to hold down the primary mouse button before the key is “locked.”

For example, say that you turn on ClickLock and set the required delay to about one second. To drag the mouse pointer through some items, you position the mouse pointer to where you plan to start selecting and hold down the mouse pointer for one second. Then you can release the mouse button and move the mouse pointer through the items you want to select. Those items will be selected as though you were actually holding down the left mouse button.

When you've finished selecting, just click some area outside the selection. The mouse pointer returns to its normal function, and the items you selected remain selected.

Speed up or slow down the mouse pointer

Selecting the Pointer Options tab in the Mouse Properties dialog box reveals the options shown in Figure 10.23. The first option, Select a Pointer Speed, controls how far the mouse pointer on the screen moves relative to how far you move the mouse with your hand. If you find it difficult to zero in on small things on your screen, drag the slider to the slow end of the scale. If you feel you have to move the mouse too much to get from one place to another on the screen, move the slider toward the fast end of the scale.

Selecting Enhance Pointer Precision makes it easier to move the mouse pointer short distances. It's especially useful if you move the pointer speed slider to the Fast side of the scale.

Making the mouse pointer more visible

If you keep losing sight of the mouse pointer on your screen, the remaining pointer options can make it easier to find, as follows:

• Snap To: If selected, this causes the mouse pointer to jump to the default button (typically the OK button) automatically as soon as the dialog box opens.
• Display Pointer Trails: If selected, this causes the mouse pointer to leave a brief trail when you move it, making it easier to see the pointer.
• Show Location of Pointer When I Press the CTRL Key: If you select this option, you can easily locate the mouse pointer on your screen by holding down the Ctrl key.

Yet another way to make your mouse pointer more visible is to use a large or animated mouse pointer.

Changing mouse wheel behavior

The Wheel tab in the Mouse Properties dialog box lets you control how far you scroll when spinning the mouse wheel (if your mouse has one). The default is usually three lines per notch. But you can change that to any value from 1 to 100 lines. Optionally, you can configure the wheel to move an entire page with each notch.

Don't forget to click OK after making your selection in the Mouse Properties dialog box.

That wraps it up for options in the Control Panel's Personalization page. But as you'll see in the following sections, there are many more things you can do to tweak Windows 8 to better suit your needs and tastes.

Personalizing the Keyboard

There are a few things you can do to change how the keyboard works. Some are in the Keyboard Properties dialog box, which we cover here. Others come under the heading of accessibility and are set using the Ease of Access Center in the Control Panel (not covered in detail in this book). To get to the Keyboard Properties dialog box, open the Keyboard item from the Control Panel (see Figure 10.24).

The options in the Keyboard Properties dialog box are as follows. As always, there is no right or wrong setting. It's all a matter of choosing settings that suit your typing style:

• Repeat Delay: Determines how long you have to hold down a key before it starts autotyping (repeating itself automatically).
• Repeat Rate: Determines how fast the key types automatically while you're holding it down.
• Cursor Blink Rate: Determines how rapidly the cursor blinks in a document.

If your keyboard offers programmable buttons, you may not see any options in the Keyboard Properties dialog box for defining those keys. More likely, you'll need to install and use the program that came with the keyboard to define the keys. There is no “one rule fits all” for that sort of thing. The only places to get the information you need are from the instructions that came with the keyboard and the keyboard manufacturer's website.

Customizing the Taskbar

The taskbar, which by default is at the bottom of your screen, is one of the most useful tools in Windows. It contains a button for each open desktop program window, icons for any programs that you've pinned to the taskbar, and the notification area. It can also contain some toolbars, such as the Address toolbar, which provides an easy way to open websites, drives, folders, or other items by their path or URL. You can customize the taskbar in many ways, so don't worry about what you see on yours right at this moment.

Some options for customizing the taskbar are in the Taskbar Properties dialog box. To open that dialog box, use whichever of the following techniques is easiest for you:

• Right-click any empty spot on the taskbar and choose Properties.
• Tap the Windows key, type task, and click Taskbar and Navigation.
• In the Control Panel, choose Appearance and Personalization ⇒ Taskbar.

In the dialog box, select the Taskbar tab to see the options shown in Figure 10.25. The options on that tab are as follows:

• Lock the Taskbar: If you select this option, you lock the taskbar, which prevents you from accidentally moving or resizing it. If you want to move or resize the taskbar, you first need to deselect this option to unlock the taskbar.
• Auto-Hide the Taskbar: If you select this option, the taskbar automatically slides out of view when you're not using it, thereby freeing the little bit of screen space it takes up. After the taskbar hides itself, you can rest the tip of the mouse button on the thin line at the bottom of the screen to bring the taskbar out of hiding.
• Use Small Taskbar Buttons: Shows small icons rather than the larger, default-size icons for taskbar items.
• Taskbar Location on Screen: Choose on which edge of the display the taskbar will appear.
• Taskbar Buttons: Choose whether Windows combines similar items on the taskbar (such as documents for the same program), and whether it combines icons all the time or only when the taskbar is full.
• Notification Area: Click the Customize button to specify which items appear in the notification area of the taskbar (tray).
• Use Peek to Preview the Desktop: Choose this option to hide all applications and show the desktop when you hover the mouse over the Show Desktop button at the far bottom right of the display.

Click OK after making your selections from the dialog box. There are some other things you can do outside that dialog box to customize the taskbar, as described next.

Locking and unlocking the taskbar

The taskbar doesn't have to be at the bottom of the screen. And it doesn't need to be a specific height, either. When the taskbar is unlocked, you can move and size it at will. If the taskbar is unlocked, putting the tip of the mouse pointer at the top of the taskbar changes the pointer to a two-headed arrow. Also, if you have any toolbars on the taskbar, you'll see a dragging handle (columns of dots) next to each toolbar. When you right-click an empty area of the taskbar or the current time, the Lock the Taskbar option on the menu is deselected (see Figure 10.26).

If the taskbar is locked, just right-click an empty portion of the taskbar or the current time and click Lock the Taskbar to unlock. The option is a toggle, so you can use the same procedure to lock the taskbar when it's unlocked.

Moving and sizing the taskbar

When the taskbar is unlocked, you can dock it to any edge of the screen as follows:

1. Place the tip of the mouse pointer on an empty portion of the taskbar (not in a toolbar or on a button).
2. Hold down the left mouse button, drag the taskbar to any screen edge, and release the mouse button.

To change the height of the taskbar, put the tip of the mouse pointer on the top of the taskbar so that it changes to a two-headed arrow. Then hold down the left mouse button and drag up or down until the bar is at a height you like. The minimum height is one row tall. The maximum is about a third of the screen.

If you want to hide the taskbar altogether, select the Auto-Hide the Taskbar option in the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, described earlier in this chapter. The taskbar stays hidden until you move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen where you placed the taskbar.

Showing toolbars on the taskbar

Windows 8 comes with some optional toolbars you can add to the taskbar or allow to float freely on the desktop. To show or hide a toolbar, right-click the clock in the lower-right corner of your screen or an empty part of the taskbar and choose Toolbars. You see the names of toolbars shown in Figure 10.27 and summarized here.

• Address: Displays an Address bar like the one in your web browser. Typing a URL into the bar opens your web browser and the page at the URL.
• Links: Displays the contents of Internet Explorer's Links folder as a toolbar. See “Using the Links toolbar (Favorites Bar),” later in this chapter, for more information.
• Touch Keyboard: Displays the touch keyboard/handwriting recognition window used with tablet PCs. Add this toolbar to your taskbar if you routinely work from the Windows desktop on a touch device.
• Desktop: Shows all the icons from your desktop in a condensed toolbar format, along with Libraries, Computer, Network, Control Panel, and your user profile folder.

• New Toolbar: Create a custom toolbar containing icons from any folder you wish. For example, after choosing this option, click Documents under Libraries in the New Toolbar dialog box and click OK. The new toolbar that appears will provide quick access to all your folders and documents in your Documents folder.

On the Toolbars menu, any toolbar that has a check mark next to its name is “on” and visible in the taskbar. Any toolbar whose name isn't selected is hidden. Click a name to hide, or show, the toolbar.

When you first choose a custom toolbar, there may not be room for it on the taskbar, especially if the taskbar is already loaded up with buttons or other toolbars. The next section explains ways to deal with that.

Sizing and positioning taskbar toolbars

There isn't a lot of room on the taskbar, so it gets crowded if you add too many items to it. If you use a lot of optional toolbars on your taskbar, consider making it taller so that it can show more items. Try moving it to the side of the screen to see whether that helps.

When you have more items on a toolbar than it can show, you see the >> symbol at the right side of the toolbar. Clicking that shows the items that don't fit onscreen on the toolbar. If you have more open program windows than space for taskbar buttons, use the up and down arrows to the right of the visible taskbar buttons to see additional buttons.

When the taskbar is unlocked, you see a dragging handle at the left side of each toolbar. You can drag those handles left and right to move and size toolbars. You can also show or hide the toolbar titles. Figure 10.28 shows an example of the titles, a handle, and taskbar button scrolling arrows.

To show or hide the title or text, right-click the toolbar's title or dragging handle. Then choose Show Title to show or hide the toolbar's title. Click Show Text to show or hide text for icons on the toolbar.

Using the Links toolbar (Favorites Bar)

The Links toolbar offers easy, one-click access to favorite websites. In fact, the Links toolbar shows the contents of your Internet Explorer Favorites Bar. Just understand that Links on the taskbar is actually your Internet Explorer Favorites Bar.

You can make the Favorites Bar visible in Internet Explorer, the taskbar, or both. It's easiest to add links to the toolbar from Internet Explorer. If you don't see that toolbar in Internet Explorer, right-click the Internet Explorer window's title bar and choose Favorites Bar. The rest is easy:

• To create an icon for the page you're currently viewing, click the Add to Favorites Bar button at the far left of the Favorites Bar.

• To create an icon for a link on the current page, drag the link from the page onto the Favorites Bar.
• To remove an icon from the Favorites Bar, right-click the item and choose Delete.
• To rearrange items on the Favorites Bar, drag the item's icon to a new location on the toolbar.

Any changes that you make to the Favorites Bar in Internet Explorer are automatically reflected in the Links toolbar on the taskbar.

Customizing the Notification Area

The notification area (also called the system tray) appears at the right side of the taskbar. It contains icons for programs and services that are running in the background, which means it's a program that typically doesn't have a specific program window or taskbar button associated with it. Icons in the notification area represent features such as your antivirus software, volume control, network connection, and Windows Sidebar. Pointing to an item displays its name or other information.

To conserve space on the taskbar, nonessential or inactive icons can be hidden. When you have hidden items, you see a small up-facing arrow at the left side of the notification area, as shown in Figure 10.29. Click the arrow button (labeled Show Hidden Icons) to see the hidden items.

To customize the notification area icons, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties. Then click Customize in the notification area group and click the Turn System Icons On or Off link near the bottom of the window to see the options shown in Figure 10.30.

Use the drop-down buttons to show or hide the Clock, Volume Control, Network, Power, Action Center, and Input Indicator icons. Any items that are disabled (dimmed) aren't relevant to your system, so don't worry about those.

Getting rid of notification area icons

You cannot delete a notification area icon by right-clicking and choosing Delete. Unlike toolbars, its icons are not shortcuts for opening programs. Icons in the notification area represent programs that are already running — albeit in the background, with nothing showing on the screen.

There is no single, simple step you can perform to get rid of a notification area icon. There are hundreds of programs on the market that can run in the background. To keep such a program from showing up in your notification area, you might need to prevent that program from auto-starting with your computer, or you might need to remove the program from your system altogether. Then again, you might need only to get to the program's Options dialog box and deselect the check box that makes it show a notification area icon.

One thing's for sure: You don't want to delete anything from the notification area unless you know exactly what you're deleting and why. For example, an icon could represent your virus or spyware protection. You wouldn't necessarily want to delete such programs, or prevent them from auto-starting, because they need to be running in the background to keep your computer secure.

To see what options are available for a notification area icon, right-click the icon. Some programs that run as icons in the notification area can show up on the screen in a program window. Double-clicking its notification area icon will usually open that program window. From there, you can learn more about the program that the icon represents. If it has a menu bar, choosing Tools ⇒ Options might take you to a dialog box where you can prevent the program from auto-starting, or prevent it from showing up in the notification area.

If the notification area icon represents a program you don't want on your system at all, you can remove the program through Control Panel. Just make sure you don't remove a program you actually need and cannot replace.

See Chapter 32 for tips on removing programs.

If you want to keep a program but also want to prevent it from auto-starting and can't find a way to do that from within the program, there are still a couple other ways to do that. If the program has an icon in your Startup folder, you can just remove that icon from that folder. Or you can use the System Configuration tool in the Administrative Tools folder to disable auto-starting of specific programs.

Tweaking the clock

The clock in the lower-right corner of the screen doesn't look like much, but you can do quite a few things with it. If you point to it, you see the current date. If you click it, you see the current date marked on a calendar and the time on a clock. If you right-click the time and choose Adjust Date/Time, you come to the dialog box shown in Figure 10.31. There you can do several things with the clock.

First, you want to make sure your clock is set to the time zone you're in. Click Change Time Zone and choose your time zone. If you're in an area that honors daylight saving time, check the option that allows that change to be handled automatically.

If the date or time is wrong on your clock, you can click Change Date and Time and manually enter the correct information. Or select the Internet Time tab and click Change Settings. Then click Update Now to synchronize your calendar and clock with the “official time” on the Internet.

You can also make the clock show the current time for up to three time zones. Click Additional Clocks. Then just follow the onscreen instructions to add one or two more times to your clock. Click OK after adjusting all your time settings.

Back on the desktop, the current time in the notification area will be accurate. Likewise when you point to the time to see more information. If you set up multiple time zones, you'll see them all when you point to the current time. Clicking the time shows times for all time zones in the form of clocks, as in Figure 10.32.

Wrap-Up

This chapter has been all about the many ways you can customize the Windows desktop, Start menu, and taskbar to set up your screen in a way that works for you. You have many options. The important thing to keep in mind is that they are options, and there is no right or wrong way to do things. It's all about making choices that work for you. Here's a quick recap of the essentials:

• The Windows desktop is basically your entire screen — the place where you do all your work.
• Most tools for personalizing your system are in the Personalization page of the Control Panel. To get there quickly, right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.
• To personalize your taskbar, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties.
• To add or remove taskbar toolbars, right-click the clock and choose Toolbars.
• To show or hide notification area icons, right-click the clock and choose Customize Notification Icons.