Windows Help & Advice – May 2019

12 |^ |^ May 2019

Desktop, Taskbar and Start menu

Tools of the trade
Many of the tips in this feature can be
applied with the help of two powerful
tweaking tools, so start by downloading
both Ultimate Windows Tweaker
(https://bit.ly/uwt-10 – you’ll find links
to Windows 7 and 8.1 versions here, too)
and Winaero Tweaker (https://winaero.
com/download.php?view.1796). Once
downloaded, extract the contents of the
ZIP files – Ultimate Windows Tweaker
runs as a portable app, and Winaero
Tweaker gives you the option of
installing it in portable form, too.

QuicklyaccessWindows’
Personalisationsettings
Tostartcustomising,right-clickthe
desktopandchoosePersonalisetojump
straighttoSettings>Personalisation>
Background.Fromhereyoucanchange
yourbackgroundtoa picture,a solid
colourora slideshowofphotoswithin
a singlefolderonyourPC.

Customiseyour
desktopbackground
If you’redissatisfiedwithWindows’
rathermeagredesktopbackground
offerings,downloadandinstallJohn’s
BackgroundSwitcherfromhttps://bit.
ly/johnbckswtchformorechoice– after
installationyou’llbedirectedtotheAdd
buttonwhereyoudefinesourcesfor
yourphotos.Thesecanincludespecific
foldersonyourPCaswellasvarious
onlinesources(includingDropboxand
OneDrivefolders,plusRSSfeeds,
Instagram,GoogleandFlickr).
You’llseeseveralswitchingoptions
atthebottomofthemainwindow–
payattentiontothe‘Picturemode’
drop-downwhereyoucandisplay
multiplephotosatonceinvarious
ways.There’salsoa ‘More...’button

forfine-tuningallaspectsofthis

cleverbackgroundtool.

Overridecolourscheme

Windowsautomaticallychangesthe

colourschemeofdesktopitemsto

matchthebackground,butyoucan

alsoforceyourownchoiceofcolourvia

Settings>Personalisation>Colours.

Youcanswitchbetweenlightanddark

modeshere,too.

Createcustomcolour palette

Fedupwithhavingtoclick‘Custom

colour’tochoosea differentoneto

Windows’ownofferings?Fireup

WinaeroTweakerandgotoAppearance

>CustomAccents,whereyoucan

defineuptoeightcustomcoloursof

yourown.Theseappearunder‘Recent

colours’inthePersonalisationdialog

boxforeasyaccess.

Picka theme

Thequickestwaytochangeyour

desktopappearanceisthroughthe

ThemessectionunderSettings>

Personalisation.Severalareprovided,

orclick‘GetmorethemesinMicrosoft

Store’tobrowsehundredsmore– click

GetfollowedbyInstalltoaddoneto

yourcollection.Somethemeschange

themousepointeranddesktopicons

• youcanpreventthemfromdoingso
  inWinaeroTweakerunderAppearance

  
  

  ThemeBehavior.

  
  

  
  

Changeyouraccount picture

Opena photoofyourselfinanimage

editorlikePaint.NET(www.getpaint.

net), thencropintoa headshot(make

theselectiontool1:1fora perfectly

squareselection)andsavetheimage.

NownavigatetoStart>Settings>

Accountsandclickyourcurrentphoto

under‘Yourinfo’toselectyournew

photo.Previousshotsarekept,enabling

youtoswitchbetweenthem.

Setupa screensaver

Energy-savingLCDmonitorshave

largelyrenderedscreensavers

redundant,butif you’restillhankering

afterone,headtoPersonalisation>

‘Lockscreen’,thenscrolldownandclick

‘Screensaversettings’tosetoneup.

Downloadmorescreensaversfrom

http://www.screensaversplanet.com(manyof

whicharecompletelyfree)– savethe

EXEfiletoyourcomputer,thendouble-

clickit toaddthescreensavertothe

availablelist.

“You’ll see several switching options

at the bottom of the main window”

Winaero Tweaker provides dozens of tweaks

to help you customise your PC’s appearance.

John’s Background Switcher is the perfect tool for adding more pizzazz to your desktop backdrop.