Maximum PC - UK (2019-09)

46

Take Precautions

We’re now entering potential

risk territory with some of these tips.

Therefore, make sure you have some

kind of system backup in place—either a

rollback option such as System Restore

or Rollback Rx (https://horizondatasys.

com/download), or an up-to-date drive

image using Macrium Reflect Free

(www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx).

Done that? Good, let’s move on....

47

Customize Lock Screen

Can’t tweak the lock screen to

your satisfaction using the options found

under “Settings > Personalization >

Lock Screen”? Then take a look at the

“Boot and Logon” section of Winaero

Tweaker for more possibilities, such

as not automatically selecting the last

logged-on user by default, or adding a

limit to how long the slideshow feature

plays for.

48

Grab Lock Screen

Images

If you’re using the Windows Spotlight

feature to display rotating background

images, and you’d like a permanent copy

of any or all of them, select “Find Lock

Screen Images” in Winaero Tweaker,

followed by “Get this one” under the

current photo (if it’s displayed) to save it,

or “Get all images stored on this PC” to

copy them to a desktop folder.

49

Apply the

Aero Lite Theme

Aero Lite is a no-frills theme particularly

suited for low-end PCs, such as 2-in-1

tablets. If you think it might help with

performance—or want to see if its clean

and simple lines appeal—open Winaero

Tweaker and click “Enable Aero Lite

(default)” under “Appearance > Aero

Lite.” You can undo it from here, too.

50

Customize Aero Lite

Once enabled, select “Window

Borders” under “Advanced Appearance

Settings” to change the width and padding

of windows—changes are performed in

real time. You can also change the height of

the window title bar and change the font—

this requires logging off and on again, but

also works with other desktop themes, too.

51

Change Windows’

Start-Up Sound

You can customize your Windows

sound scheme by typing “sounds” into

the Settings search box and selecting

“Change system sounds.” What you can’t

do from here is change the Windows

start-up sound. Instead, navigate to

“Appearance > Startup Sound” in

Winaero Tweaker, where you can apply

your own choice of WAV file in place of the

default. If your chosen file is in another

audio format, convert it using Pazera Free

Audio Extractor (www.pazera-software.

com/products/audio-extractor).

52

Switch System Fonts

Tired of the rather conservative

Segoe UI font used by Windows for its

desktop components? Then swap it out

for something more glamorous (but

legible) via Winaero Tweaker’s “Advanced

Appearance Settings > System Font”

screen. Log out and back in again to see

the effect.

53

Reduce Window Clutter

You’ve added tabs to File

Explorer, how about grouping application

windows in a single multi-tabbed window,

too? TidyTabs (www.nurgo-software.com)

enables you to drag up to three windows

Take T hings to the Nex t L evel

Give your low-end PC a breather by tr ying the s velte Aero Lite theme.

There are plenty of failsafes and reset options built into our tweak tools.

©^

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customize Windows

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