How to change the Desktop Background in Windows 7
Start taking your destiny into your own hands by changing the wallpaper (er, the desktop background). If you bought a new computer with Windows 7 installed, your background text probably says Dell or Vaio or Billy Joe Bob's Computer Emporium / Dial 555-3765 for a good time.
Bah. Change your wallpaper by following these steps (note that Windows 7 Starter Edition owners can't change the wallpaper):
1) Right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose Personalize. Windows hops to the Control Panel's Personalization pane.
2) If you see a theme you like (use the scroll bar on the right to make sure you see all of them, including the high contrast options), click one of the Windows themes.
Each of the Windows themes consists of a slide show of the pictures you see, shuffled every 30 minutes. Although themes can specify different sounds and screen savers, the built-in Windows themes don't modify the sounds and they don't include screen savers.
If you want to see the details about each of the themes - in particular, if you really want to know where those gorgeous photos were shot - choose the theme and then click the Desktop Background link in the lower left corner. Hover the mouse over the picture to see its lineage.
3) If you don't see a theme that tickles your fancy, or if you want to roll your own backgrounds, in the lower left corner click the Desktop Background link.
Windows responds with the Desktop Background window, where you choose the pictures that you want to appear in a slide show by hovering the mouse over the picture and then selecting the box that appears.
4) Use the drop-down menu to tell Windows where to look for pictures or to select from the Windows 7 built-in collection of solid colors or photos or to pull out your highest-rated photos.
If you click a picture, it becomes your new desktop background. If you hover the mouse over a picture and select the check box in its upper left corner, you add the picture to the Windows slide show collection.
5) To enable the desktop wallpaper and background slide show, select more than one picture (or choose a theme that has more than one picture). That's all it takes.
6) (Optional) Change the speed of the slide show by selecting a forward speed in the Change Picture Every box.
7) At the bottom of the Desktop Background dialog box, in the Picture Position drop-down list, choose how you want to position the picture, if it's too small to cover your desktop.
Your options are
- Stretched to fill the screen
- Centered in the middle of the desktop
- Tiled over the desktop
8) In the Desktop Background dialog box, click the Save Changes button and then the Close (X) button to close the Control Panel's Personalization pane. Your new wallpaper settings take effect immediately.
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