Features
Vista secrets - part 1
20080410 [Computer Shopper]
Customisation
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1 Large Desktop icons Level Beginner Windows Vista version All Resizing icons on the desktop can be a simple matter of changing the display resolution in Windows. Very high or low resolutions can make applications tricky to use, though, and LCD monitor owners will get the best display quality by using their screen's native resolution. If you find the icons on your desktop hard to see, use Vista's zoom feature instead. With the desktop showing, hold down the Ctrl key and use the scroll wheel on your mouse. Roll it towards you to make the icons smaller and away to increase their size. Icons that represent Windows components, such as the Recycle Bin and Windows Explorer, will expand to the maximum size available, filling the screen. Some third-party applications don't include super-sized icons, in which case you'll see a normal-sized icon in a huge square frame. The same effect works in Windows Explorer, which is particularly useful if you have a folder full of images. Expanding the icons to enlarge the image thumbnails should make finding the photo you're looking for easier. |
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2 Remove desktop icon descriptions Level Intermediate Windows Vista version All If you like to have icons on your desktop, but you think that the text below each looks untidy, you can make it disappear. Select an icon on the desktop, right-click it and choose Rename. Delete the text and then hold down the Alt key and enter 255 on the numeric keypad (while keeping Alt held down). Release the Alt key and Windows should add a symbol to the icon's name. However, it won't display the symbol, which in effect makes the title invisible. If it doesn't work, make sure the keyboard's Num lock key is enabled. In addition to Alt-255, you can also use Alt-0160. As each icon on the desktop needs a unique name, make sure you use a different combination of Alt-255 and Alt-0160 for each one. For example, use Alt-255 Alt-0160 for the first icon and Alt-255 Alt-255 for the second. |
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3 Make Windows boot look better Level Beginner Windows Vista version All The boot screen you see when Vista loads is barely different from those of previous versions of Windows. Vista includes a nicer-looking boot screen - the one you see when you wake your PC from hibernation - but it's not enabled by default. To change this, type 'msconfig' into the Start menu search box to start the System Configuration utility and click on the Boot tab. Tick the box next to 'No GUI boot', then click OK and reboot your PC to see the new boot screen. |
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4 Classic Shutdown menu Level Beginner Windows Vista version All If you miss the old shutdown menu from Windows XP, simply click on an empty area of the Desktop and press Alt-F4 to bring it back. |
