How to change your Windows XP Background

One of the quickest and easiest way to customize your computer is to simply change the background (or Wallpaper) of your windows PC.

You can easily go from this:

To this:

Step by step instructions on how to change your background.

1. Close or Minimize all your open windows, then RIGHT CLICK anywhere on your desktop.
   
   
   
2. A little menu will pop up with various options, you want to click "Properties".
   (Note: If your menu doesn't look exactly as pictured to the right, don't worry, it all depends on what programs you have installed, but everyone will have 'Properties'.)
   
   
   
   
   
3. A window will pop up that is titled "Display Properties", typically with the "Themes" tab already selected.
   
   
   
   (Note: Don't worry about Themes just yet, we'll cover that in a later article.)
   
   
   
4. Click the second tab that is labled "Desktop".
   
   
5. You'll see lots of options here, but right now we only want to look at two areas: "Background" and "Position".
   
   
   Background - A listing of all the defaul backgrounds that come with your version of Windows XP.
   Position - Various options of how to show the selected image.
   • Center - Displays the selected image in the center of your screen, not adjusting it in any way. Depending on the size of the image and your screen resolution, there might be a border around your image where it is too small, or the image might not show properly because it is too large.
     (Note: the "Color" option is to select the color underneath your background image that will show through if you check "Center" and the image is smaller than your screen.)
     
   • Tile - Puts the image in the upper right corner then repeats the image all around it like real tile flooring.
   • Stretch - Windows will adjust the image to fit your screen resolution, by either 'streching' or 'shrinking' it so it fits the borders of your desktop. Not all images work with this as it could make it skew it out of proportion.
     
     
6. For now, find "Peace" and click on it. Selecting the "Stretch" position, then click "Apply" to change your desktop without closing the "Display Properties" window.
   
   See how it changed? It should look like this now:
   
   
   
   
7. Feel free to now chose whatever background you want. Next we'll go into chosing a custom background that you've downloaded off the internet.

Changing your background to a custom image

1. Find an image you want to use as your background and save it to your computer. I suggest making a new folder in your "My Pictures" folder called "Backgrounds" and saving all the ones you like there. (Note: See below for links to places to download free backgrounds.)
   
   
2. Now, go back and open up the "Display Properties" window once more. (Steps #1-4 above)
   
   
3. This time, rather than scrolling through the list, click on the "Browse" button. This will open up a window where you can select the image you want for your wallpaper from anywhere on your computer.
   
   
   
   
4. Once you've opened up the "Browse" window (as pictured above), click the "My Documents" button, then open up "My Pictures" to find your new "Backgrounds" folder (or wherever else you put it). Once inside, locate the image you want to use as your background, then click "Open".
   
   
5. This will take you back to the "Display Properties" window, and you'll note the image inside the screen has changed to the picture you just selected. Chose what option you want for the "Position" (usually "Stretch") and then click either "Apply" or "OK". ("Apply" leaves the "Display Properties" window open so you can make changes if you find your choice doesn't look all that great afterall.)
   
   
6. Now you've got your brand new background all selected and ready to go!
   
   
   
   (Like the background above? Click ~HERE~ to download it.)
   

Tips for chosing a good background

• Make sure it leaves room for your Icons.
• Often 'busy' or high contrasting backgrounds will make it almost impossible to read/see the icons you have on your desktop, so keep that in mind when selecting something to use.
  
• Sometimes bigger is better. I have a background that at first looks kind of odd when I 'stretch' it to fit, however, by putting it in the 'center' it is actually bigger than my screen and looks even better! Other times, an image will get sharper if you use a bigger size then using "stretch" to make it shrink to fit your desktop.
• Did you know you can also simply right click on any image that's saved on your computer and tell it to "Set as Desktop Background"? However this doesn't let you change any of the settings.. so use wisely.
  

Links for places to download backgrounds for free:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featured_desktop_backgrounds
• http://wallpaper.deviantart.com/
• http://www.desktopia.com/wallpapers