Those of us who work with computers each day know how much of an eye sore the Windows desktop can be. After seeing the same desktop wallpaper (background), day after day, it comes time to find something new. Luckily, changing the appearance of your desktop is fairly straight forward.
The following procedure will allow you to change your desktop wallpaper in Windows XP. Please note that this isn’t the only way to accomplish this task. Also note these instructions assume your mouse is configured for a right-handed person (which is the default configuration).
1) Make sure your desktop is visible. This means closing or minimizing all other programs.
2) Make sure your pointer isn’t on top of an existing icon and is happily sitting in an open area.
3) Press your right mouse button. If you pressed the right one, you’ll see a menu appear on the screen.
4) Look at the new menu and find the word “Properties.” Once you find it, hover your mouse pointer over it and press the left mouse button.
5) If you have properly followed directions, a new window will be displayed on your desktop. It should have a series of tabs at the top of it (Desktop, Appearance, Settings, etc). Find the one that says “Desktop” and click on it using the left mouse button.
6) Clicking on the “Desktop” tab should have changed the contents of the window. A list of selected wallpapers should now be displayed. You may now scroll through this list and click on (with your left mouse button) any one of them that looks interesting.
7) Once you have clicked on a new wallpaper, click the “Apply” button. The wallpaper will be displayed on your desktop.
8) If you don’t like the wallpaper you’ve selected after all, select a new one and click the “Apply” button.
9) Once you have found a wallpaper to your liking (and have already applied it with the “Apply” button), click the “OK” button with your left mouse button.
If you would like to add your own custom wallpapers to this list and you have Windows XP installed, simply save or copy an existing photo or graphic into your “My Pictures” folder. Follow the directions, and your graphic will automatically appear in the wallpaper list.
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