Ten ways to personalize your PC

Customize the look, settings and style of your PC

Compiled and written by  Brenda Cohen

Each member of my family has his or her own way of personalizing a computer.

My father changes his screen saver every time he receives a digital photo from one of his kids by making our smiling faces his new background. My mother-in-law has a train sound each time she receives new mail. I like to change my desktop appearance at least once a month to suit my mood and the season.

The colour, size and location of almost everything you see on your computer screen can be altered. Experiment with these 10 ways to customize the look, settings and style of your PC and inject it with your unique personality.

1. Change your language settings
2. Personalize a screen saver
3. Choose your sounds and volume
4. Customize the speed of your mouse
5. Change your desktop appearance
6. Customize your Taskbar layout
7. Set your default web page
8. Choose your Windows Views
9. Customize your browser size
10. Give each family member a login

1. Change your language settings

Tired of pop-ups telling you the word colour is spelled incorrectly? Many computers are pre-set for the United States language settings. You can modify your Windows settings to reflect the area of the world you live in, including Canada. Follow these steps to change your language settings to Canadian using Windows Vista:

• Go to Start > Control Panel.
• Select Switch to Classic View.
• Double-click Regional and Language Options.
• Click the Formats tab and under Current format, select English (Canada).
• Click Apply > OK.

2. Personalize a screen saver

Does your computer screen turn black when you step away from your desk for too long? Why not display your favourite family photo or a picture from your latest vacation instead? Follow these steps to change your screen saver to one of your digital photos using Windows Vista:

• Store the photos you want to display in your Pictures folder.
• Go to Control Panel and in Classic View, select Personalization > Screen Saver.
• Scroll through the list and select Windows Live Photo Gallery > Apply > OK. This option will automatically use any photos you have stored in the Pictures folder or all of Photo Gallery to produce your new, personalized screen saver.
• For more options, click Settings before you hit Apply > OK.

3. Choose your sounds and volume

Customizing the sounds on your computer can help alert you to important things, such as calendar appointments, incoming mail and instant messages. If you love music, set your volume and speaker settings to the perfect listening volume. Select from the tips below to control your computer’s sound.

Enhance the sound of your speakers

Understand your sound card

Control the volume levels on your computer

Step up your sound with new speakers

4. Customize the speed of your mouse

How fast do you move between programs and documents? Everyone’s clicking habits and speeds are different. Follow these steps to change your mouse speed using Windows Vista:

• Go to Start > Control Panel > Mouse.
• Click Buttons. Under Double-click speed, use your mouse to slide the arrow to the desired setting.
• Double-click the folder shown to confirm the setting before you click OK.

5. Change your desktop appearance

Did you know you can change the colour and size of the text, window pane, titles, border and even the whole screen? The desktop appearance tab is the best spot to change the look and feel of your computer in one easy step. Choose from pre-set colour and size combinations, such as Rainy Day and Desert. Follow these steps to change your desktop appearance using Windows Vista:

• Right-click on your desktop > Personalize.
• Select Desktop Background to set a new background image, or Window Color and Appearance to change the colour of windows, menus and the taskbar.
• As you select different colour combinations and images, you can preview them in the box above. Once you have selected a setting you like, click OK.

6. Customize your Taskbar layout

Are there 10 icons along the bottom taskbar of your computer screen and you only know what four of them are? Keep your favourite programs in a convenient location and hide the ones you use infrequently. Put your favourite programs at your fingertips. Follow these steps to customize your taskbar using Windows Vista:

• Right-click a blank spot on the taskbar and choose Properties from the shortcut menu.
• On the Taskbar tab, select Lock the taskbar to prevent it from being moved to a new location or resized.
• Select Auto-hide the taskbar if you wish to hide it when not in use.
• Select Group similar taskbar buttons to have similar items grouped in one button when the taskbar is crowded.
• On the Notification Area tab, click Hide inactive icons to conceal icons you have not recently used.
• Click Apply > OK to save your changes.

7. Set your default web page

Do you spend most of your day online at a certain web site? Set your web browser to open to your favourite online spot by making it your default page. Follow these steps to set your web browser default page using Windows Vista:

• Log on to the web site you visit every day.
• In Internet Explorer, click Tools > Internet Options. In the General tab under the Home page section, click Use Current.
• If you’re using Firefox, click Tools > Options > Main > Use Current Page.

8. Choose your Windows Views

When searching through your files, such as those in your Documents folder, you can view them in four different ways: Icons (Extra Large, Large, Medium and Small), List, Details and Tiles. Follow these steps to change the view of your lists using Windows Vista:

• Choose the Views button on the toolbar along the top of the open folder.
• Use the Views menu to change the way the items are arranged.
• Experiment to see which view is best suited to your work and to the contents of the folder.

9. Customize your browser size

Do you like a new window to open over the entire screen or slightly smaller? Set your windows to the exact size you want them to be when you open a new page. Follow these steps to change the view of your lists using Windows Vista:

• Close all your browser windows but one.
• Use your mouse to drag the sides of the window to the shape you want it to appear.
• Go to File > Close.
• Reopen your browser; it will open to the correct size.
• Click the maximize (square) button in the upper-right corner to take the window to full size.

10. Give each family member a login

Now that you have chosen all of your preferences and personalized your PC, invite the whole family to do so by creating an individual login for each person. Follow the steps below to create an individual profile for each family member and encourage everyone to organize according to personal preferences.

• Log on as the computer administrator to add a new user.
• From the Start menu, go to Control Panel > User Accounts.
• Click Manage another account > Create a new account.
• Type a name for the new user account; then assign the user an account type (either Standard user or Administrator).
• Click Create Account.