Windows 7 / Getting Started

---

Personalizing your desktop

The first things many people want to change or customize when they have a new computer are the colors and the desktop background. Others want to get right down to business and arrange the shortcuts to their favorite programs and features for easy access. There is no right or wrong order to what you customize first (other than you need to have your user account already set up).

We'll start with the big picture-like the one that covers your screen before you open any programs. That's called your desktop background. Windows offers lots of choices that make it easy to customize: you can use themes, which coordinate a desktop background with a matching window color, sounds, and screen saver. Or you can change each of these separately or even create your own themes.

You can change any of these settings on the Personalization window. The easiest way to get to the Personalization window is to right-click any place on the desktop, and then on the small menu that pops up click Personalize.

Access the Personalization window by right-clicking the desktop and then clicking Personalize.

The Personalization window, allows you to change almost all your visual preferences and many of your sound preferences. The currently selected theme will be highlighted.

Themes are listed in three groups:

• My Themes, which are any themes you create by specifying your own combination of desktop background pictures, window color, sounds, and screen saver. You can also click Get more themes online to download additional themes and desktop backgrounds.
• Aero Themes, which take advantage of Aero effects such as transparency.
• Basic and High Contrast Themes, which provide simpler desktop backgrounds and Windows colors or high-contrast themes to make the screen, windows, and text easier to view.

High-contrast themes are just one of many Windows features that can make your computer easier to view. The section "Making your screen easier to view and read" later in this tutorial describes in detail other visual features you can customize to suit your needs. Windows also provides the Ease of Access Center in the Control Panel to help you customize Windows for other accessibility needs. The section "Customizing Windows for visual, audio, mobility, or cognitive needs" later in this tutoriak describes the Ease of Access Center and how to use it.

When you first view this window, some of the theme groups may not be visible. If you do not see the Basic and High Contrast Themes set, scroll down.

From the Personalization window, you can change many settings with just a few clicks.