Unit 7. Configuring the Screen

Configuring the screen is important because sometimes we spend many hours in front of the screen, so we recommend spending a few minutes configuring our desktop so that it can be the most comfortable as possible.

Click with the right mouse button somewhere that has no icons on the desktop and select the option Properties from the shortcut menu that is displayed. The Display properties window will appear where we can change the configuration parameters.

The background or wallpaper

To change the background or wallpaper, click on the tab labeled Desktop and choose a new background or wallpaper from the list that appears at the bottom left corner. If you are not sure what background goes with what name just highlight the name and a small representation of the background will appear as it would on the screen. Once the background has been selected you can choose how it will appear by clicking on Position: Here are the options: Centered: the image will appear in the center of the screen with its real size. Tile: the image will appear with as many images as necessary to fill the screen. Strech: the image will appear once taking up the entire screen. It is also possible to have another image that does not appear on the list as background. Click on Browse... and look for the image you want as long as the format is compatible. For example .bmp, .jpg, .gif. Once the image and type of view have been selected Click OK.

To practice these operations we suggest you do the Exercise Screen background or wallpaper

The screensaver

Sometimes the computer remains inactive a few minutes. It is recommended to have a screensaver to avoid having a still image on the screen too long because this can damage the monitor. From the list, choose the screensaver you like best; a small preview is shown above. With Preview you can see how it will look once in place. When you move the mouse or press a key the preview will end. You can modify the time it takes for the screensaver to appear by adjusting the time on Wait. The Settings button allows us to customize the image that is used as the screensaver. Depending on the image, the properties we can change vary. Checking On resume, password protect you can place a password protection to keep someone else from working on your account. Once the screensaver is engaged it will only allow you back to the normal screen once you have entered the correct user password.

To practice these operations we suggest you do the Exercise Screensaver