In: Root » Computers and technology » Windows XP » Selecting Screen Savers on Windows XP operating system
Windows screen savers are absolutely, totally, utterly, 100% for fun. Ten years ago, screen savers served a real purpose they kept monitors from “burning in” the phosphors in frequently used parts of the screen. Nowadays, monitors aren’t nearly as prone to burn-in (or burn-out would that were the case with humans!), and saving screens rates right up there with manufacturing buggy whips on the obsolescence scale. Still, screen savers are amusing. To select a screen saver: 1. Right-click any empty part of the desktop and click Properties. 2. Click the Screen Saver tab. • If On Resume, Display Welcome Screen is checked, when the computer wakes up, it shows the Windows logon screen. If the user who was logged on has an account that requires a password, she will have to re-enter the password in order to get back into Windows. • If On Resume, Display Welcome Screen is not checked, when the computer wakes up, it returns to the state it was in when the screen saver started. The user who was logged on remains logged on. 3. When you’re happy with your screen saver settings, click OK. In previous versions of Windows, bypassing the screen saver password protection scheme was relatively easy. Not so in Windows XP. If the On Resume, Display Welcome Screen box is checked, a potential cracker has to crack the Windows XP password itself not an easy task. If you want to get rid of your current screen saver, right-click an empty spot on the desktop, click Properties, click the Screen Saver tab, and click None in the Screen Saver drop-down list. Click OK, and your screen will no longer be saved. Seeing Desktop Text If the characters you see on the Windows screen aren’t good enough, Windows XP includes several options for improving the legibility of text on your desktop. The five main options are as follows: - Activate ClearType, which can make some text easier to read, especially on portable computers and flat panel displays. - Have Windows show Large Fonts, which increases the size of the font used for icon labels, window titles, Windows Explorer text, and menus (but nothing else). - Change the “dpi” setting, an arcane zoom setting that’s poorly documented and best avoided, particularly because, once changed, the new zoom factor applies to everyone who uses the PC, in all of their applications. Although you can find a few references to changing the dpi setting in the Windows XP Help and Support Center, only three people at Microsoft really understand the setting, and two of them are on sabbatical. (Okay, so I exaggerated a little bit. Not much.) Stay away from the dialog box (Display Properties -> Advanced -> General) and don’t change the setting unless you’re instructed to do so by someone who’s willing to pay for all the therapy you’ll need to cope with the aftermath. - Use Magnification, which puts a strip on the screen that shows a highly magnified portion of the desktop. - Try High Contrast, where Windows uses a coloring method that decreases details, but improves legibility, particularly at a distance, or for those with visual challenges. Windows, per se, doesn’t control as many of the font settings that you may imagine. For example, if you want to increase the size of the fonts in the Help and Support Center, Windows Large Fonts support doesn’t do a thing. You have to bring up the Help and Support Center, click Options, and adjust the Font Size Used for Help setting. Activating ClearTypeMicrosoft’s ClearType technology uses a very strange color shading scheme invented years ago to make fonts look better on certain kinds of displays. If you choose to have Windows use ClearType, Windows employs the technology everywhere for showing text on the screen on the Windows desktop, inside your spreadsheet program, even inside Internet Explorer. Conventional wisdom says that ClearType works great on portable computers and flat-panel monitors. My UWD says that ClearType helps a bit with the labels under icons and small amounts of text scattered here and there on a screen, but I’d rather hang my eyeballs out to dry than force them to stare at a word processing screen that’s been “enhanced” with ClearType. Yes, ClearType works much better on flat panel displays than on traditional computer screens. No, I don’t use it. Here’s how to turn on ClearType (it’s buried pretty well): 1. Right-click any empty location on the desktop and choose Properties. 2. Click on the Appearance tab, and then click Effects. 3. Select the Use the Following Method to Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts check box, and then choose ClearType from the drop-down list underneath. 4. Click OK, and immediately start your word processor of choice. Work with it for a few minutes and see if you start getting a headache. If you do, head back to the Effects dialog box and turn ClearType off. Showing large fontsIf you use the standard Windows Desktop Theme, you have an easy way to change the size of the fonts that Windows shows. Before you rush to your mouse, though, you should be aware of the limitations: - The font size you select applies only to window title bars, labels for icons on the desktop, in Windows Explorer, and in menus. It doesn’t change anything else. - When you apply a new Desktop Theme (see “Using Desktop Themes” later in this article), your old font size settings are thrown away. - Not all Desktop Themes support multiple font sizes. The only way to know for sure is to try to change the size and see whether it works. To change to larger fonts: 1. Right-click on any blank area on the desktop and choose Properties. 2. Click the Appearance tab. 3. Choose the font size you want in the Font Size drop-down list. Using magnification and high contrast I won’t belabor the point here, but two Accessibilities settings can come in handy, even if you don’t normally think of Accessibility as a code name for “seeing text on the desktop.” The Magnifier puts a magnified strip along the top of the screen, which follows your mouse as you move it. High Contrast uses a modified color scheme to increase legibility of text. To check out Magnification and High Contrast: 1. Choose Start -> Control Panel -> Accessibility Options. 2. To work with High Contrast, choose Adjust the Contrast for Text and Colors on Your Screen under Pick a Task. 3. To start the Magnifier, choose Magnifier in the See Also section of the task pane. |
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