When it comes to redecorating your PC desktop, there are two big options: the screensaver and the wallpaper. Changing the latter is easy. Find an image you like on the web, move the cursor over it, then click the right-hand button on your mouse. The resulting menu includes Set as Wallpaper: select that, and it becomes the background to your desktop.
If you change your mind, click on the Start button in the bottom-left corner of the screen; click Settings from the menu, then Control Panels; then double-click on Display.
In the resulting Display Properties box, you alter the wallpaper (called Back ground here) by choosing a different option from the list, by finding an image stored on your computer - click on the Browse button, then find the image file - or by taking the first option on the list, None, for a plain desktop.
Display Properties can also alter your screensaver, the second method of machine makeover. Click on the second file-tab at the top of this box, marked Screen Saver. The pull-down menu half-way down on the left contains screensavers already on your machine. Choose one, and a miniature version appears in the monitor in the top half of this box. The control on the right alters how long it will take for the screensaver to appear. This list is dominated by Microsoft ads and strange patterns, so you might want to find something better on the internet.
Step-by-step
1. Find a site offering screensavers, such as the BBC Nature pages: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/quiz_win/ screensaver.shtml . Only download screensavers from sites you trust. You are allowing a new piece of software into your computer, and it could contain a virus.
2. Say you decide on the winsome seals, the last option on this page. Place your cursor over the icon marked windows 1.5MB, and click the mouse's left-hand button. (The version for Mac users is marked mac os 650k.)
3. The web-site produces a new page with advice about potential problems. Scroll to the bottom of this and click on Download screensaver. (Most sites offering screensavers miss out this stage.)
4. A dialogue box appears, marked File Download, checking that you want to download seal_screensaver. exe from www.bbc.co.uk. (If you change your mind, click Cancel now.) You want to Save this program to disk of the two options given, so make sure this one is selected, then click OK.
5. A box marked Save As appears. Click OK, and downloading begins.
6. A box shows you the progress of the download, and how much longer it will take. On a standard 56k modem, four minutes is typical.
7. When it's finished, the box reads Download completed. Click on Open.
8. A new box asks about something called WinZip. Don't worry: it is just a way of compressing software when it's sent across the internet. Click on Setup for the screensaver to be installed in the right place. (For some screensavers, you may have to click on I Agree in a box asking that you use WinZip just for evaluation. Double-click on the name of the screensaver in the box that appears. Click OK and go to step 13.)
9. The screen turns blue, with the words Seal Saver in the top left, and a box telling you that the images come from Bristol Zoo. Click Setup!
10. A box briefly appears showing the software being installed. A few seconds later, a small box reads Setup has successfully completed. Click OK.
11. You can choose how the screensaver works by clicking on Settings (for example, how long you wait before the screensaver activates). You can also control any screensaver through the Display Properties control panel mentioned earlier. When you've finished, close this box by clicking on the X in its top right-hand corner.
12. Leave your computer alone (four minutes is the pre-set delay)_ and Oh! Aren't they adorable!
13. If you move your mouse or touch the keyboard, the seals vanish and you are back to whatever you were doing.
14. Problems? The web page from step 4 may have the answers.
15. If all is well, on your desktop you will find a file marked seal_screensaver. You can delete it: - it's just the compressed version. The screensaver file is stored elsewhere.
