5-3Lesson 1 Configuring and Troubleshooting the Display
Lesson 1: Configuring and Troubleshooting the Display
Users can configure and clean up the icons that appear on their computer’s desktop.
Users with permission to load and unload device drivers can also install and test video
drivers. Windows XP Professional allows you to change video resolutions dynamically
without restarting the system and also supports multiple display configurations.
After this lesson, you will be able to■
Configure display and desktop properties.
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Configure a computer to use multiple displays.
Estimated lesson time: 30 minutes
How to Configure Display and Desktop Properties
To view or modify the display or the Desktop properties, in Control Panel, click
Appearance And Themes, and then click Display. The tabs in the Display Properties
dialog box (see Figure 5-1) are described in Table 5-1.
F05us01.bmp
Figure 5-1
Use the Display Properties dialog box to control display and desktop settings.
Table 5-1
Display Properties Dialog Box Tabs
Tab Description
Themes Allows you to choose a theme. A theme is a collection of settings that include
desktop background, sounds, icons, and other elements to help you personalize
your computer.
Desktop Allows you to choose a background and color for your desktop. The Customize
Desktop button allows you to add or remove some Windows program icons and
determine which icons represent those programs. You can also include Web con-
tent on your desktop (see Figure 5-2).
Screen Saver Allows you to choose a screen saver to appear on your screen when the computer
is idle. The default time after which a screen saver initiates is 10 minutes. On older
CRT monitors, screen savers prevented damage to monitors by preventing an image
from becoming burned into the monitor. Although this is no longer a problem on
newer cathode-ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, screen
savers are still useful. When a computer is left unattended, a screen saver protects
the information on the screen from casual eavesdropping. If you configure the
screen saver to prompt for a password to return to the desktop, you can also pre-
vent more deliberate intrusion. You can also click Power to adjust monitor power
settings and save energy. See Lesson 2, “Configuring Power Options.”
Appearance Allows you to configure the windows and buttons styles, the color scheme, and
the font size. Click Effects to configure the following options:
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Use The Following Transition Effect For Menus And Tooltips. Options
include a fade effect or scroll effect. Although these features look nice to
some people, many people find that it slows the perceived responsive-
ness of Windows.
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Use The Following Method To Smooth Edges Of Screen Fonts. Options
include Standard (best for CRT monitors) and Clear Type (best for LCD
monitors).
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Use Large Icons. This option can help users who have trouble seeing
smaller icons. However, using this option can reduce performance on
slow computers.
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Show Shadows Under Menus. This option gives menus a three-
dimensional appearance.
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Show Windows Contents While Dragging. This option causes Windows to
redraw folders as you drag them. Although useful, this option can reduce
performance on slow computers.
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Hide Underlined Letters For Keyboard Navigation Until I Press The Alt
Key. Windows provides keyboard access to many menu commands when
you press the A
LT
key. Clear this check box if users find the underlined
letters in commands bothersome.
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If you select Windows Classic as your theme, you can click Advanced to
customize the look of windows, menus, fonts, and icons.
Settings Allows you to configure display options including the number of colors, video
resolution, font size, and refresh frequency, as shown in Figure 5-3 and
explained in Table 5-2.
Important You can enable security settings that restrict access to Display options. For
example, you can remove the Appearance tab or the Settings tab from the Display Properties
dialog box. For more information about security settings, see Chapter 16, “Configuring Secu-
rity Settings and Internet Options.”
