Theme tab

Your theme is a background that includes a set of sounds, icons, and other features to customize your desktop. Click the pull-down menu to select a theme and hit the Apply button.

Desktop tab

Allows you to change your desktop background. You may select a background from the default list or browse for your own picture.

A Customize Desktop option is also available. There are two tabs within this window: General and Web. The General tab displays the desktop icons you want on your desktop, with icon customization and desktop cleanup options, while the Web tab is used to customize your active desktop settings.

Screen Saver tab

Displays your screen saver settings and monitor power settings. (The power button re-directs you to the Control Panel Power options. Pleas see Power options covered later in this lesson.)

Appearance tab

Allows you to change the appearance of your windows. This allows you to change the windows and buttons, colour schemes, and font size. The Effects button allows additional effects for your desktop appearance, such as transition effects for menus, tool tips, fade effects and scroll effects. The Advanced button allows you to customize the appearance of each aspect of Windows.

Settings tab

Shows your display, screen resolution, colour quality settings, and additional advanced options. With dual monitor support you can also select which monitor to work, set your primary monitor, and extend your Windows desktop. Additional buttons include Identify, Troubleshoot, and Advanced.

General

Gives the options for Display DPI settings and Compatibility setting, which apply to all your desktop settings.

Adapter

Lists your adapter type/model and a Properties button for it. An additional List All Modes button is available so you may select a compatible resolution, colour quality, and monitor refresh rate.

Monitor

 Lists your monitor model and the properties button for it. Also allows you to change the screen/monitor refresh rate. (The amount of times the screen is refreshed.) A checkbox option is also available to Hide modes that this monitor cannot display. This allows you to work outside your monitors specifications but can result in damaged hardware.

Colour Management

Allows you to add a pre-set colour profile. This changes the colours that your monitor will display, so a proper colour profile is needed.

Troubleshoot

Allows you to troubleshoot video issues. A hardware acceleration slider bar is also available. (Hardware acceleration at its full setting uses all of the “bells and whistles.”) As the setting is reduced, some video features (such as cursor and bitmap accelerations, drawing accelerations, and DirectX accelerations) are reduced or turned off to troubleshoot video related issues.

A checkbox option for Enable write combining is also available. This feature can be used by newer video cards but only when specified by the manufacture.