Datasheet

PART I

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INSTALLATION, CONFIGURATION, AND CUSTOMIZATION

Icons

The Windows XP icon set is colorful and sometimes fun to watch. Most peo-

ple will never change the icons that are applied to any application, file, or

shortcut on the desktop. However, like many things in software, the default

icons are ones that a developer thought would look good with an applica-

tion, not necessarily what is informative or helpful to you.

Windows and Windows applications use four sizes of icons. Two of these

are used on the desktop, while the other two are used by the system in

Windows Explorer folder views and window title bars. For desktop tweaking,

there are two icon sizes (see Figure 3.4) to know about: large (32 × 32 pixels)

and extra large (48 × 48 pixels). Large is displayed by default; extra large

requires changing a setting. From the Display Properties dialog box, click

the Appearance tab and then Effects. Select the option to use large icons,

click OK, and then click Apply.

Size isn’t all that you can change with your desktop icons. There is noth-

ing that requires you to use the default icon for an application shortcut. If

you are an inveterate tweaker, you can change around the icons themselves

to suit your pleasure. Icons can be found in three primary places: Windows

system files, such as shell32.dll, application executables, and icon files with

the extension .ico.

The cheap although not easy way to switch your desktop icons is by

changing every program’s shortcut from its default to another one more to

your liking. From the Start menu or the desktop icon, right-click an icon,

click Properties, and then click Change Icon. A dialog box appears, listing

the currently available icons for the

shortcut. These icons are the ones

embedded within the application’s

executable; some programs have

only one icon; others offer several

or even dozens of icons to choose

from. Select an icon and then click

OK twice. Your icon changes to

your selection.

Figure 3.4. You can switch to larger icons when

you use higher desktop resolutions.

Large Extra large

Bright Idea

If you are using the large icon set, you can also switch to using larger fonts. From

the Display Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab. From the Font size

drop-down list, select Normal (10 pt.), Large (14 pt.), or Extra large (17 pt.) and

then click OK.

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