Universal Design Icon Changing the Desktop in Windows 95

Why change the desktop?

The standard Windows 95 desktop can be difficult for some users to see. Fortunately, Windows 95 comes preinstalled with a large variety of desktop configurations. You can choose one of these to use, or create your own.

For example, the text on the taskbar and the desktop icons may be too small for you to read. You may prefer to read white text on a black background in text based applications. Or maybe you just don't like the background color of your desktop. All of these features are adjustable to suit your needs.

Note: Changing these features sometimes causes application failures or system problems. If this happens, restarting the application or computer usually clears up the problem. When the computer restarts, your desktop preferences should be remembered.

A related feature is the high contrast display option. This sets the screen to increased contrast, in addition to allowing you to choose one of the presaved desktop configurations.

Adjusting the desktop

The following instructions explain how to select a preset desktop configuration. If you want to fully personalize your desktop, Search the Help menu using the keywords "change desktop appearance" for instructions.

  1. Press CTRL+ESC to bring up the Start menu. (On some keyboards you can bring up the Start menu by pressing the special Start menu button between the CTRL and ALT keys. This button has the same symbol as the Start menu button on the screen.)
  2. Press s for "Settings".
  3. Press c for "Control Panel". You should see the Control Panel window like this:
    open Control Panel window
  4. Move through the Control Panel icons using the arrow keys until you come to the one labelled "Display":

    Display icon

  5. Hit ENTER to bring up the Display Properties window.
  6. If the focus (the highlighted or outlined portion of the screen) is not on the Background label at the top of the window, press TAB until it is (this should take five presses) and then use the right arrow key to bring the focus over to the Appearance label. Or, press CTRL+TAB twice, until the Appearance tab comes to the front like this:
    Display Properties: Appearance tab
    You can see that this window has two main areas. The top consists of a sample desktop. The bottom contains three option boxes for selecting schemes, specific items within a scheme to change, and fonts. As you select items from the option boxes, the sample desktop will change immediately to reflect the changes. These instructions will only deal with the "Scheme" option box for selecting a preset desktop configuration.
  7. Press ALT+s to bring the focus to the "Scheme" option box.
  8. Use the arrow keys to move through the possible schemes. The sample desktop will change to reflect the current scheme. The sample desktop above is showing the Windows standard scheme.
  9. If you like the way the sample desktop looks, check to see how that scheme looks full-sized. Press ALT+a to apply the current scheme to your desktop, or hit the TAB key until the focus is on the "Apply" button (this should take seven presses) and then hit ENTER.
  10. When you find a scheme you like, press ENTER to save your settings and close the Mouse Properties window.
  11. Hit ALT+F+C to close the Control Panel window if it is still open.

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