Customizing the appearance of Windows 7

Some desktop design options are set by you or someone else when you install the operating system, such as the background image (“wallpaper”). But this does not mean that such a background image will torment you with its appearance forever. Everything can be changed. This applies to both the appearance of the windows and the sounds during various actions.

To change Windows 7 appearance settings, click right click mouse over an area of ​​the Desktop free from windows and icons (Fig. 2.33).

Rice. 2.33. Calling the Windows appearance settings window

Attention!

When changing various Windows settings you will see that some elements of the parameter windows are marked with

(for example, buttons that open additional windows with settings). This means that system administrator rights are required to perform the action of the specified item. When installing the operating system, a user with administrator rights must be created. If you are not running as an administrator user, the system will not allow you to use the item marked with the specified icon.

A. N. Lebedev. “Windows 7 and Office 2010. Computer for beginners. I have to go to work tomorrow"

In the context menu that appears, select Personalization. The window shown in Fig. will open. 2.34.

Rice. 2.34. Personalization window

Themes

A design theme is a ready-made set of parameters for the screensaver, desktop wallpaper, windows and sounds for various events. You can configure all of these settings manually individually (we'll look at how to do this later), or you can simply select the theme you like.

The main field of the Personalization window, where you see phrases with the word "theme", shows Windows 7 themes (for example, Windows 7, Architecture, Characters). You can select a theme by clicking on the theme icon or its name. Once you do this, the corresponding theme will be enabled.

Changing the appearance of windows

For change appearance Windows 7 windows, you need to click on Window Color.

This will open the Color and appearance window (Fig. 2.35). The rectangular box in the center of the window shows an example of the current design of the window and its elements. Below this field is the Element list.

A. N. Lebedev. “Windows 7 and Office 2010. Computer for beginners. I have to go to work tomorrow"

Rice. 2.35. Window color and appearance In this list you can select the element of the window or desktop that you want

tune. After that, the parameters of the selected element that can be changed will appear to the right and below this drop-down list.

Desktop Background

To open the settings window background picture On the desktop, select Desktop Background.

The window that appears (Fig. 2.36) shows thumbnails (reduced images) of various background images. The Windows 7 developers have done their best and provided you with a wide variety of designs.

A. N. Lebedev. “Windows 7 and Office 2010. Computer for beginners. I have to go to work tomorrow"

Rice. 2.36. Setting the desktop wallpaper

All these images are contained in a special folder Windows desktop backgrounds. This can be seen in the Picture Position drop-down list. You can search for pictures in several more folders, a list of which is visible if you click on this drop-down list.

Maybe you drew a picture for the Desktop yourself? Or do you have a good photo on your hard drive that's suitable for the background? You can select any image saved as a file on your computer's hard drive as your Desktop background. To do this, click the Browse button. As a result, a window will open to select a folder. You will encounter such windows more than once when working with various Windows 7 applications. An example of a folder opening window is shown in Fig. 2.37.

A. N. Lebedev. “Windows 7 and Office 2010. Computer for beginners. I have to go to work tomorrow"

Rice. 2.37. Folder selection window In the window that opens, click on the triangle to the left of the Computer folder

or by the name of the folder itself. As a result, a list of logical drives on your computer’s hard drive will appear, as well as CD and DVD drives and any other connected storage devices (Fig. 2.38).

A. N. Lebedev. “Windows 7 and Office 2010. Computer for beginners. I have to go to work tomorrow"

Rice. 2.38. List of logical drives Click on the name of the drive on which you saved the picture file. At

This will display a list of folders contained on the selected disk (Fig. 2.39). If your picture folder is inside another folder, find that folder's name and click on it. Having found the folder with the picture, click on it and then click OK. As a result, pictures from this folder will be displayed in the window shown in Fig. 2.36 and you can choose any of them.

A. N. Lebedev. “Windows 7 and Office 2010. Computer for beginners. I have to go to work tomorrow"

Rice. 2.39. Contents of drive C:

You, of course, understand that the size of the picture may not match the size of the screen. The Picture Position drop-down list determines how to place the background image on the Desktop. Available options: Fill, Fit, Stretch, Tile, Center.

The pictures to the left of the corresponding options for placing the picture show how this will happen. Let's look at each case.

Filling – the image size is adjusted vertically while maintaining the image proportions so as to fill the entire Desktop.

Fit to size – the image size is adjusted horizontally while maintaining the image proportions so as to fill the entire Desktop.

Stretch – the picture is stretched vertically and horizontally so as to fill the entire desktop.

Tile – if the size of the picture smaller size Desktop, it is repeated many times until it fills the entire surface of the Desktop.

Centered – the picture is displayed in the center of the Desktop with its original dimensions.

You can select multiple images at once. They will replace each other after the time you specify. To do this, select the first of the desired images by clicking the mouse, and then press the Ctrl key on the keyboard and, without releasing it, click on the other images. As a result, all the images you have marked will be marked with check marks. In this case, the Change picture every drop-down list will become available, where you can select the duration of display of each picture.

Meet the long-awaited new product. I present an exclusive collection Design Studio v.10.2017, designed for complex interface changes Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. It contains themes, screensavers, “live wallpapers” - dreams, skinpacks, icon sets, big choice Start menu, wallpaper from my personal collection and a selection of the necessary software to install the entire contents of this disk. All components are divided into categories, there is a description of the software and screenshots for each item. If desired, you can turn on background music.

System requirements:
Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10

Torrent Windows interface- Design Studio v.10.2017 by Leha342 details:
Disc contents:

1. Themes for Windows 10 (34 pcs.):
Adapta
Alienware
Align
Appows
Arc
Assistant Screed
ASUS Gold
Batman
Blend
Catdo
Chromium
ColorOSX
Diurnal
Dragoon X
Flat Plat
Fluent
Glow Aero
Hardwired
Haye Aero
Humanitarian
iMac
iWin
Kaamix
Kendi
Konqur
Live 10
LNE
Maverick 10
Mint
Neon
Rose On The Moon
Sierra
Soft Light
Windows 11

IMPORTANT: these themes are NOT COMPATIBLE for Windows 10 versions lower than 1607!
When installing some themes on version 1703, you may need to restart Explorer

2. Themes for Windows 7 (32 pcs.):
Aero Dreams
Androidm
Appows Dusk
D.N.A.
Dawn
Dynamic Black Glass
Earth Tones
Elegant
Elune
Gamazet
HoaBinh(Peace)
LaserLight Glass
LH-Junoon
Longhorn Excalibur
Lumens
Mac Black Blue
MDVD
Metallic Hydro
MW 3 Glass
Nude
OnlyBlack
Qs Counter Elements 7
Razer Green
RED ICE Updated
RedShift Dark
Shodae
Soft7 1.8
Square 2010
Tag Glass
Ultimate Black
Wave

3. Themes for Windows 8, 8.1 (32 pcs.):
Aero Metro 8
AlienWare Alpha
Alienware Evolution
AndroidM
By Design
Clearscreen Sharp
Cosmo
Dark Universe
DeathStar
El Capitan
Elegant
FFox
Flaty
HUD
Infinitum VS
LaserLight
Longhorn Evolution 8
Mac Blue Sky
Mac8
Mango
Metro X VS
Nucleus
Office 2010 RC 8.1
OMN
Plastic
Restricted Zone
Retro
Sail
Shield OS 8.1
Snowy8
Teek Modern
Velocity VS

4. Themes for Windows XP (28 pcs.):
AeroXP
Alfa
Aquanox
Axis
Azenis 2
Black Blue
Black Lite
Blade
Blaze
Blue Neon
BYT
ChaNinja
Chivalry
Chrome XP2
Crystal Blue
Dazzle
Destiny
Dreams
Eclipse
Elegance
Elusive
GIOVS
Luxor
Quick Silver
Radiance
Royale Glass
Vista CG
Win Xtreme

5. Skinpacks for Windows 7 (13 pcs.):
Alienware Eclipse Orange iPack
Lion Transformation Pack
Lux Edition v.1.1 Final
New Look 3 v14.10.19
New Look Dark v13.11.26
New Look Spring v13.11.26
New Look ORBlack v13.10.20
New Look Spring v13.11.26
Pack Geans Edition 06/13/16
Se7en Dark Blue v6.4
SkinPack Square Roqib
Strengthen AERO SX v3.0
Bonus: IconPack Humanitarian by Neiio

6. Skinpacks for Windows 8 (9 pcs.):
Aero 3D Exclusive Win8
Black Pack for Win8
Blue Memory2 Win8
iOS7 SkinPack Win8
MeeGo SkinPack Win8
Nox vs Windows 8
Ourea SkinPack Win8
SkinPack Agua Leopard Win8
Ubuntu SkinPack Win8

7. Screensavers (15+14 pcs.):
Aqua Surface 1
Aqua Surface 2
Aqua Surface 3
Bird Life
High Fly
Manhattan Night
Molecular Black
Molecular White
Night Traffic
Passion Lips
Sexy Dance
Sexy Moves 2
Sexy Moves
Tale Stars
Underwater

Also added as a bonus are 14 simple but beautiful “screen savers”:
Euphoria
flower
FieldLines
Flocks
Flurry
Flux
Focus
Helios
Hyperspace
Hypnogenic Rain
Lattice
Microcosm
Plasma
Solar Winds

8. Various software:
Stardock Deskscapes 8.51- a program for installing animated wallpapers on your desktop Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10.
Stardock IconPackager 5.0- one of the best programs for changing Windows icons.
Supports the ability to change both individual icons and application ready-made sets for global change of most icons.
7tsp GUI v.0.4- This convenient program, designed to install themes, icon sets, change the Start menu, and the welcome screen in automatic mode.
8 GadgetPack 23.0- a package for installing gadgets in Windows 8 and 10.
AeroGlass + GUI Win10 rs-1.5.3- an application that adds transparency to window elements in Windows 8.1/10 with a background blur effect.
Classic Shell 4.3.0- to enable the classic Windows 7 Start menu and Explorer style.
Customizer God- a program for replacing almost all major graphic elements systems. NetFramework INSTALLED IS REQUIRED!
Full Glass / WinAero8 Glass- these small programs will add transparency to windows in your Windows not only in the title area, but also in the window itself.
HTC Home Apis 3.1 - free set widgets for Windows like on HTC smartphones
Logon Screen 3.01- a small free utility with which the user can customize the screen Windows greetings 7 to your liking.
Moo0 System Monitor v1.76- a convenient program for monitoring PC system resources.
It is very easy to configure what you need, it has a large number of “skins”. I use it myself)))
My7CustoBox 1.3.0.0- with this program you can not only change the welcome screen, but also change
system icons, loading screens and the start button icon. My7CustoBox includes 4 utilities that allow you to
change your design element.
OldNewExplorer.v1.1.8.2- a simple utility for Windows 8/8.1/10 that will help you configure the display of information in Explorer.
You can completely return the previous look of Explorer as it was in Windows 7.
RocketDock 1.3.5- Panel quick launch, designed to expand desktop functionality. Supports animation and transparency.
Stardock Customization Software Suite 2015- A set of programs from Stardock to change a wide range of
range of different graphic components on Windows. Everything in one convenient shell.
Composition of Stardock components:
- Start10™
-Start8
- ObjectDock
- WindowBlinds™
- Decor8
- IconPackager
- SoundPackager
- CursorFX
- Fences
- ModernMix

StartIsBack.v2.0.9 (W8)/.v1.7.5(W10)- returns a fully functional Start menu button in Windows 8/10, the same as in Windows 7.
UltraUXThemePatcher 3.2.1- to use third-party themes for Windows 7/8/10.
UxStyle 0.2.4.2 For Win10- a patch for installing themes not signed by Microsoft on the Windows 10 desktop.
Win7 Boot Updater- utility for replacing bootloader Windows screen 7.
Winstep Xtreme 17.1- a very beautiful replacement for the regular Windows shell with almost all the convenient functions.

9. Dream Scene - “Live Wallpaper” (30 pcs.):
Abstraction
Roller coaster
The take off of the lights
Water surface
Forward
Rotation
Mountain Creek
Movement
Rain
Sunset on the sea
Zombie
Drops down
Space
Circles
Steep bank
Lagoon
Leaf fall
Matrix
Planet model
Falling drops
Flame
Under the water
Fireflies
Candles
Heart
Sineva
Hills
Colored liquid
Electricity
Energy

Also in the section there are additionally:
Wallpaper Engine Build 1.0.746 - allows you to install video wallpapers on Windows 7, 8 and 10 (!!!).
- With 13 default wallpapers. PORTABLE version.
- Video on this program

DreamScenes Enabler 1.2 - enables the Dreamscene function In Windows 7: the ability to play mpg/wmw videos
as a desktop background

10. Icons, Gadgets, Start Menu:
Icons to install using Stardock IconPackager:
Ampola
Button Up
Developer Icon Pack
Electro Sexual
Everwood
Senary
Silver
System Force Icon Pack
Alpha 1
Alpha 3 (Light)
Fcoar
Future
Oren

Icons for installation using 7tsp:
Cryogenic Master Icon Pack
HUD Icons Theme Extras Topshell
Neon Flat
TokenLight Win7 IconPack

Gadgets:
Auto Translator
Clock
CPU & RAM Monitor
HD Monitor
My Weather
Network Meter v.6.4
Stock Girls
Wireless Gadget v.2.1
Xirrus WiFi Monitor v.1.2
ZeroG Calendar
+ Bonus additional set of 73 different gadgets.

Start Menu:
Alien
Bio Hazard
Games
Microsoft
Transportatio
Windows 7 Lights Orbs
Windows 8 Metro Orbs

Bonus!!! Set of different cursors:
AeroFlot
Aeroflot Mini
Alien
Alienware Eclipse
Apocalypse
Black Dragon Blue
Black Royale
Charcoal Black
Crystal Clear Mini
Denial
DMZ
Engineer
Gaia10
Gradient Green
LAUNCH Cursors
Mac OS X
Pulsar
Stalker
White Cursor
World of Tanks
X Alien2 DARK
X-Fire

11.Wallpaper:
A selection of very beautiful and high-quality wallpapers from my personal collection;
Resolution from 1680x1050 to 5034x2831;
Quantity - 430 pcs.
Format: JPG

12. Player playlist:
1. Adrian Raz ft. Ana Criado - How Will I Know
2. Daniel Kandi and Phillip Alpha – If it ain't broke
3. Anna Lee & Dima Krasnik – Optical Illusion (Daniel Kandi)
4. Aurosonic & Denis Karpinskiy Kate Louise Smith - They Wait For Us
5. Arcuate - Darklight (Original Mix)
6. Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - Sunny Days
7. ATB – Circular Symetry
8. Al Pack 2
9. C Systems - Close My Eyes
10. Daniel Kandi, Witness45 – Yangtze River
11. Denis Kenzo – Find The Light
12. Denis Kenzo feat. Sveta B. - Lullaby Lonely
13. Flash Back FM - Rizla Be Alone
14. Manon Polare – Carry My Love
15. Matt Skyer - Georgia
16. Naoufal Lamrani – Hoperiser
17. Nomosk – Nymph
18. Nuera Green - Cape Sunset
19. Orbion – Balloons (Original Mix)
20. Pluton Skyer - Cosmic Rain
21. Purenrg - Era
22. Facing Jinx feat. Formik – Drifting (Original mix)
23. Radion6 - Sarah Lynn
24. Rameses B - Transcend (Original Mix)
25. Solis Sean Truby feat. Anthya - Timeless
26. Temple One - Together We Escape (Original mix)
27. Vast Vision ft Fisher - Behind Your Smile
28. Yuri Kane - Ana Criado

All tracks are located in a folder on the Sound disk
Bitrate 320 kbps

Additional Information:
The collection was created by the AutoPlay Menu Builder program, for which many thanks to the developers of this software;
The disk has been thoroughly tested and is fully functional;
All disk components were tested on our own hardware;
View screenshots for each item were taken by me personally;
All topics are installed without “dancing with a tambourine” by simply clicking on the topic you choose;
By default, the themes will be installed on your system drive (C or E - it doesn’t matter);
If on Windows 7, after installing Dream Scene on the desktop, the labels for the shortcuts become faded, go to -> Personalization -> Desktop Background -> Picture Position -> Tile;
In the "Wallpaper" section you can view a slideshow of all wallpapers accompanied by pleasant music.
In the “Miscellaneous Software” section, there is an asterisk next to each component; when you hover the cursor, a description of the program pops up.
You can run it by mounting it on virtual drive(UltraISO) or extract it with an archiver and run DS102017.exe.
Brief video review of the disc youtu.be/81hGXY-ptps

What's new in version v.10.2017:
Added the ability to create control point to restore the system (except for XP), in order to easily roll back the system to the state before applying the collection. On home page There is "Create a restore point"
For this:


- IMPORTANT:

The interface has been changed, the "Exit" button is now red - so that it stands out;
New themes for Windows 7 and 10; 8 (partially)
Now all themes (even in Windows XP) are installed in “quiet” mode without pop-up installer windows;
In each section with themes (except for XP), a button has been added to install a patch for unsigned themes;
New dreams (video wallpapers);
A new pack of amazing wallpapers from my personal collection;
The skin for the player has been changed to an exclusive one (our own assembly);
In the "Miscellaneous Software" section, several programs have been added, some have been removed, and a couple have been updated to the latest versions;
Added several new skinpacks for Windows 7 (they were repacked to remove unnecessary garbage);
The simply excellent IconPack Humanitary by Neiio (equally suitable for Windows 7, 8 and 10) has been added to the skin packs section for Windows 7 as a bonus;
Added to the "Dream Scene - Live Wallpaper" section NEW program for using Dreams on Windows 8-10 (!!!);
Updated detailed guide on using this disk in the form of a help file with step by step instructions with pictures;
Added to help new section“Miscellaneous and useful” (with recommendations, etc.)
The help file is presented in three formats: *.chm, *.DOC and *.PDF. Which format will be more convenient for whom?
Updated list of tracks for the player (from old version I left 3-4 of the very best)

Important:
This disc was created for personal use, i.e. for myself. The content includes those components that the author considered necessary. Please send all feedback, requests, suggestions or errors you find to the developer.
The collection is released AS IS and the author is not responsible for its use; you download it at your own request and at your own risk.
I assure everyone that there are NO VIRUSES HERE! And if your antivirus works in “paranoid” mode, then decide for yourself: to use this disk or not.

How to fit on DVD disc:
The collection does not fit on a standard blank;
You can unzip the image to a folder on your hard drive;
Remove what you think is unnecessary and rewrite the image (for example, UltraISO);
For example, you can delete all or part of the Wallpaper folder (535 MB);
You can also delete all music in the Sound folder (389 MB);
I advise you not to delete anything from the remaining sections; inoperative buttons in the main menu will remain;
P.S. It was just a shame to delete anything, it took too much effort and time to create it.
And to be honest: this time I didn’t really try to fit it on the blank. And thanks for your understanding.

Thanks:
I would like to thank EVERYONE who helped me in any way in creating this collection.
I would like to highlight Adguard separately.
Thanks to BELOFF for repacking screensavers from unnecessary garbage.
Thanks to user QMax for repacking the trash skinpacks.
I especially thank my friends MOT®OSS, KottoSOFT, Vladios13, Joker-2013 for their active assistance in creating the collection.
Also, many thanks to YelloSOFT for tests, tips, etc., etc.
I can’t help but mention the members of my VKontakte group for their suggestions for improving this disc.
Thanks to Necrosoft Core for many tests of components for Design Studio.
And in general, I thank everyone who provided me with any help. Maybe I forgot to mention someone

Brief video review:

Recommendations:
1. Before installation, I recommend creating a restore point in order to easily roll back the system to the state before applying the collection. On the main page there is "Create a restore point"

For this:
- Power Shell MUST BE in the system. (available by default)
- If you don’t have it, then manually create a point.
- IMPORTANT: Your system must have System Protection enabled:
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Recovery\Set up System Restore.

2. If you installed a skinpack, then before installing another one, remove the previous one, for example through Control Panel - Programs and Features;
3. Do not install several packages at once that change the same interface components;
4. You can also run sfc /scannow on the command line to restore the standard interface.

The vast majority of users work with the Windows operating system, because... it features an interface that is understandable to almost anyone and is perceived more intuitively. For several decades now, this operating system has made working with windows, the taskbar, and the Start button familiar. Thanks to the efforts of developers, Windows OS acquires an increasingly stylish and beautiful interface over time, and in each new version it becomes possible to independently change its additional elements.

The most flexible and open to changes in the operating system interface is Windows 7, in which you can easily almost completely change the familiar desktop and controls to something more convenient for each user. Via the Start menu "launch "Control Panel", then select the category " Design and personalization". The Personalization menu that appears offers options to change the Windows desktop theme or specific elements of it, such as the desktop picture, color, transparency, window sizes, icons, scroll bars, screensaver, and sound effects. You can save any changes you make as a separate custom theme in order to avoid re-configuration in the future in case of any system failure. It is not at all necessary to create a desktop theme yourself, because... There are many ready-made themes on the Internet. All you need to do is search for keywords in any search engine. A wide range of themes for various operating systems and their versions is offered on the Oformi.Net website. To install themes, you can use a program like Universal Theme Patcher. In the Personalization menu, there is a category called Desktop Gadgets, in which you can select useful applications for your computer desktop, such as night clock, calendar, etc. However Microsoft company refused to support gadget technology, because with their use, there is a high probability of attackers causing harm to the computer. This information can be found by clicking the Find gadgets on the Internet button. Use a variety third party programs to change the Windows interface. Similar programs there are a lot of them, their number is constantly growing, they allow you to radically change the interface of your operating system. The most common programs:

• Winstep Nexus Free, which installs a stylish control panel (similar to MacOS X);
• Dexpot will allow you to create multiple desktops and switch between them using hotkeys;
• Real Desktop Free turns your desktop into a real table that can be rotated, lowered and raised files from its surface.

During the seven months that Windows 7 was on the market, the operating system managed to bury some of the evil wishes of users towards its direct and unloved predecessor - Windows Vista. Initially, people were a little skeptical about Windows 7, but over time they really came to love it and its features - from increased speed to DirectX 11 support, overall attractiveness and ease of use.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Windows 7 doesn't have areas where it could use a little more improvement. Yes, the keyboard and muscle shortcuts are quite nice, but through personalization you can achieve even more, like a different look for the LogOn login screen, the taskbar, or even the title bar Internet Explorer 8. And all this can be done through the registry.

After a little digging, we unearthed 7 of these tweaks that can make significant changes to the look and feel of Windows 7. Most of our tweaks only require a couple of minutes in the registry (one tweak also requires going into File Explorer for a few seconds). However, before we begin to describe them, we should make a standard note: games with the registry are potentially dangerous for your computer, so do not enter it if you are not confident in yourself, and do not make changes to it unless you know for sure. where to put them.

The easiest way to enter the registry is to click on the Start button, then type regedit in the search bar and press Enter. (The same can be done using Windows buttons on keyboard). Before making changes to the registry, it would be a good idea to do backup copy key you want to work with. To do this, go to the key, right-click on it and select Export from the menu that appears. Next, choose a location to save the REG file and you will remain relatively safe.

It is worth noting that in this article, registry entries are often placed in quotes for clarity. When making changes to the registry, you should not write these quotes. It is also worth considering that once a change is made, it does not take effect immediately. Therefore, after making the change, you will have to exit Windows or reboot.

Changing Windows LogOn Screen, IE8 Title Bar and Aero Snap

1. Change the screen background Windows login LogOn

Changing your desktop wallpaper is one of the easiest tasks in Windows. But if you can put any picture on your desktop, then why not do the same with your Windows 7 login screen?

1. Go to the registry and navigate to the entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background.
2. Find the “OEMBackground” key in the right panel. If this key does not exist, then create it. To do this, the created key must be named “OEMBackground” accordingly.
3. Double click on the key to open it.
4. Now enter 1 in the Value field.
5. Click OK.
6. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the Windows\System32\oobe folder. If in this folder you find a folder called info, then enter it. If in info there is a folder called backgrounds, then go into it too. If the last two folders do not exist, then create them.
7. Copy the desired image (must be a JPEG file less than 256KB in size) to the info\backgrounds folder.
8. Then rename the file you copied to backgroundDefault.jpg. (Please note that if the image size is different from your desktop resolution, the image will be resized to fit your desktop - with possible loss of quality. The info\background folder also supports 12 other files for specific resolutions. The files should be named backgroundXXXXX.jpg, where Instead of XXXXX, you should insert resolutions 900x1440, 960x1280, 1024x1280, 1280x1024, 1024x768, 1280x960, 1600x1200, 1440x900, 1920x1200, 1280x768 and 1360x768. So, for example, the file background1920x1200.jpg will be used at a resolution of 1920x1200).

The next time you restart your computer, you will see your picture in the Windows LogOn window. If the picture you choose prevents you from reading the labels on the screen buttons, then try adjusting the appearance of the buttons. For this:

1. Go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI.
2. In the right pane, create a DWORD value called ButtonSet.
3. Change its value to 1 (the text shadows will become darker and the button will be lighter. The parameter is intended for light images) or to 2 (no shadows and opaque buttons - for dark images) or to 0, which is Windows's default.

Are you using Internet Explorer 8 on your Windows 7? Then you are most likely familiar with the browser title bar, where, regardless of the page you are on, there is always a “Windows Internet Explorer” appendix at the end.

So why not change it to something more interesting?

1. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main entry.
2. Right-click on the right pane, select New and then String Parameter.
3. Name the parameter you just created “Window Title” (along with a space!).
4. Double-click on it with your mouse.
5. Enter your “appendix” in the value field...
6. ... and click OK.

3. Disabling Aero Snap

Aero Snap, implemented as a simple way to arrange windows on the desktop, allows you to automatically maximize a window when you drag it to the top of the screen, or allows you to stretch a window to exactly half the screen when you drag it to the right or left side, respectively. But if you do not find this feature convenient, then you can disable it.

1. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop entry.
2. Find the key called “WindowArrangementActive” in the right panel, then double-click on it.
3. Change the value field from 1 to 0.
4. Click OK.

Taskbar Settings

4. Changing the behavior of the stack button on the taskbar

By default, the taskbar groups multiple windows of the same application under one button and then shows their thumbnails when you click on that button. If you think that it would be better for the operating system to automatically switch to the last open window when you click on a button, then you can do that. For this:

1. Right-click in the right pane, select New and then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
2. Rename the created parameter to “LastActiveClick”.
3. Double click on LastActiveClick to open it.
4. Change the number in the value field to 1.
5. Click OK.

5. Resize taskbar buttons

By default, Windows 7 always combines taskbar buttons from the same program and never displays their labels. If you've just disabled window merging entirely, or forced the operating system to only merge windows when the taskbar is full, you can also resize icons to hide their labels. For this:

1. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics entry.
2. Find the “MinWidth” key in the right panel. If it's not there, then you'll have to create it yourself. Right-click on the right pane, select New and then String Parameter. Then rename the parameter you created yourself to MinWidth.
3. Double click on MinWidth to open it.
4. Change the number in the value field. For small icons, enter 38 here. For larger icons, enter 52.
5. Click OK.

6. Change the taskbar preview delay

Among the pleasant ones Windows features 7 includes a preview of the taskbar. This feature allows you to look at thumbnails of the taskbar button windows when you hover your mouse over it. However, hovering the cursor does not immediately cause thumbnails to appear.

Fortunately, the spawn rate can be increased. For this:

1. Navigate to the entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
2. Right-click in the right pane, select New and then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
3. Name the created parameter “ExtendedUIHoverTime”.
4. Check the box next to “Decimal” in the number system field and then enter the delay in milliseconds in the value field. The standard value here is 400ms.
5. Click OK.

When you hover the mouse over one of the preview windows, all other windows disappear, and only this window appears on the screen. There is also a delay associated with this action. To change it, add another DWORD parameter in the same place called “ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime”. Then, changing its value, select the window appearance speed you need.

7. Changing the Aero Peek delay

Aero Peek in Windows 7 is a replacement for the old Show Desktop button from the Quick Launch toolbar. Simply move your mouse cursor to the right end of the taskbar and all windows on your desktop will become transparent. However, there is also a delay associated with this action, which, however, can be reduced. For this:

1. Navigate to the entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
2. Right-click in the right pane, select New and then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
3. Name the created parameter “DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime”.
4. Double click on it to open it.
5. Place a dot next to “Decimal” in the number system field and then enter the delay in milliseconds in the value field. The standard value here is 1000ms.
6. Click OK.

That's all! We hope our tips will allow you to customize your Windows 7 to suit you. Good luck to you, and don’t forget to visit our website, where we will definitely tell you more!

In the latest version of its operating system, Microsoft has done a lot to improve the appearance of Windows 7. However, everything, even the best, gradually gets boring and users begin to look for an opportunity to change their usual working environment. A banal change of desktop wallpaper does not count - today we will talk about a deeper change in the “windows”.

Themes and styles

The program does not require installation, but you must run it as an administrator ( Right click - Run as administrator). After this, the utility will automatically patch your system, making it possible to install various themes. Then you need to specify the path to the necessary files from the theme you downloaded and click on the Install Theme button. The topic will appear on the right in the list installed themes. Now just select the desired design option from the list and click Apply Theme to change the appearance of your system.

Start button

To change the appearance of the Start button, use the program Windows 7 Start Button Changer. The utility comes with ten design options for the start button. After selecting the appropriate option, Explorer will restart and you will see the updated Start button.

Program icons

Change icons installed applications it is possible standard means Windows - by selecting the desired image in the file properties. But for everyone installed programs this will take quite a long time, so it’s better to use the application 7conifier, which not only allows you to change many icons in one fell swoop, but also comes with several eye-pleasing themes.

You can easily switch between sets of icons in the program interface, and also restore the default set if you followed the program's advice and made a backup copy when you first launched it. With 7conifier you can create your own icon sets.

Well, as a result, after applying all the above programs, your system will take on a completely new look. For example, this one.