Windows XP Cookbook

Chapter 5. Customizing the Interface

Introduction

Windows XP has the most distinctive user interface of any version of Windows that has yet been released. Its bright colors, rounded 3D windows, and slightly cartoonish look are only the beginning. The Start menu has been completely redone compared to earlier Windows versions as well, and you’ll find changes throughout the entire operating system.

The interface, as shipped, is not to everyone’s liking, though. You may want to change the way the Start menu works, or how Windows Explorer functions. You may want to change the icons displayed on the desktop, or make many other changes as well.

The obvious changes can be made easily, through the normal kinds of dialog boxes available throughout Windows XP. For example, to change your background or screensaver, the desktop resolution and so on, right-click on the desktop and choose Properties, and a variety of tabs will let you make the obvious changes.

But it’s not as readily apparent how to make other changes. For example, there are a variety of desktop icons such as the Recycle Bin that can’t be changed or deleted through any normal methods—what if you want to change that? How can you change the way the Start menu looks and functions? And what tools can you use to make a wide variety of interface changes?

We’ll cover all that and more in the recipes in this chapter.

About the GUI

In this chapter, you’ll find many recipes for changing various parts of the Windows XP GUI. The terminology that ...