Changing your colours in Windows 95,98, 2000 & Me

• Choosing from standard colour schemes
• Changing individual colours

1. Open the ' Start ' menu by clicking on the ' Start ' button orby pressing the ' Windows ' logo key (located between the ' Ctrl ' + ' Alt ' keys on most keyboards) alternatively press ' Ctrl ' + ' Esc ' .
2. Click on ' Settings ' or press the letter ' S ' on the keyboard.
3. Click on ' Control Panel ' or press the letter ' C ' on the keyboard.
4. Either double click on ' Display ' or press the ' D ' key until the ' Display ' item is highlighted and then press ' Enter'. This will bring up the ' Display Properties ' dialog box (see Fig 1) .
5. Click on the ' Appearance ' Tab or press ' Ctrl ' + ' Tab ' until it is at the front.

Fig 1

On this page are some sample windows which will change as you make scheme or items changes; typically as shown in Fig 1 they are ' Inactive Window ' , ' Active Window ' and ' Message Box ' . A scheme allows you to change a lot of display options in one go such as window colours, the fonts used in menu's and icon spacing. To change schemes follow these steps:

1. Click on the drop down box below ' Scheme ' or press ' Alt ' + ' S ' to select the scheme drop down box.
2. Use either the mouse or the up and down arrow keys to browse through the list of schemes - as each one is highlighted, you should see the sample windows above change. Some of the schemes are labelled as being ' Large ' or ' Extra Large ' or ' Inverted ' - try different schemes out and find what works best for you.
3. Once a scheme you are happy with is highlighted click on it or press ' Enter '. You may need to click ' OK ' or press ' Enter ' again to return to Windows and view the changes you have made.

If you are unhappy with a scheme, just repeat the above steps and try a different one. The default scheme is ' Windows Standard '. As before, you need to bring up the ' Appearance ' Tab of the ' Display Properties ' dialog box.

As well as choosing schemes which can change many settings at once, you can change colours individually for the various elements within Windows such as icons, menus and title bars. To do this:

1. Open the ' Start ' menu by clicking on the ' Start ' button or by pressing the ' Windows ' logo key (located between the ' Ctrl ' + ' Alt ' keys on most keyboards) alternatively press ' Ctrl ' + ' Esc ' .
2. Click on ' Settings ' or press ' S ' .
3. Click on ' Control Panel ' or press ' C ' .
4. Either double click on ' Display ' or press the ' D ' key until the ' Display ' item is highlighted and then press ' Enter ' . This will bring up the ' Display Properties ' dialog box (see Fig 1) .
5. Click on the ' Appearance ' Tab or press ' Ctrl ' + ' Tab ' until it is at the front.
6. Click on the drop down box below the ' Item ' heading (it is directly below the ' Scheme: ' heading, or press ' Alt ' + ' I ' to jump there.
7. Use either the mouse or the up and down arrow keys to navigate through the list of items. Each of these items can be changed individually. As an example, we'll change the menu colour scheme from its usual grey background with black text.
8. Move down the list until ' Menu ' is selected.
9. Click on the colour box to the right of the ' Item' drop down box and choose a different colour from the colour grid that pops up (see Fig 2 ) by clicking on it or press ' Alt ' + ' L ' to select the colour box and press the ' Spacebar ' to display the colour grid then press ' Alt ' + ' O ' to bring up ' Other ' colour options. In the colour box that comes up press ' Alt ' + ' B ' to jump to the ' Basic Colors' box then use the arrow keys to choose the colour you want and then press the ' Spacebar ' to select it and then press ' Enter ' to return to the ' Display Properties ' page.

Fig 2

Now you have changed the menu background colour, let's change the text colour on the menus. Make sure that ' Menu ' is still selected in the ' Item ' drop down box - if not then repeat the steps above to select it.

1. Click on the second colour box on this page (directly below the first one we used and to the right of the ' Font ' box ), and choose a different colour by clicking on it, or press ' Alt ' + ' R ' to select the colour box and press the ' Spacebar ' to display the colour grid then press ' Alt ' + ' O ' to bring up ' Other ' colour options (see Fig 3 ). In the colour box that comes up press ' Alt ' + ' B ' to jump to the ' Basic Colors' box then use the arrow keys to choose the colour you want and then press the ' Spacebar ' to select it and then press ' Enter ' to return to the ' Display Properties ' page.

Fig 3

1. Press ' Enter ' orclick ' OK ' to return to Windows where you should be able to view your changes.