Changing Windows Desktop Background

When you either get a new computer or install a new operating system you may end up hating the default Windows desktop background. Windows XP provides the plain blue background and Vista provides the multi colored crazy background. I will admit myself that the Vista one isn’t all that bad and looks pretty neat but after awhile it got old and I had to change it to something that suited me better. The XP background isn’t any better as the color is quite boring and can be hard on the eyes.

So I decided to write up a quick little guide on how to switch your desktop background in both Windows XP and Vista.

Windows XP

  1. Right click on the desktop and select Properties
  2. Click on the Desktop tab and scroll through the list of available backgrounds
  3. Once you have the background selected, click Apply and then click OK
  4. All set!

Yes, quite easy huh? You can even use your own pictures as a desktop background. When you reach step 3 in the above list, instead of selecting a background in the list click Browse located to the right. Find a picture located on your computer that you would like to use and click OK. Then, click Apply and OK and your picture will be set as your background.

Windows Vista

  1. Right click on the desktop, select Personalize
  2. Select Desktop Background from the list
  3. Under Location browse through the various options that are available
  4. Once you have a picture or color selected and the positioning set, click OK
  5. All set!

That was quite easy too right? You can select your own picture to use just like in Windows XP as well. When you hit step 3 select Browse next to the location dropdown box and select your picture from your computer and then continue on with step 4 listed above.