Windows Vista hints and tips 14
Add desktop icons
If you frequently need to access the Control Panel, Computer, your personal files and so on, it can be irritating having to go to the Start menu, find the item and then click on it. Why not add a shortcut to the desktop to make them easier and faster to access?
Right click an empty area of the desktop and then choose Personalize from the menu that is displayed. In the Tasks pane on the left, click Change desktop icons and you'll see a new dialog with several options. Just tick the items that you want to show on the desktop and click OK. Just drag the new icons to the place you want to keep them on the desktop.
Change the desktop icons
The previous Vista tip showed how to place some commonly used icons on the desktop, such as Computer, Control Panel and so on.
Although Vista's icons are quite attractive, some people just like to customise their computer and really make it their own.
Replacing the standard Windows icons with funky alternative ones can make the desktop seem more fun.
To do this just right click an empty area of the desktop and then choose Personalize from the menu that is displayed.
In the Tasks pane on the left, click Change desktop icons and you'll see a new dialog with all of the standard desktop icons.
Select one of the icons and then click the Change Icon button. A large palette of icons is displayed and you can select any of the alternatives designs and click OK to replace the standard one.
If you don't see any icons that you like, click the Browse button and find and select C:\Windows\System32\moreicons.dll or C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll. Both files contain lots of icons you can use.
