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How do I change my desktop picture in Vista?

Just got started with Microsoft Windows Vista and am totally baffled by everything that's changed, honestly. Even the most basic is proving a challenge: how do I change my desktop picture in Vista?


Dave's Answer:

I also find a lot of Vista's changes to be fairly arbitrary and befuddling too, but at least I know how to change the desktop picture!

There are a couple of ways to do it, but the easiest is to right-click on the desktop itself, which gives you the following contextual menu:

Windows Vista Desktop Contextual Menu -> Personalize

You'll want to choose "Personalize", which then gives you a pretty impressive number of different choices, including the following:

Microsoft Vista: Personalization Options

As you can see, the key choice is "Desktop Background", which, as described by the helpful commentary, is how you change your desktop picture!

Click on it and you'll see a good number of different desktop images, organized into about a dozen categories. My favorite? Vistas (since we're talking about Vista anyway, right?)

Windows Vista Personalization: Desktop Picture

I have to admit, the photos included are gorgeous. The image highlighted above is what I opted for, and the final step is to specify whether you want it to stretch, tile or center on your desktop:

Windows Vista Desktop: Positioning of Desktop Photo

Make that final decision, click "Okay", and you'll have the desktop picture of your choice in Vista before you can say "why did they have to change this part of the interface anyway?" :-)



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Comments

Thank you for your help. This windows is driving me crazy!

Mr. Jones
jones@poncacity.net

Posted by: Mr. Jones at June 13, 2007 10:58 AM

i think dave can help most people becuase you just dont want trees you want something else. thank you dave

Posted by: francheska at August 19, 2007 6:00 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!









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