New to Windows 7? Even though there’s a lot in common with the version of Windows that you had before, you might still need a hand getting up to speed. This topic is filled with useful info about personalizing your PC.It covers the topics that Dave Johnson showed you in his video, Personalizing your PC: http://windows.microsoft.com/get-started
Use this topic as a reference guide while exploring what you can do with Windows 7.
Change your user account picture
You can change the picture that’s shown with your user name on the Start menu. Here’s how:
1. Click the Start button, and then click the picture at the top of the Start menu.
2. Click Change your picture.
3. Click the picture you want to use, and then click Change Picture.
– or –
If you want to use a picture of your own, click Browse for more pictures, find the picture you want to use, click the picture, and then click Open.
Change your desktop background
Your desktop background (also called wallpaper) can be a photo from your personal collection or one that comes with Windows. If you prefer, you can also select a solid color for your desktop background. Here’s how:
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Click Desktop background.
3. Click the Picture location list to pick the location of your desired picture, or click Browse to search for the picture on your computer.
4. When you find the picture you want, double-click it. It will become your desktop background.
5. In the Picture position list, click an item to crop the picture to fill the screen, fit the picture to the screen, stretch the picture to fit the screen, tile the picture, or center the picture on the screen, and then click Save changes.
Create a desktop background slide show
Instead of settling for a single picture on your desktop, you can add some visual variety to your desktop with a slide show of your favorite photos. Here’s how to select an assortment of photos for your own desktop background slide show: 
1. Make sure that the pictures that you want to include in your slide show are all located in the same folder or the Pictures library (if you want to make a slide show using the entire library).
2. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
3. Click Desktop background.
4. Click the Picture location list to pick the location of your desired picture, or click Browse to search for the picture on your computer.
5. Select the check box for each picture that you want to include in your slide show. By default, all of the pictures in the folder are selected and will be part of the slide show.
6. To complete the slide show, you can do any of the following:
Click an item in the Picture position list to crop the pictures to fill the screen, fit the pictures to the screen, stretch the pictures to fit the screen, tile the pictures, or center the pictures on the screen.
Click an item in the Change picture every list to choose how quickly the slide show changes pictures.
Select the Shuffle check box to have the pictures appear in a random order.
7. Click Save changes.
Change your window color
You can change the color of window frames, the Start menu, the taskbar, and other common Windows elements to suit your taste and personality. Just do this: 
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Click Window Color.
3. Click the color you want, and then use the slider to vary the intensity of the color.
4. When you’ve fine-tuned the color, click Save changes.
Change your system sounds
You can have your computer play a sound when certain events occur on your computer, such as when you log on to your computer or when you receive new e-mail. Windows comes with several sound schemes—collections of related sounds—for common events. Here’s how to customize your sounds:
To change a sound scheme
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Click Sounds.
3. In the Sound Scheme list, click the sound scheme that you want to use, and then click OK.
You can get a sense of what a scheme sounds like before you click OK. In the Program Events list, click events with speaker icons (the icon means that the event has a sound associated with it), and then click Test to hear how each one sounds in that scheme.
To change a sound 
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Click Sounds.
3. In the Program Events list, click the event that you want to assign a new sound for.
4. In the Sounds list, click the sound that you want to associate with the event, and then click OK.
If the sound you want to use isn't listed, click Browse to find it. If you change more than one sound, click Apply after changing each sound, and then click OK when you’re done.
When you change one or more event sounds, Windows automatically creates a new sound scheme and adds “(modified)” to the name. For example, if you started by modifying the scheme called Sonata, the new scheme will be called Sonata (modified). The original sound scheme is preserved with its original name.
Save your desktop settings as a theme
You can change individual parts of a theme (the pictures, colors, and sounds), and then save the revised theme so you can use it again later. You can even share it with other people.To save a theme for yourself To save your revised theme to use just on your own computer, do this:
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Change the desktop background, window color, and sounds. These will become part of a new “Unsaved Theme.” 
– or –
Click an existing theme to switch to it.
3. Click Save theme.
4. Type a name for your theme, and then click Save. You’ll find this new theme under My Themes.
To save a theme to share with others To share a revised theme, follow the steps below. You can share your theme in a variety of ways, including e-mail or by using an external hard disk.
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Change the desktop background, window color, and sounds. These will become part of the “Unsaved Theme,” or click an existing theme to switch to it.
3. Right-click the theme, and then click Save theme for sharing.
4. In the File name box, type a name for your theme, and then click Save. By default, Windows saves the theme in your My Documents folder.
You can share this theme using e-mail, by copying it to a USB flash drive, or any other method that you find convenient. Double-click a shareable theme to add it to your collection of themes.
Optimize your screen resolution Resolution
It refers to the number of pixels displayed on your computer’s screen. The more pixels, the sharper your display appears, and the smaller the individual elements on the screen appear. Here’s how to change your resolution setting: 
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Screen Resolution
2. In the Resolution list, move the slider to the resolution you want, and then click Apply.
3. Click Keep to use the new resolution, or Revert to go back to the previous resolution. If nothing happens, and the monitor does not appear to work properly with the selected resolution, wait about 15 seconds and the monitor will revert back to its old resolution automatically.
Understanding native resolution
LCD monitors, including laptop screens, typically run best at their native resolution. We recommend that you use your monitor’s native resolution so that you see the sharpest text and images possible. How can you tell what your native resolution is? Easy: In most cases, Windows already knows, and will display “(recommended)” next to the ideal setting. If there’s no recommended setting, you can check your monitor’s user guide.
Make the onscreen text more readable
After you’ve adjusted the monitor to its native resolution, the text might be too small to read. No problem: You can make text and other items, such as icons, larger, without changing the resolution. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop, and then click Screen Resolution.
2. Click Make text and other items larger or smaller.
3. Click one of the following:
Smaller - 100% (default). This keeps text and other items at normal size.
Medium - 125%. This sets text and other items to 125 percent of normal size.
Larger - 150%. This sets text and other items to 150 percent of normal size.
This option appears only if your monitor supports a resolution of at least 1200 x 900 pixels.
4. Click Apply.
To see the change, close all of your programs, log off Windows, and then restart it.
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