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Choose Your Own Desktop Icons

There are many ways to customize the appearance of Windows XP to suit your own tastes. One simple way to customize your computer is to choose your own desktop icons.

Windows XP ships with quite a good collection of icons you can use for your customization. However, to get a truly individual "look" for your desktop, you'll probably want to establish your own library of icons. The good news is that there are many websites that provide free icon collections suitable for Windows XP. With a bit of research, you should be able to locate and download hundreds of icons that are visually attractive and well suited for a variety of desktop needs.



Part One of this tip discusses how to create your personal icon library. Part Two explains how to use your new icons.

Part One - Create a Personal Icon Library:
  1. Create a new folder in My Documents (or wherever you like) and give it a suitable name such as "Icon Library."

  2. Start your browser and search for some suitable icons to download. A search phrase such as "free windows icons" should provide plenty of icons that are free for personal use. Typically, downloads will be available as a "collection" of several icons in a particular style and by a particular artist.

  3. When you find an icon collection you like, download it to your new "Icon Library" folder. Keep searching and downloading until you have a good range of new icons to choose from. Half an hour of searching and downloading should be enough to provide an excellent start for your icon library. And of course, you can continue to add more icons to your library as time goes by.

Notes:
When you download a free icon collection, be sure to read any accompanying Terms of Use documents to ensure that your intended usage of the icons is permissible. Generally speaking, such icon collections can be freely used on your personal computer, but there may be restrictions to using them for commercial purposes.

As with any Internet download, caution is required. Check that the icon collection is available in a format that is suitable for your computer. All downloads should be checked for viruses and spyware.

Part Two - Using Your Icons:

Now that you have some suitable icons to use, you can begin changing your desktop icons at will. There are likely to be three main kinds of icons on your desktop, namely default desktop icons such as "My Computer" and the Recycle Bin, shortcut icons that open files or applications, and folder icons. Each of these has a different procedure for changing icons as outlined below:

Default desktop icons:
  1. Right-click an open area of the desktop and select "Properties".

  2. In the "Display Properties" window, click the "Desktop" tab and then click "Customize Desktop".

  3. In the "Desktop Items" window, select the icon you wish to change and then click "Change Icon".

  4. In the "Change Icon" window, click "Browse" and navigate to your "Icon Library" folder.

  5. Double-click your chosen icon and it should then be displayed in the "Change Icon" window.

  6. Exit each of the open windows by clicking "OK".

Your chosen icon should now be displayed on the desktop. To easily change back to the original icon, click "Restore Default" in the "Desktop Items" window.

Shortcut icons:
  1. Right-click the shortcut and click "Properties" to open the "Properties" window.

  2. With the "Shortcut" tab displayed, click "Change Icon".

  3. In the "Change Icon" window, click "Browse" and navigate to the "Icon Library" folder.

  4. Double-click your chosen icon and it should be displayed in the "Change Icon" window.

  5. Exit each of the open windows by clicking "OK".

Folder Icons:
  1. Right click on the folder and select "Properties" from the context menu

  2. Click the "Customize" tab and then click the "Change Icon" button.

  3. In the "Change Icon" window, click "Browse" and navigate to the "Icon Library" folder.

  4. Double-click your chosen icon and it should be displayed in the "Change Icon" window.

  5. Exit each of the open windows by clicking "OK".

Simple customizations such as choosing your own desktop icons can help make your computer more accurately reflect your personal tastes and preferences.

© Brett M.Christensen, 2006 All Rights Reserved


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