Visual effects are those flourishes mentioned earlier, such as having a shadow behind the mouse. For best system performance, you should turn most of them off. (On a new, high-performance computer you won't notice much difference, so if you like them, by all means leave them turned on!)

To control the visual effects, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and then click the Appearance tab.
2. Click the Effects button to open the Effects dialog box, shown in Figure 5-6.

Figure 5-6: Effects dialog box.

3. Turn off any effects that you think you can live without. The more you turn off, the better your display will perform.

The Large Icons and Underlined Letters options do not have much effect on display performance one way or the other, so adjust these to your preference.

4. Click OK to close the Effects box, and then OK to close the Display Properties box.

Desktop Background

The background is the big flat area behind everything else, where the Recycle Bin and perhaps other icons sit. By default, it contains a wallpaper of grassy hill and blue sky. Wallpaper is a bitmap image; you can use any image you like here, or you can turn off wallpaper altogether and use a solid color.

Performance-wise, it's better to use a solid color than a picture. It doesn't make a huge difference, but if you're using an old, slow computer or if you're accessing it remotely (through the Remote Desktop feature in Windows XP Professional, for example), you may notice a small performance boost with a solid background.

To change the background, right-click the desktop and select Properties. On the Desktop tab, select None to remove the wallpaper. Click the Color button to open a palette from which you can select the desired color. If you don't like any of the colors, click Other to open a dialog box with a larger assortment. When you're finished, close all dialog boxes by clicking OK.

Moving On

Throughout this course, you've learned about various ways you can maintain your system on a regular basis, such as checking for viruses, making backups, defragmenting, checking for errors, and so on. Be sure to do the assignment and quiz, and visit the Message Board.

In Lesson 6, you'll learn how to create a workable schedule for coordinating all these maintenance activities so that they don't take up too much of your time.