Whether attached to the sidebar or detached, gadgets can be configured to be translucent or not translucent by setting an opacity percentage. The default opacity percentage is 100%, meaning you can't see through the gadget. If you want to be able to see through the gadget when it is inactive, you can reduce the opacity percentage by right-clicking the gadget, pointing to Opacity, and selecting an opacity percentage less than 100%. When you move the mouse pointer over a gadget, it is always displayed with 100% opacity.
You can remove a gadget from the sidebar or desktop by right-clicking it and selecting Remove. Rather than removing multiple gadgets individually, you can easily remove multiple gadgets by following these steps:
Right-click an open area of the sidebar and then select Properties.
In the Windows Sidebar Properties dialog box, click View List Of Running Gadgets.
In the View Gadgets dialog box, click a gadget to remove from the sidebar or desktop and then click Remove. Repeat this step to remove other gadgets.
Click Close and then click OK.
Screen Saver Dos and Don'ts
Screen savers are designed to turn on when a computer has been idle for a specified period of time. The original job of the screen saver was to prevent image burn-in on CRT monitors by displaying a continuously changing image. With today's monitors, burn-in is no longer a problem, but screen savers are still around. The primary benefit they offer today is the ability to password-lock computers automatically when the screen saver turns on.
Configuring Screen Savers with Password Protection
Password-protecting the screen saver deters unauthorized users from accessing a computer, which can protect both the personal data of the user and the intellectual property of the organization. As an administrator, you should ensure that the computers you deploy have password-protected screen savers enabled.
You can password protect the screen saver by performing the following steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Screen Saver link to display the Screen Saver Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 4-12.
Figure 4-12: Set a screen saver with password protection for user and organization security.
Use the Screen Saver list box to select a screen saver. To disable the screen saver, select None and skip the remaining steps.
Real World
Unfortunately, screen savers can use up a lot of the computer's resources, increasing both the energy usage of the computer (which otherwise would be idle) and its memory and processor usage. Some screen savers, particularly the three-dimensional ones such as 3D Text, can cause the processor to run at a high percent utilization. The reason for this is that 3D designs are very complex and the computer must make a lot of computations to maintain and update the screen saver image. For tips on reducing resource usage when screen savers turn on, see the sections of this chapter entitled "Reducing Screen Saver Resource Usage" and "Setting Energy-Saving Settings for Monitors."
Select On Resume, Display Logon Screen.
Use the Wait box to specify how long the computer must be idle before the screen saver is activated. A reasonable value is between 10 and 15 minutes.
Click OK.
Reducing Screen Saver Resource Usage
A computer that is running Windows Vista and that performs background tasks or network duties, such as print services, should not be configured to use a complex screen saver, such as 3D Text. Instead, the computer should be configured with a basic screen saver, such as the Blank screen saver. You can also modify the settings for advanced screen savers to reduce resource usage. Typically, you do this by reducing the redraw and refresh rates of the advanced screen saver.
To reduce screen saver resource usage, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Screen Saver link to display the Screen Saver Settings dialog box.
If you want to use a screen saver that uses fewer resources without making configuration changes, use the Screen Saver list box to select a basic screen saver, such as Blank or Windows Logo.
If you want to use a more advanced screen saver but reduce its resource usage, select that screen saver and then click Settings. Afterward, use the Setup dialog box to reduce the Complexity, Speed, or similar field values that affect the drawing or refreshing of the screen saver. In the example shown in Figure 4-13, I've reduced the resolution and set the Rotation Type to None to reduce the resource usage of the 3D Text screen saver.
Figure 4-13: Advanced screen savers have settings that you can use to reduce resource usage.
Click OK once or twice as necessary to close the open dialog boxes.
Setting Energy-Saving Settings for Monitors
Many newer monitors have energy-saving features that cause them to shut off after a certain period of inactivity. Enabling this feature can reduce the organization's electricity bill because monitors typically use a lot of electricity to stay powered up. On some systems, this feature might have been automatically enabled by the operating system during installation. This depends, however, on the operating system properly detecting the monitor and installing any necessary drivers.
On a portable laptop computer running on batteries, saving energy is especially important. By configuring the monitor to shut off when the computer is idle, you can save the battery life and extend the battery availability time when the laptop is unplugged.
To manage a monitor's energy settings, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Screen Saver link to display the Screen Saver Settings dialog box.
Click Change Power Settings. The Power Options Properties dialog box is displayed.
In the left pane, click Choose When To Turn Off Display.
Use the selection list provided to specify when the monitor should be turned off to save energy. By default, all the standard power plans turn off the computer's monitor after 20 minutes.
Click Save Changes.
Note
If the computer is connected to a monitor that doesn't support Energy Saving settings, some power options might be grayed out or unavailable. If you are configuring the computer in a build area and are using a different monitor than the one the user will have, you might want to obtain the user's monitor model and repeat this process.
Real World
Typically, you'll want to turn off the monitor after 15 to 20 minutes of idle time. On my office computer, I turn on the screen saver after 7 minutes and then turn off the monitor after 15 minutes of idle time. On my laptop, I use settings of 5 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively.
Modifying Display Appearance and Video Settings
The display appearance and video settings have a major impact on the look and feel of the Windows Vista desktop and its graphical elements. Appearance options control window, button, color, and font settings. Video settings control screen resolution, color quality, refresh frequency, hardware acceleration, and color management.
Configuring Window Color And Appearance
By default, Windows Vista uses the Aero design for its windows and dialog boxes. With Aero, three key areas of the display appearance can be optimized: color schemes, window transparency, and color intensity. To configure these display options, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Windows Color And Appearance link to display the page shown in Figure 4-14.
Figure 4-14: Configure the visual appearance of the display using the options from the Change Your Color Scheme page.
Change the color of windows by clicking one of the available colors. To make your own color, click Show Color Mixer and then use the Color, Saturation, and Brightness sliders to create a custom color.
To enable transparent glass (on computers that have graphics cards with sufficient memory to support this feature), sele
ct Enable Transparent Glass. The edges of windows will then be semi-transparent so you can see through them.
Use the Transparency slider to set the strength of the color and the level of transparency. Increase the intensity to make the color brighter. Reduce the intensity to make the color dimmer.
If you prefer, you can use the classic style windows and dialog boxes. When you do so, however, the appearance of most windows and dialog boxes is changed substantially. Additionally, desktop compositing is disabled, which removes features like transparency and glass. To configure Windows Vista to use the classic display appearance, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Window Color And Appearance link.
Click Open Classic Appearance Properties.
In the Appearance Settings dialog box, select a color scheme other than Windows Vista Aero and then click OK.
If you later want to restore Windows Vista Aero, you can do so by following these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Window And Appearance link and then click Open Classic Properties.
In the Appearance Settings dialog box, select Windows Vista Aero as the color scheme and then click OK.
When working with any display appearance style, you can override default settings for individual graphical elements, such as the desktop or message boxes, using the Advanced Appearance dialog box. To access and work with this dialog box, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click the Window And Appearance link.
Click Open Classic Appearance Properties.
Click Advanced.
Use the Item list to select the items that you want to modify and then set the size, color, and font options as appropriate. (For some items, not all of these options will be available.) Changes you make are recorded when you make them, enabling you to configure multiple elements before clicking OK to apply the changes.
With graphic elements that contain system text, you can use the Font list box to select the typeface to use and the related Size and Color list boxes to set the size and color of the font respectively.
Click OK three times to close all open dialog boxes.
Configuring Video Settings
Video settings control screen resolution, color quality, refresh rate, hardware acceleration, and color management. This section focuses on making sure that Windows Vista has correctly identified the video card and monitor and on optimizing various video settings.
Checking the Current Video Adapter and Monitor
Proper display is dependent on the computer using accurate information about the video adapter and the monitor. Depending on which video adapter and monitor models Windows Vista thinks you have, different driver files are installed. These drivers are extremely important in determining which display resolutions, color depths, and refresh rates are available and appropriate for the system. If the adapter and monitor aren't detected and configured properly, Windows Vista won't be able to take advantage of their capabilities.
Current settings for the video adapter or monitor can be wrong for many reasons. Sometimes, plug and play doesn't detect the device, and a generic device driver is used. At other times, Windows Vista detects the wrong type of device, such as a different model. In this case, the device will probably work, but some features won't be available.
To check the current video adapter and monitor configured for a computer, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click Display Settings to display the Display Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 4-15.
Figure 4-15: If you're having display problems, check the monitor and video driver being used.
On the Monitor tab, you'll find the currently configured monitor and video card. The format of the entry under Display is <Monitor Type> on <Video Adapter> driver. In the example shown in Figure 4-15, the computer has configurations for multiple monitors stored and the video card driver is for an NVIDIA GeForce FX5200 video card. Check the information shown in the dialog box as follows:
q If the correct video adapter isn't displayed or you want to examine the driver settings further, see the "Changing the Video Driver" section in this chapter.
q If the correct monitor isn't displayed or you want to examine the monitor settings further, see the "Changing the Monitor" section in this chapter.
Changing the Video Driver
If the video driver shown in the Display Settings dialog box does not match the make and model installed on the computer, you might want to try to install a different driver. For example, if the computer has a generic S3 video driver configured and you are sure the computer has an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video adapter, you'll want to change the video driver.
To determine whether the video card make and model are correct, you'll need to know how the system is configured. The system documentation can tell you which video adapter is installed. Other administrators are also useful resources. Typically, someone else on the technology team will know immediately what video adapter is installed on a particular type of computer. If you can't figure out the make and model of the video adapter, you have several options. If the current settings are working, you can leave the display settings alone. You can also try the following techniques to determine the video adapter make and model:
Shut down the computer and then turn it back on—don't click the Restart button. Watch the screen when the computer is first turned on. The name of the video card might appear briefly before Windows Vista begins loading.
Shut down the computer and then remove the computer cover. Locate the name and model number on the video adapter itself. If the monitor is still attached to the rear of the computer, the video adapter is the card to which the monitor cable is connected.
If the video adapter is built into the computer's motherboard (meaning there isn't a separate card), check the motherboard to see whether you can find a chip that lists the video information on it, or write down the motherboard model number and visit the manufacturer's Web site to see whether the information is available.
Once you determine the video adapter make and model, see whether you can locate the necessary drivers on the manufacturer's Web site. Some video adapters come with installation disks. On the disk, you might find a setup program (SETUP.EXE). Run this program to install the video driver. If the installation disk contains the drivers but no setup program, you'll need to install the drivers manually.
When you are ready to install the video adapter driver, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click Display Settings to display the Display Settings dialog box.
On a system with multiple monitors or video cards, use the Monitor Type list box to select the monitor and video card with which you want to work.
Click Advanced Settings.
On the Adapter tab, note the current information in the Adapter Type and Adapter Information panel. Click Properties.
In the Driver tab, click Update Driver. This starts the Update Driver Software Wizard.
Specify whether you want to install the driver automatically or manually by selecting it from a list or specific location.
If you elect to install the driver automatically, Windows Vista looks for a more recent version of the device driver and installs the driver if found. If a more recent version of the driver is not found, Windows Vista keeps the current driver. In either case, click Close to complete the process and then skip the remaining steps.
If you chose to install the driver manually, you'll have the opportunity to do one of the following:
q Search for the driver If you want to search for drivers, click Browse to select a search location. Use the Browse For Folder dialog box to sel
ect the start folder for the search and then click OK. Because all subfolders of the selected folder are searched automatically, you can select the drive root path, such as C, to search an entire driver.
q Choose the driver to install If you want to choose the driver to install, click Let Me Pick From A List Of Device Drives On My Computer. The wizard then shows a list of compatible hardware. Click the device that matches your video card. To view a wider array of choices, clear the Show Compatible Hardware check box. You'll then see a full list of manufacturers for all monitor manufacturers. Scroll through the list of manufacturers to find the manufacturer of the device and then choose the appropriate device in the right pane.
After selecting a device driver, continue through the installation process by clicking Next. Click Close when the driver installation is completed. If the wizard can't find an appropriate driver, you'll need to obtain one and then repeat this procedure. Keep in mind that in some cases you'll need to restart the system to activate the newly installed or updated device driver.
Changing the Monitor
The overall display quality is controlled by the combined capabilities of a computer's monitor and video adapter. If a computer has a Plug and Play monitor, Windows Vista might have detected it and installed it properly, or it might have installed a similar driver but not the one that exactly matches the monitor make and model. For the best quality, Windows Vista should use the driver designed for the applicable monitor. Otherwise, the display mode, color depth, refresh rate, and color-matching options might not be appropriate for the monitor.
To change the monitor setup, follow these steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select Personalize.
Click Display Settings to display the Display Settings dialog box.