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ADDING A NEW ACTIVE DESKTOP ITEM IN WINDOWS ME
Once you already have an Active Desktop, it is
easy to add items to it. Right click the Desktop, select
Active Desktop from the context menu that scrolls out,
and then click on New Desktop Item. The dialog box that
comes up notifies you that you can add an item from the
web by specifying its web page address. Or you can use
graphical images already stored on your hard drive, such
as JPEG pictures. To do this, click on the Browse button
and work your way to the picture you want to use; click
on Open and then OK. More than one picture may be added
in this way. When you hold your mouse pointer over the
top edge of the picture, a title bar will appear. Click
and hold the left mouse button in this title bar area in
order to drag the picture to whatever location on your
Desktop you want it to occupy. If you hold your mouse
button on one of the edges or corners of the picture at
exactly the position where the cursor changes into a
doubly-pointing arrow, you can then click and drag to
resize the picture.
You can also make a picture cover your entire Desktop.
When you click on the little downward pointing arrow on
the left edge of the title bar, one of the menu items is
"Cover Screen." This same option is available
in another way: click the leftmost of the 3 icons on the
right side of the title bar. After you have selected
that, you may decide you didn't want it to cover the
screen; you would again make the title bar appear at the
top of the screen, click on the downward pointing arrow,
and now an option is available in the menu (it was
previously "greyed out") for
"Restore."
Are you satisfied with the placement and size of your
Active Desktop items? Then you should Lock them, so that
you won't mistakenly change their location or size by
clicking and dragging. You do that by right clicking the
Desktop, selecting Active Desktop on the context menu,
then clicking on Lock Desktop Items. This will put a
check mark next to that option on the menu. Of course,
selecting that option again will remove the check mark
and unlock your Desktop Items. By the way, Locking the
Desktop Items also will stop the items' title bars from
appearing when you hover the mouse at their topmost edge.
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