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9: System Preferences - Desktop & Screen Saver

One of the best ways to customize your computer is by changing the desktop image and setting a screen saver that reflects who you are. The Desktop & Screen Saver preferences allow you to control both of these options.

To set the desktop picture

Click the "Desktop" tab.

In the window, you will notice two columns. The column on the left has a list of image collections, and on the right side you will see a display of that folder's contents. When you click on an image it will automatically change your background.

To change the picture randomly, select the "Change picture" check box and select your frequency. If you select "Random Order" an image will be randomly selected as your background.

If you wish to have your own image as the background, make sure the image is at least as big as your screen resolution. Thus, if your screen resolution is set to 800 x 600, the image should have at least the same dimensions.

To set the screen saver

Click the "Screen Saver" tab.

Select a Screen Saver from the list and the preview area will change.

Some screen savers have options that you can configure; to access these options click the "Options" button.
To see a preview of what your screen saver will look like click the "Test" button.

To have the screen saver start automatically after a certain amount of idle time, drag the Start Screen Saver slider to the preferred time.

If you do not care which screen saver is used, select the "Use random screen saver" check box.

You can set certain corners of the machine as “Hot Corners” so that when you position the mouse in one of these corners the desired action (turn screen saver on, deactivate screen saver) happens.

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9: System Preferences - Desktop & Screen Saver

To set the desktop picture

To set the screen saver

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