XP and Xparent Titles

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I can’t believe that MS put out another major Windows OS without making the desktop icon title backgrounds transparent! The solid icon title backgrounds on a wallpaper picture make the whole GUI look third rate. Where were the beta testers on this one? I know it’s not a major issue, but jeez they’ve had this “feature” since the first Win 95. Doesn’t anyone at MS use wallpaper?

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it’s there – it’s on by default i though, provided you have a good video card. system applet in control panel, advanced tab, performance button, one of the last items, use drop shadow for desktop icons.

if that is enabled, you also need lock web items off – right click on desktop and choose arrange icons.

what i like better is to hide the desktop icons (nothing messages my background that way ) and add the desktop as a task bar toolbar. i have it small so only “desktop” shows and the shortcuts fly up. Even my kids like it better, now that they are used to it.

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DOH! I found it. It wasn’t on by default.

I cant figure out how I could have missed that. It was only 3 windows deep. And such an accurate description-“use drop shadow for desktop icons.” How stupid of me! (What the heck is a drop shadow???)

Anyway, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I long for the return of hardcopy user manuals.

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It’s the Microsoft Way, what can i say?

It’s on by default depending on the hardware. If your RAM is low, either video or machine, it’s off so the computer is faster. I have it on, even though i rarely view the icons anymore. I really should turn it off and see if i can notice any improvements.

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I have a 6 month old Dell 933 with 256 Mb of RAM and good video. It was still off by default. BTW I haven’t noticed any speed hit at all. Thanks again.

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that is really weird. it was on by default for me with a lesser machine. (PIII600/512meg)

Did you upgrade? Mine were clean installs.

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Maybe that’s it. Mine was an upgrade from Windows Me.

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Edited by DaveA on 02-Nov-01 09:10.

added url code
Mary,

The answer to whether “drop shadow” is on or off after installation is here:

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/performance/benchmark.htm

XP dynamically changes defaults during setup based on decisions it makes about your hardware. I don’t know why it made the decision it did for my system, because it runs fine with that feature on.

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Hi MJ

I like to do what you’re suggesting, but can’t work out how to do it.

How do you hide the desktop icons?
How do add the desktop to the task bar?

Thanks
Dale

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right cliok on the desktop, choose “arrange icon by >” and show desktop icons is near the bottom – it is checked to show and unchecked to hide.

to add the desktop to the taskbar, right click on the taskbar on a blank area, and choose toolbars. desktop should be a predefined option – select it.

if you find you’re spending a lot of time going to one folder for something, you can add it as a toolbar, for faster access. when you no longer need it, close it and it’s gone for ever. (we’re working on new company policies, so i added that folder to my toolbar for fast access to the documents)

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Hi
When you’ve got the Desktop on to the Taskbar : grab its left-hand edge and drag it to the extreme right (next to the Systray). This will make all the icons disappear, but the name remains. You will see two chevrons >> When you click these the Desktop icons appear as a scrollable Menu. Useful if you keep the taskbar permanently on view. No matter how deep you are into nested directories, you’re only one click away from your DT.

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It’s *WAS* there by default on my system. About two weeks ago I noticed that the icon label backgrounds were now gray. I’ve tried everything to get the label transparent again, but nothing seems to work. I have Power Toys MSVDM installed with custom images on each virtual desktop, and for a while all four virtual desktops were fine. I’ve reset every theme, everything on Desktop, Appearance, Theme, you name it. I’ve clicked and unclicked selectively in System/Advanced/Settings(Visual Effects) and just cannot get the labels to be transparent again. I’ve also reset everything I could find under display properties (themes, desktop colors, etc), to no avail.
I have GeForce2 MX400, 512MB RAM, 420GB disk, 21-inch monitor, so there should be no system limitations. Anyone have any suggestions?

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1) SYSTEM, Advanced tab, performance options, next to last item: drop shadows for icon labels.

2) Don’t use the desktop’s right click option of lock web items – that will undo transaparentcy.

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If Mary’s suggestion doesn’t work, it could be your video drivers. I’ve had several weird issues with Nvidia’s Detonators under XP, what with certain parts of the screen not refreshing and other odd things.

I had to clean them out manually. First, by removing the display adapter from Device Manager, and then by booting into safe mode and cleaning out all the NV4*.* files. XP kindly replaced one when I stomped on it (Windows File Protection in action) but after re-installing the drivers, many things returned to normal – not the least of which were 3D renders and screen refreshes.

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