How to Add a Name to a Computer Clock

Do you like things to be custom and personalized? Do you spend a lot of time using your computer? If you answered yes to either or both of those questions, then you will likely enjoy this impractical yet still enjoyable idea. You can add your name - or the name of your favorite team, band, cartoon character, whatever! - to the clock on your computer's taskbar. You can personalize your clock in Windows XP or Vista.

Start by getting to your Control Panel from the Start Menu. Once there, select Classic View in the task pane on the left of the window. Double click Regional and Language Options; the dialog box will open. Make sure you are on the Formats tab. Down at the lower right hand side of the dialog box you will find a button that says Customize this Format. Click on that and the Customize Regional Options dialog box will open.

Go to the Time tab of this dialog. In the AM Symbol and PM Symbol boxes, type whatever you want to appear by your clock. If you still want your clock to list AM and PM, type your personalization after these letters. If you want to get really clever, you could even enter a different personalization for day and nighttime. You can only enter up to twelve characters including spaces so you are slightly limited.

Once you have entered your name or other word or phrase, click Apply. Now check out your taskbar clock down in the right hand corner. Pretty nifty, eh?

After you have accomplished this important task (hey, it is your computer and your name, that is important!) check out the other selections you can make from the Customize Regional Options dialog box. For instance, on the Numbers tab you can determine how many digits you want to follow your decimals by default, whether you want leading zeros preceding decimals, and how you want negative amounts to appear. On the Currency tab, you can choose a default of dollar signs or the euro sign. On the Date tab, opt to show day of the week, month, date and year for your long date default, or switch to date, month and year. This tab also has a Reset button, which will return your settings to their original state in one easy click.

One final note that you might appreciate knowing: any changes you make to the Regional and Language Options settings will carry over into your other Microsoft programs, such as Word and Excel.