How to Customize Your Windows 7 Starter Desktop Wallpaper

One of the limitations of Windows 7 Starter is that it does not include Aero Glass, which means that when it comes to customizing your desktop background chances are you're going to encounter difficulties unless you are already familiar with the program. However, there is a way around this missing feature that will allow you to alter the appearance of your desktop.

Step One:
Select your background of choice and save it to your computer, preferably in a file that your computer will easily recognize such as your pictures album or another that is easily found. The size and dimensions of your chosen photo are irrelevant, as the program you will be downloading will automatically re-size the image to fit the pixels of your background. Deviant Art and Photobucket are great sites to help you choose the perfect image to use when customizing your background.

Step Two:
Download the latest version of Stardock MyColors. This program will also allow you to alter the theme of your computer and taskbar, however, it only offers three themes which are free to use although it offers hundreds more which you can purchase and download directly to your computer.

Step Three:
Install and run MyColors.

Step Four:
In order to change the appearance of your desktop and use your own wallpaper you will need to install a theme to your computer which is NOT the default Windows 7 Aero theme. The wallpaper that is associated with the default theme is unable to be changed due to system limitations. To do this, click on the themes tab in MyColors and choose the Think Green theme. If you are not satisfied with the appearance of this theme you can click the More Themes tab which will take you to the MyColors theme gallery where you can purchase a new theme of your choice.

Step Five:
Now you can customize your background! Click on the wallpaper tab in MyColors and choose an image from the Windows Wallpaper category to set as your wallpaper image. Again, no need to worry about the size of the image as it will be automatically re-sized to fit your screen dimensions.

Step Six:
If the folder containing your wallpaper of choice is not visible when you click the Wallpaper tab, you can go to the Settings tab and add a folder to be contained in the Wallpapers. To do this, click on wallpaper settings in the lower left hand corner and add the folder that you wish to use. When you have selected the image that you wish to use, simply click "apply" and watch the magic happen.