Desktop Tips

Using An HTML Document As Desktop Wallpaper

One of the greatest things about the Active Desktop is that it lets you have a HTML page as your desktop wallpaper. And you can take advantage of any links defined in the document. Click on a URL in the wallpaper, for example, and Windows calls up Internet Explorer and connects to that address.

Here is where you select your Desktop Background.

To use this feature, first create the document and move it to the Windows\Web\Wallpaper directory or wherever you choose. Then right-click the desktop and choose Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box, with the Background tab showing. If you put the file in the Wallpaper directory, Windows will list it in the text box labeled "Select An HTML Document Or Picture." If you put it elsewhere, choose the Browse button to find it. Select the file and choose OK. If you don't have the Active Desktop enabled, Windows will ask if you want to enable it. Answer Yes. That's all there is to it. Windows will now use the document as your desktop background.

Using A Website Page As Desktop Wallpaper

You can also download a Web page to use as wallpaper. Go to the Web page of your choice using Internet Explorer and choose File|Save As. Navigate to the directory you want to save the file in (preferably Windows\Web\Wallpaper), enter a filename, and choose Save. Then follow the instructions above, and the Web page will display as your desktop background.

Adding AVI Wallpaper

Add live, seamless video directly to your desktop using Microsoft Word. First, you'll need a free Word add-on called Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word an .AVI file to display, and, of course, Internet Explorer 4.0 (or Memphis). After installing Internet Assistant, open notepad and save the blank file as VIDEO.HTM. Open Word, then open the new VIDEO.HTM file. Select Picture from the Insert menu and select the "Video" tab. Use the browse button to select your .AVI file. Click OK and close Word. Right-click on the desktop, select Properties and click on the "Desktop" tab. Click on the "New" button, select "Web site" and click OK. Use the browse button to find VIDEO.HTM. Click OK, then OK again. Now you've got a live video on your desktop you can resize and move.

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