In the past, I’ve discussed many ways to change the appearance of Windows XP. For example, if you used previous versions of Windows, you may have wondered where some of the desktop icons went. Or the Quick Launch toolbar. What happened?
When you first install XP, the only icon you see is the Recycle bin (unless you installed XP over an older version of Windows). However, you can add the same old standard icons, such as My Computer or My Documents back to the desktop for easy access. To add them, follow these steps.
1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Properties.
2. In the Desktop tab, click the Customize Desktop button. Lo and behold, all those standard icons are listed under Desktop Icons.
3. Click to select the icons you want to appear and click OK.
4. Click OK again to exit the Display Properties dialog box.
The Quick Launch toolbar is another useful item that may no longer be on your desktop. The Quick Launch toolbar is great for accessing frequently used programs. If you want it back, right-click an empty area of your taskbar and click Properties. In the Taskbar tab, click Show Quick Launch and click the OK button.
While you’re playing with your taskbar, here’s another interesting thing you can throw in: an address bar. You can put an Internet address bar on your taskbar so you can type in URLs without having to open your browser first. To add it, right-click the taskbar and choose Toolbars, then Address.
The word Address appears on your taskbar with a vertical gray bar to the left of it. If you double-click the word, it expands out to fill the taskbar, so you have space to enter a URL. Alternatively, you can drag the gray bar and size the toolbar to make the Address area any size you want.