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Gateway 400 Adjusting the screen and desktop settings

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Chapter 10: Customizing Your Computer

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Adjusting the screen and desktop settings

Adjusting the color depth and screen area are two of the most basic display

settings you may need to change. You can also adjust settings such as the screen

background and screen saver.

Adjusting the color depth

Color depth is the number of colors your screen displays. Various image types

require various color depths for optimum appearance. For example, simple color

drawings may appear adequately in 256 colors while color photographs need

millions of colors to be displayed with optimum quality.

Windows lets you choose from several color depth settings. We recommend that

you use the 32-bit TrueColor setting at all times.

If the color in your images seems “false” or “jumpy,” especially after you have

played a game or run a video-intensive program, check the color depth setting

and return it to 32-bit TrueColor, if necessary.

To change the color depth:

1Click Start, then click Control Panel. The Control Panel window ope ns. I f yo ur

Control Panel is in Category View, click Appearance and Themes.

2Click/Double-click the Display icon. The Display Properties dialog box opens.

Contents

Main Page Contents 1 Checking Out Your Gateway 400 2G e t t i n g S t a r t e d 3G e t t i n g H e l p ii 4 Windows Basics 5 Using the Internet 6 Using Multimedia 7 Sending and Receiving Faxes 8 Managing Power iv 9 Travel Tips 10 Customizing Your Computer 11 Networking Your Computer 12 Moving from Your Old Computer 13 Maintaining Your Computer 14 Restoring Software vi 15 Upgrading Your Notebook 16 Troubleshooting A Safety, Regulatory, and Legal Information Index Checking Out Y our Gatewa y 400 Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Gateway 400 Front Left side Left side Page Right side Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Gateway 400 Back Bottom Bottom Page Keyboard area Keyboard area For information on using your keyboard, see Using the keyboard on page 26. Page Identifying your model Gateway model number Gateway serial number Page Finding your specifications Page Accessories Page Getting Started Connecting the AC adapter To connect the AC adapter: 1 2 3 4 5 Protecting from power source problems Starting your notebook Waking up your notebook Turning off y our notebook To turn off your notebook: 1 2 Restarting (rebooting) your notebook To close unresponsive programs and restart your notebook: 1 2 3 4 Status indicators Page Using the keyboard Key types Chapter 2: Getting Started System key combinations Page Multi-function buttons Using the EZ Pad touchpad Using the touchpad Using the EZ Pa d touchpad To... Do th is.. . Connecting the modem Connecting to a wired Ethernet network To connect to a wired Ethernet network: 1 2 Broadband Internet connections Installing a printer, scanner, or other peripheral device Getting Help HelpSpot To start HelpSpot: Page Searching for a topic HelpSpot videos To play a HelpSpot video: Online help Page Using eSupport Support Home tab Downloads tab Contact Us tab Account Info tab Windows Basics About the Windows environment Using the desktop Using the Start menu To use the Start menu: 1 2 Adding icons to the desktop To add icons to the desktop: 1 2 3 Identifying window items Chapter 4: Windows Basics Working with files and folders Viewing drives To view the drives on your computer: To see the files and folders on a drive: Creating folders To create a folder: 1 2 3 4 5 Copying and moving files and folders To copy a file or folder to another folder: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Page Deleting files and folders To delete files or folders: 1 2 To recover files or folders from the Recycle Bin: Browsing for files and fold ers To browse for a file: 2 3 Searching for files Using the Windows Search utility To find files and folders using the Search utility: 1 2 3 4 Using advanced search options Working with documents Creating a new document To create a new document: 1 2 Saving a document To save a document: 1 2 3 4 Opening a document To open a document: 1 2 3 4 Printing a document To print a document: 1 2 3 4 Shortcuts Using the Internet Learning about the Internet Setting up an Internet account To set up an Internet account with America Online: 1 2 Accessing your Internet account To connect to your America Online Internet account: 1 2 To disconnect from your America Online Internet account: Using the World Wide Web Connecting to a Web site To connect to a Web site: 1 2 Downloading files To download files or programs from a Web site: 1 2 3 4 5 Using e-mail Sending e-mail To send e-mail using America Online: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Checking your e-mail To check your e-mail using America Online: 1 2 3 Page Using Multimedia Using the diskette drive To use a diskette: 1 2 3 Using the CD or DVD drive Identifying drive types Inserting a CD or DVD To insert a CD or DVD: 1 2 3 Adjusting the volume Adjusting the volume To adjust the overall volume level using hardware controls: To adjust the overall volume level from Windows: 1 3 4 To adjust specific volume levels: 1 2 Page Listening to CDs Listening to CDs To play a CD: 1 2 3 Recording and playing audio To make an audio recording: 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 Playing audio and video files with the Windows Media Player To play a file using the WindowsMedia Player: 1 2 3 4 Using MusicMatch Playing CDs Page Creating MP3 music files To create (rip) MP3 files: 1 2 Page Editing track information Building a music library Changing the music library display settings Listening to Internet radio Using advanced features Using a recordable drive Creating data CDs To create a data CD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Creating music CDs To create music CDs: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Copying CDs To copy a CD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Playing a DVD To play a DVD: 1 2 3 4 5 Capturing video To use PinnacleExpression: 1 2 Page Sending and Receiving Faxes Installing and configuring Fax Installing Fax To install Fax: 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Page Sending a simple fax To send a simple fax: 1 2 3 4 Setting up your cover page template To set up your fax cover page template: 1 2 3 Faxing from programs Faxing a scanned document 3 4 5 Receiving and viewing a fax To receive and view a fax: 1 2 Canceling a fax Automatically retry sending a fax To automatically retry sending a fax: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Automatically cancelling a fax To automatically cancel a failed fax: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Managing Power Monitoring the battery charge Page Recalibrating the battery To recalibrate the battery: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Changing the battery Replacing the battery To replace the battery: 1 2 3 Page Extending battery life Conserving battery power Using alternate power sources Changing power modes Using power saving modes Changing power settings Changing the power scheme To change the power scheme 1 2 3 Changing alarm options To change the alarm options: 1 2 3 Changing advanced settings To change advanced power management settings: 1 2 3 Activating and using Hibernate mode To activate Hibernate mode: 1 2 3 4 To use Hibernate mode: T ravel Tips Modem Radio frequency wireless connections Files Security To create a startup password: 1 2 Power Additional tips Page Customizing Y our Computer Adjusting the screen and desktop settings Adjusting the color depth To change the color depth: 3 4 Adjusting the screen resolution To adjust the screen resolution: 1 3 4 5 Changing the colors on your Windows desktop To change desktop colors: 3 1 4 Changing the desktop background To change the desktop background: 1 3 4 5 6 Selecting a screen saver To select a screen saver: 1 3 4 6 7 8 Changing the touchpad settings To change your touchpad settings: 2 1 3 4 5 Programming the multi-function buttons To program the multi-function buttons: 1 2 3 Adding and modifying user accounts User account tips To add, delete, or modify user accounts: 1 2 3 Page Networking Y our Computer Benefits of networking Sharing a single Internet connection Sharing drives Sharing peripheral devices Streaming audio and video files Playing multi-player games Selecting a network connection Wired Ethernet network Wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11a or IEEE 802.11b) network Using a wired Ethernet network Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, or Gigabit Ethernet Example wired Ethernet network Equipment you need for a wired Ethernet network Using a wireless Ethernet network Example access point wireless Ethernet network Equipment you need for an access point wireless Ethernet network Page Equipment you need for a peer-to-peer wireless Ethernet network For more information Using your notebook on a network Installing and configuring your notebook for Ethernet networking Turning you r wireless Ethernet on or off To turn wireless Ethernet on or off: 1 Page Moving from Your Old Computer Using the Windows XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizar d To open the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard: Transferring files Finding your files To find files in the My Documents folder: 1 2 3 1 2 Transferring Internet settings Setting up your ISP To use the Internet Connection Wizard: 1 2 Installing your old printer or scanner Installing a USB printer or scanner Installing a parallel port printer To install your old printer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Installing your old programs Maintaining Y our Computer Caring for your computer Page Creating an emergency startup diskette To create an emergency startup diskette: 1 2 3 4 5 Page Protecting your computer from viruses To scan for viruses: 1 2 3 Page Managing hard drive space Checking hard drive space To check hard drive space: 2 Using Disk Cleanup To use the Windows Disk Cleanup program: 5 2 3 4 Checking the hard drive for err ors To check the hard drive for errors: 2 188 3 4 5 6 Defragmenting the hard drive To run Disk Defragmenter: 2 3 4 5 6 Backing up files Using the Scheduled Task Wizard To start the Scheduled Task Wizard: 1 2 3 Cleaning your computer Cleaning the exterior Cleaning the keyboard Cleaning the computer screen Cleaning the mouse Page Page Page Chapter 14: Restoring Software Using the Restoration CDs Reinstalling device drivers To reinstall device drivers: 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 Updating device drivers To update device drivers: 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 Reinstalling programs To reinstall programs from the red Gateway CD: 1 2 3 4 Page Reinstalling Windows To reinstall WindowsXP and the device drivers: 1 2 3 4 5 Page Page Adding and removing a PC Card To insert a PCCard: Page Preventing static electricity discharge Page Adding or replacing memory Page Page Replacing the hard drive kit Page Page Page Troubleshooting Safety guidelines First steps Software support tools 222 Troubleshooting CD or DVD drives Your notebook does not recognize a disc or the drive An audio CD does not produce sound 223 A DVD movie will not play 224 Cleaning CDs or DVDs Device installation You have computer problems after adding a new device To check IRQ usage: 1 Diskette drive The diskette drive is not recognized You see an Access Denied or Write protect error message You see a Disk is full error message Display 227 The display has pixels that are always dark or too bright File management A file was accidentally deleted To restore deleted files: 1 2 Hard drive Internet You cannot connect to the Internet 229 You see an Unable to locate host message and are unable to browse the Internet Connecting to a Web site takes too long 230 People are sending you e-mail messages, but you ha ve not received any mail Keyboard The external keyboard does not work A keyboard character keeps repeating or you see a Keyboard stuck or Key failure error message Memory You see a Memory error message Modem Your modem does not dial or does not connect To check the dialing properties: 1 2 232 You cannot connect to the Internet Your 56K modem does not connect at 56K 233 To access the gateway.your.way dial-up server: 1 2 3 The modem is not recognized by your notebook 234 To run modem diagnostics: 1 2 3 4 5 The modem is noisy when it dials and connects Mouse The external mouse does not work The external mouse works erratically 236 Networks You cannot connect to your company network Passwords Your notebook does not accept your password You forgot your startup password Power Your notebook is not working on ACpower Your notebook is not working on battery power Your notebook will not turn off, even after pressing the power button for five seconds Printer 1 2 3 You see a Printer queue is full error message To make sure that the printer is not set to work offline: 1 2 3 239 You see a Printer is out of paper error message Sound You are not getting sound from the built-in speakers Video Telephone support Before calling Gateway Tec hnical Support Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Telephone numbers Gateway offers a wide range of customer service, technical support, and information services. Automated troubleshooting system Telephone numbers You can access the following services through your telephone to get answers to your questions: Service description How to reach Tutoring and training Self-help Tutor in g Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Training A Safety, Regulatory , and Legal Information Important safety information Setting up your system Care during use Replacement parts and accessories Regulatory compliance statements Wireless Guidance Page United States of America Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Intentional emitter per FCC Part 15 Unintentional emitter per FCC Part 15 FCC declaration of conformity Telecommunications per FCC part68 (applicable to products fitted with USA modems) Canada Industry Canada (IC) Intentional emitter per RSS 210 Unintentional emitter per ICES-003 Telecommunications per DOC notice (for products fitted with an IC-compliant modem) Mexico Intentional emitter Unintentional emitter Laser safety statement Notices All Rights Reserved Trademark Acknowledgments Macrovision statement Index