I want to change my text and background colours

Changing colours in Windows XP

This section explains how you can change the text and background colours in Windows XP.

Choosing from standard colour schemes

Open the ‘ Start ‘ menu by clicking on the ‘ Start ‘ button or by pressing the ‘ Windows ‘ logo key (located between the ‘ Ctrl ‘ + ‘ Alt ‘ keys on most keyboards) alternatively press ‘ Ctrl ‘ + ‘ Esc ‘.

Click on ‘ Control Panel ‘ or press ‘ C ‘ until ‘ Control Panel ‘ is selected and then press ‘ Enter ‘ if necessary.

Note: in earlier versions of XP you will need to click on ‘ Settings ‘ or press the letter ‘ S ‘ on the keyboard first.

If you see the text ‘ Pick a category ‘ (see Fig 1) as the main title on the page and under the Control Panel title you can see ‘ Switch to Classic View ‘ you need to select ‘ Switch to Classic View ‘ (you are currently in ‘Category View‘) by clicking on the link or by pressing tab until the ‘ Switch to Classic View ‘ is selected and then press ‘ Enter ‘.

Fig 1

In Classic view double click on ‘ Display ‘ or press the ‘ D ‘ key repeatedly until ‘ Display ‘ is highlighted and then press ‘ Enter ‘.

Click on the ‘ Appearance ‘ tab or press ‘ Control ‘ + ‘ Tab ‘ until the ‘ Appearance ‘ tab is at the front. In Fig 2 you can see a sample Window screen and below it three drop down menus listing the ‘ Windows and buttons ‘ style (XP or classic), the currently selected ‘ Colour scheme ‘ and the ‘ Font size ‘.

Fig 2

Click the drop down box below the ‘ Colour scheme ‘ heading, or press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ C ‘ to jump there. Use the mouse or the up and down arrow keys to browse through the list and click on the scheme you want, or press ‘ Enter ‘, to select a scheme. Click ‘ OK ‘ or press ‘ Enter ‘ to exit the ‘ Display Properties ‘ dialog box.

Changing individual colours

As well as choosing schemes you can change colours individually such as desktop colour and window background colour under the ‘ Advanced ‘ options.

Note: In order to fully use the ‘ Advanced ‘ options feature you must have your ‘ Windows and buttons ‘ setting set to ‘ Windows Classic style ‘ as shown in Fig 2 above.

To change individual colours:

Repeat steps 1 -5 above.

Click on ‘ Advanced ‘ button or press the ‘ Tab ‘ key until the ‘ Advanced ‘ button is highlighted and then press ‘ Enter ‘ . This will display the ‘ Advanced Appearance ‘ window as shown in Fig 3.

Fig 3

Click on the drop down box below the ‘ Item ‘ heading, as highlighted in Fig 3 above or press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ I ‘ to jump there.

Use either the mouse or the up and down arrow keys to navigate through the list of items. As an example, we‘ll change the ‘ Menu ‘ colour scheme from its usual grey background with black text.

Move down the list until ‘ Menu ‘ is highlighted.

Click on the colour box to the right of the ‘ Item‘ drop down box and choose a different colour from the colour grid that pops up (see Fig 4) by clicking on it or press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ L ‘ to select the colour box and press the ‘ Spacebar ‘ to display the colour grid then press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ O ‘ to bring up ‘ Other ‘ colour options. In the colour box that comes up press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ B ‘ to jump to the ‘ Basic Colors‘ box then use the arrow keys to choose the colour you want and then press the ‘ Spacebar ‘ to select it and then press ‘ Enter ‘ to return to the ‘ Display Properties ‘ page.

Fig 4

Now you have changed the menu background colour, let‘s change the text colour on the menus. Make sure that Menu is still selected in the Item drop down box - if not then repeat the steps above to select it.

Click on the second colour box on this page (directly below the first one we used and to the right of the ‘ Font ‘ box ), and choose a different colour by clicking on it, or press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ R ‘ to select the colour box and press the ‘ Spacebar ‘ to display the colour grid then press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ O ‘ to bring up ‘ Other ‘ colour options (see Fig 5 below). In the colour box that comes up press ‘ Alt ‘ + ‘ B ‘ to jump to the ‘ Basic Colors‘ box then use the arrow keys to choose the colour you want and then press the ‘ Spacebar ‘ to select it and then press ‘ Enter ‘ to return to the ‘ Display Properties ‘ page.

Fig 5

Press ‘ Enter ‘ or click ‘ OK ‘ to return to Windows where you should be able to view your changes.

Note: If this does not work, it could be your computer settings are unable to make changes due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help.