Windows 7 - Create Your Own Desktop Photo Slide Show

SUMMARY: Automatically have Windows 7 switch the desktop background every few minutes.

(This tip is geared towards beginner / intermediate users.) If you have used one of Windows 7's default themes, you may have noticed that the Desktop background changes every so often. If you would like to use your own photos for the Desktop background slide show instead of a theme's, plus learn how to alter how often the photos change, do the following:

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and choose "Personalize" from the pop-up menu that appears.

2. The "Personalization" Control Panel appears. Near the bottom of the window, click on "Desktop Background".

3. The window changes to the "Desktop Background" configuration. Next to "Picture location", click the pull-down to choose a pre-defined folder where photos may be located, or click the "Browse" button to choose a folder where you have placed your photos.

4. Now check or uncheck the boxes next to the photos you want added to the slide show. Click "Select all" to choose all photos (default) or "Clear all" to clear all checkboxes so you can begin making your selections.

5. Underneath "Picture position", click the pull-down to choose what happens to photos that normally do not fit the screen. You can either force the photos to "fill" the screen, "fit" the photos with the proper aspect ratio (so bars may appear around the photos), "stretch" the photos, "tile" the photos so copies of it fill the screen, or just "center" the photos onscreen.

6. Underneath "Change picture every", click the pull-down to choose how often the picture should change, from 10 seconds to 1 day.

7. If desired, click the "Shuffle" checkbox so pictures are displayed in semi-random order.

8. When done, click "Save Changes" to close the "Desktop Background" settings, then close the "Personalization" window.

Note that if you later change the theme this may alter your chosen desktop background image(s)

Once you have multiple photos selected for display in Windows 7, if you tire of the current backdrop right-click an empty area of the Desktop and choose "Next desktop background".