Windows XP and the Mouse Change the Mouse Pointer, Maybe Animate It! SUMMARY: Change your Windows XP mouse pointers to use static or animated cursors.   Tired of the boring pointer, hourglass, and hand mouse pointers in Windows XP? Would you rather have a beating drum when Windows is waiting for the hard drive to access a file? How about a banana instead of the boring mouse pointer? Or would you just rather have some other colorful pointers? Windows XP lets you configure your mouse pointers, even supporting animated pointers that change color, dance, wiggle, and more! 1. First, open Windows XP's Mouse Control Panel. 2. On the "Mouse Properties" multi-tabbed dialog box that follows, select the "Pointers" tab. 3 Double-click the pointer you wish to customize. Options include: * Normal Select - default cursor * Help Select - if a dialog box has a question-mark in the top right that displays help topics, clicking it displays this cursor * Working in Background - when the computer is performing a task in the background * Busy - also used when the computer is performing a task * Precision Select -crosshairs for selecting items in some applications * Text Select - used when selecting characters, lines, paragraphs, or other blocks of text * Handwriting - used in some apps for handwriting * Unavailable - used whenever you are trying to perform a task that Windows XP does not allow, such as dragging and dropping an icon to an application or window that doesn't support this action * Vertical Resize - vertically resizing a window * Horizontal Resize - horizontally resizing a window * Diagonal Resize 1 - resizing a window on its top-left or bottom-right corners * Diagonal Resize 2 -resizing a window on its top-right or bottom-left corners * Move - moving a window * Alternate Select - an alternate mouse cursor when selecting items in some application * Link Select - selecting a hyperlinked item, such as a webpage in a web browser 4. Browse and double-click the pointer file with which you wish to replace the current one. 5. When you are done customizing pointers click "OK" to close the dialog box.   Add: Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | My Yahoo!   Discuss This Tip Print This Tip Get E-Mail When New Tips are Online Return to the Windows XP and the Mouse page.