Windows 3.x |
 |
by M. L. Giggleman |
Q: Is there a way to position my wallpaper to fill only half of the screen? I would like to have Program Manager on one side of the screen and the wallpaper on the other side. I have seen this done, but haven't been able to make it work on my computer. Control Panel will only let me center or tile the wallpaper.
A: Yes, there is a way to display the wallpaper positioned to one side of the screen. It will take some trial and error, however, as the exact coordinates depend on several factors (screen resolution, video mode, size of the wallpaper file).
First, edit WIN.INI and go to the [desktop] section. Add the following lines:
WIN.INI
[desktop]
WallPaperOriginX=0
WallPaperOriginY=0
These numbers specify horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) screen coordinates in number of pixels.
"WallPaperOriginX=" number of pixels from the left margin
"WallPaperOriginY=" number of pixels from the top margin
In the above example, the coordinates (0,0) would place the image in the center of the screen on a VGA monitor.
Changing the coordinates to 1,1 will align the wallpaper display at the top left of the screen.
[desktop]
WallPaperOriginX=1
WallPaperOriginY=1
A good place to start for positioning the wallpaper to the left half of the screen would be:
[desktop]
WallPaperOriginX=50
WallPaperOriginY=100
You will probably have to experiment with different coordinate values until the wallpaper is positioned exactly where you want it. Just remember after editing WIN.INI to save the file, exit and restart Windows to see the results.
Now that you know how to position the wallpaper, why not create a practical wallpaper - a list of phone numbers, schedules, important information, etc. for display on your desktop.
You could use Windows Write to create this list. Just keep in mind the size of the wallpaper when creating the list. When the list is complete, select the text (press the left mouse button and drag down to highlight the entire text, then release the left mouse button). From the Write menu bar, choose Edit and Copy. This places the highlighted text onto the Clipboard.
Next, open Paintbrush. Position the cursor on the screen where you wish the text to begin. If you get an error message saying "Only text is available on the Clipboard. To paste text, first select the position for pasting text and then use the Paste command", it simply means you did not "click" inside the Paintbrush window to indicate a starting position for the text. Close the error message box and choose a position for the text.
Now choose Edit and Paste. The text from the clipboard will be pasted at the location where you positioned the cursor.
To use a special font, choose Text, Fonts from the Paintbrush menu bar. Select a font, size, etc. Note also the options for "outline" and "shadow" available on the Text menu. Once the text is in place, you can select different colors for the text foreground, shadows, etc.
The last step is to save the file. Choose File, then Save. Type in a name using the .BMP (Bitmap) extension. Finally, use Control Panel to set this file as your active wallpaper.
You could also add text (from the Clipboard) to existing wallpaper using Paintbrush. From the Paintbrush menu bar, choose File, Open and select the BMP file. Position the cursor on the bitmap where the text should begin. If needed, choose options (font, colors, etc.), then choose Edit and Paste.
Another option would be to type text onto an existing wallpaper file. Open a file as above, position the cursor where you want to begin typing and click on the "abc" button on the toolbar on the left. Again, you can select a different font, colors, etc. as above.
Finally, don't forget that the Wallpaper has another purpose: you can access the Task List dialog box by double-clicking anywhere on the wallpaper.
Windows: Quick Check Of Screen Resolution
To see what your screen size is in pixels, open Paintbrush. Select Options from the menu bar. Choose Image Attributes. In the display window, set UNITS to "pels" and then click on the DEFAULTS button. The Width and Height boxes contain the screen resolution.
Windows: Shortcut To Edit Win.ini
A shortcut to edit WIN.INI without opening NOTEPAD and from any window is to select File, Run and type in WIN.INI (or SYSTEM.INI, any INI file). This will launch Notepad with the WIN.INI file loaded for editing.
To locate Windows problems, start by typing "WIN /B" to log start-up errors to a file. The /B switch creates the file Bootlog.txt in the Windows directory. If the file exists, new data is appended. This file may be viewed in a text editor, such as Windows Notepad.
As each Windows driver is loaded, a "LoadStart" line is added to this text file, followed by the driver name. If the loading is okay, the "LoadSuccess" line is written.
However, if a problem arises, Windows places the "LoadFail" statement in front of the driver's name and displays a failure code. The format of the line is as follows:
LoadFail = DEVICE.EXT Failure Code is ##
where:
DEVICE.EXT is the name of the driver that failed to load
## is a numeric error code from the list below
Check the BOOTLOG.TXT file for "LoadFail" statements. Error code #11 is very common when a file has been corrupted. Replace the drivers or files that caused problems.
BOOTLOG ERROR CODES
0 out of memory
2 file not found
3 path not found
8 insufficient memory to start application
10 incorrect Windows version
11 invalid .EXE file
(error in .EXE file or non-Windows .EXE file)
12 OS/2 application
14 unknown .EXE file type
15 Failed attempt to use .EXE file (.EXE was created for earlier version of Windows)
M. L. Giggleman is a HAL-PC member who works contract as a PC Systems Specialist/Network Administrator. Send e-mail to supgigg1@airmail.net.