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Active Desktops and Active WallpaperWelcome to Gary the Grey's Active Wallpapers - Far out Gary!This is a whole new way to set up your desktop wallpaper and put some life on your desktop. Please follow the simple instructions below to insure a (happy) & memorable experience with Gary and his active wallpapers. The follow document was written as a backdrop rather than a guide to active desktops and active wallpapers in general. I could not find a great deal of information about active wallpapers, but here is the results of my search. I have written this document in HTML form as it contains some download links along with links to sites dealing with JavaScript or Java applets. You do not need to know anything about programming to use these active wallpapers, you just need to know how to load and unload them. If you already know how to load wallpaper background, than you're 90% there already! Those of you that are interested in adapting these examples for your own use may do so. Please give a reference to Gary or Exeter Street if you distribute them. You should also include any references to the people who created the scripts in the first place too!. It'll be good for your karma. What is an Active Desktop and what is Active Wallpaper? The desktop is the area in which you work. Your desktop normal contains 4 main items i.e. MY Computer, Network Neighbourhood, the Recycle Bin & My Documents. Other shortcuts and folders my also be present. This is the desktop. The background can be a single colour i.e. green, a pattern, or an image, which is known as wallpaper If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4, which comes Built in to MS WINDOWS 95 ver. C, or MS WINDOWS 98, you will also be able to use HTML pages as wallpaper. I.E. 4 contains Active X components. In these versions of WINDOWS they are built in. Windows 95 ver A and B comes with I.E 3.2 and is a fairly basic Internet browser. I.E. 5 does not contain Active X components. You must have the Active Desktop switched on in order to view the desktop as a web page. To check this, simply Click start, move to settings, active desktop and make sure there is a check mark by the phrase view as web. If you don't have ACTIVE DESKTOP showing in start settings then you don't have it available to use. The term active desktop can mean a lot of different things. Such as
Active wallpaper is usually associated with the last definition, but it could be applied to all of the above. It all depends upon nature of the media you are trying to display. See below for more information on this. What do I need to view Active wallpaper?
You must have the Active Desktop switched on in order to view the desktop as a web page. To check this, simply Click start, move to settings, active desktop and make sure there is a check mark by the phrase view as web. If you don't have ACTIVE DESKTOP showing in start settings then you don't have it available to use. You can’t use what you do not have, or have not loaded. You need to read the help provided with your Windows 95 or 98 Operating System. How do I load active wallpaper?
You right click on any empty space on your desk to (a space on which there are no icons) and chose properties, then at the bottom of the window that pops up you'll see wallpaper. All the available BMP, JPG, GIF & HTM items are listed in the left hand scroll box. This box contains listings from the \WINDOWS folder, as well as, the \WINDOWS\WEB\WALLPAPER folder Note: if you have placed the HTM wallpapers in a folder other than the 2 listed above, you will have to click on the browse button and open the folder containing the HTM pages I.E.: If you unpacked the files to a folder with a path other than \windows\web\wallpaper or you have not moved all the unpacked files there, you will need to browse for them! Click on the .HTM file you wish to use, click Apply and then click OK. That's all there is to it. Your desktop should now display the active wallpaper Note: some active wallpaper will not show up in the little monitor preview frame, This is because they contain Java. Once loaded they do look different. What are the benefits from using active wallpaper? With an active desktop you could claim ease of use, instant information updating in real time, collecting & sending information etc. As for as the active wallpapers goes, these are mostly for their entertainment valve. I enjoyed making some of them, the ones I got working that is. They could be used as advertising or site promotion, as Gary has done. What are the drawbacks to using active wallpaper? Once you load something, anything, it will use a part of your resources. Any active desktop will do the same. Obviously the smaller the files loaded, the better. With these animations though, the computer is being asked not only to display a picture, but also manipulate it in some way. Careful selection of effect and use of appropriate graphics will go a long way towards ensuring both a smooth running desktop and overall system. Like most things the simpler it is the less there is to go wrong. You should view the active wallpapers in this collection as experiments. Some will work very well and some will be average. They all work and with a bit of adjusting, should be OK If the fail and crash YOUR system, sorry, They got tested as much as possible. Where do I go to complain if it all goes pear shaped? Well Gary the Grey would often ask that himself - F*** o** Gary! is the usual answer This is a whole new ball game to Gary as it's never happen during extensive testing. If you do run into problems, e-mail Gary, making the subject :I'm got a problem Gary, stating the problem and hardware you are using. The better the Computer, the better the results should be, operating system or operator aside. Gary might be doing some more of these some day, so why not check out.... The Exeter Street Nest - http://www.geocities.com/exeter_street/Thanks for downloading Gary's Active Desktop and remember Facts are grey but the tree of life is forever green! E-mail Gary the Grey at exeter_street@freenet.co.uk The Exeter Street Nest - Nov 2001 |