Changing the toolbar background

Changing the background of the toolbar is one of the oldest tweaks for Windows. It has been around ever since Windows 95 and still works on the latest version of Windows. Because I am writing a book on customizing Windows XP, I just had to include this classic.

Back in Windows 95, the only way to display an image as the background for the menu bar and toolbar of Internet Explorer was to hack the registry. Now, using Tweak UI, changing the toolbar background is very easy. If you do not already have Tweak UI, download a copy now. If you already have it or have just finished installing it, you are ready to get started:

1. Start up Tweak UI from the PowerToys for Windows XP entry in the All Programs menu of the Start Menu.

2. Next, expand the Internet Explorer item from the list and select Toolbar Background.

3. You will be shown two different options. You can specify a bitmap to be shown just on the Internet Explorer toolbar or you can specify a bitmap to be shown on the Explorer windows (My Computer, My Documents, and so on.). For the purpose of this section, you will just be using the first option. The next step is to check the Use Custom Background for Internet Explorer Toolbar.

4. Once you have put a check in the box, the Change button will become active. Click the button and select the image bitmap that you want to use. You can use any bitmap image on your computer. However, certain files, such as photos, don't always look the best. I like to create my own bitmap using Adobe Photoshop and making a simple image that is just a gradation. This gives a nice appearance as the back of the toolbar. You don't have to use Adobe Photoshop to create an image that is a simple gradation of two shades of a color; you can use any image editing program that has the gradient feature. Just about all popular Paint programs have that feature.

Once you have picked out or created your image file and have selected it with the Change button, you are finished and will be able to see your new toolbar background by opening up a new instance of Internet Explorer.