Make XP display a custom screen saver using your very own pictures

Make XP display a custom screen saver using your very own pictures

It used to be darn near impossible to create a personal screen saver using your own photo collection. To do this, you had to track down a third-party application and sloppily piece together your pictures to create a screen saver.

Well, the engineers at Microsoft must have realized they hated third-party applications and decided enough was enough. XP can take any pictures stored in your "My Pictures" folder and display them in random order as a screen saver.

To make a personal screen saver in XP, follow these directions:

• Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and choose Properties.
• Click the Screen Saver tab inside the Display Properties dialog box.
• In the Screen Saver pull-down menu, choose "My Pictures Slideshow."
• Underneath the Screen Saver pull-down menu, adjust the time of inactivity before Windows will initiate your screen saver.
• Click Settings to make additional adjustments.
• You'll be able to adjust transition effects between pictures, how frequently they change, what size the pictures should be, and more.
• Click OK when you're done tweaking the settings adjustments.
• Press the Preview button to see what your screen saver looks like.
• If everything is to your liking, click Apply.