Make Your Desktop Yours

Quick How-to for Rainmeter

Steve Smith explains how-to use Rainmeter with skins made by other artists.

Episode #7-39 released on May 27, 2017

Watch on Youtube

A desktop is only a desktop unless you make it your own. This is where the program Rainmeter is king. Offering endless options in desktop customization for those who like a lot of information about their computer, or who want tools to take notes, listen to music from the desktop, etc. And, while it would take a long time to explain how to create your own skins, I will be demonstrating how to install, and tweak a skin for your own desktop.

First, getting Rainmeter. Go to Rainmeter.net, and download the application. For stability, you may want to download a final release, and not a beta, but it is your choice. My demonstration is done with the final release of 4.0. Then simply install it.

Second, getting a different skin for your desktop. You have suggested sources of skins that are already built. These places are DeviantArt, Lifehacker Desktop Show & Tell, Reddit's Rainmeter subreddit, and the Rainmeter Forum. On the Rainmeter site, click discover to see the links to these places.

Third, acquisition and installation of a Rainmeter Skin. Head over to any of the sites suggested by Rainmeter to find a nice-looking skin that you want to use with your desktop. Remember, Rainmeter skins terminate with the extension rmskin, and always scan all files with antivirus solution before opening. Double click the Rainmeter skin file to install it, and answer the simple questions it asks.

Fourth, setting up the desktop your way. The skins you will be downloading, are skins others made. This means that certain things may not look good against your background, over not as interesting. You might even download a few skins before you are happy with the result. The position of items is customizable, and you can change the way you interact with specific details. You can change transparency, whether it reacts or not to being clicked on, save the position, and a few other options. Don't like something the original creator made in his or her skin, you can even unload portions of the skin yourself. You can add parts of other skins, too.

And, lastly, saving your layouts. Open the application, go to layouts, and enter a name, click save. This will allow you to restore to a particular layout, no matter what happens. This means, you can experiment to your heart's content, and go back to something earlier, if you so choose to.

Host : Steve Smith | Music : | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Dot Net

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