WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Active Desktop and Wallpaper Settings

Active Desktop for Windows 2000 Professional uses Web, HTTP, and HTML components—such as Web sites, Microsoft® ActiveX® Controls, and floating frames, along with traditional Microsoft® Win32® presentation services—to enhance the Windows user interface.

Active Desktop incorporates Microsoft Internet Explorer with HTML Web browser technology to enable browsing and viewing information, along with new features such as subscriptions that allow the desktop to automatically receive information from network servers on TCP/IP networks.

Using Active Desktop, you can:

Add Web content to desktops from the Internet or your intranet.

Use subscriptions to regularly update content.

Browse the Active Desktop Gallery to choose sites.

Lock down Active Directory elements to prevent changes.

The advantage of using Active Desktop is to provide users with immediate access to the most current information. You need to review the type of information your workgroups need and consider the best method of delivery. Active desktop works best when time-critical information, such as a stock ticker or inventory counter, is needed.

You can choose to disable Active Desktop on general installations, but give users the ability to enable it as they choose.

To disable Active Desktop without using Group Policy

Right-click an empty area on the desktop, point to Active Desktop, and then click Customize My Desktop.

Clear the Show Web content on my Active Desktop check box.

You can display an HTML file as wallpaper when Active Desktop is enabled. The HTML page can be on your local computer or on a network drive, but it cannot point to a URL on your intranet or on the World Wide Web. You can save a file from the Internet or intranet to your hard disk drive by displaying the page in your browser, selecting Save As from the File menu, and saving it to your local hard disk drive.

To use an HTML file as the Active Desktop wallpaper

Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.

On the Background tab, click Browse, and then navigate to the location of the HTML file you want to use.

NOTE

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If you select a .bmp file for Windows 2000 Professional background wallpaper and then choose to use Active Desktop wallpaper, the Active Desktop runs in the foreground, covering up the system wallpaper. When you press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, Active Desktop is disabled and the system wallpaper (the specified .bmp file) is displayed. This behavior is normal.

Using Graphics and HTML Pages as Active Desktop Items

You can add an HTML page, or a JPEG or GIF graphics file, as an item on the Active Desktop. In a corporate intranet, for example, you might want to add a frequently-used HTML form, such as a sales order, for faster access by sales personnel. You might add an animated GIF of your corporate logo to make it easier for users to copy and paste the logo into letters, spreadsheets, or Web pages.

The Microsoft Active Desktop Gallery on the World Wide Web contains Active Desktop items, such as MSN Investor Tickers and Java clocks, that you can download. To use these items, visit the Active Desktop Gallery Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/.

To add an item to the Active Desktop

Right-click the Active Desktop, point to Active Desktop, and then click New Desktop Item.

Click Visit Gallery to select an item from the Microsoft Active Desktop Gallery. Otherwise, type or browse the path to the HTML page or graphic file that you want to display as an Active Desktop item.

You can prevent changes to an Active Desktop configuration without using Group Policy.

To lock Active Desktop settings

Right-click the desktop, point to Active Desktop, and then click Lock Desktop Items.

As with most Group Policy settings, Active Desktop policy settings can have multiple effects. For example, if you set the Enable Active Desktop Group Policy to Enable, users cannot disable Active Desktop. When you right-click the desktop and point to Active Desktop, the Show Web Content command is unavailable; when you right-click the desktop, click Properties, and then click the Web tab, the Show Web content on my Active Desktop check box is unavailable; and on the General tab of Folder Options in Control Panel, the Use Windows classic desktop option is unavailable.

Other Group Policy settings you enforce can affect how Active Desktop Group Policy settings work. For additional information, right-click the Group Policy setting, click Properties, and then click the Explain tab, or refer to the Group Policy Reference on the Windows 2000 Resource Kit companion CD.

The Group Policy settings listed in Table 8.3 are located in the Group Policy snap-in under Local Computer PolicyUser ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesDesktopActive Desktop.

Table 8.3 Group Policy Settings That Can Affect Active Desktop