If you want to have your favorite application, file or folder close at hand, simply add it to the Start Menu.

To accomplish this, click and drag any application, folder or file icon right onto the Start button. A new shortcut arrow will appear on your pointer to inform you that you are about to create a shortcut. Now, just let go. Go ahead and click Start...and it should be right there in the upper section of the menu.

To add an item to a specific Start menu location...drag the item down to the Start menu button > hold it there for a second or two( without letting go of the mouse button ) > when the Start menu appears > find the desired location > and let go. A black line would have appeared between the Start menu items to inform you where the item would be inserted. That's it.

Changing the color scheme in WinME is just as easy as in Win98.

Simply right-click the desktop > select Properties > and the Display Properties dialog box will open. Now, click on the Appearance tab > then click the down arrow under Schemes > and choose. A preview of that scheme will appear in the top half of the dialog box. You can continue selecting schemes until you find one that you prefer > then go ahead and click OK to apply it to your desktop.

To accomplish a custom color scheme, keep the scheme you want to change to displayed in the Appearance tab > click the first item you want to change( this is beneath the preview window ). When you see a color on the bottom under Color > click it and a drop-down menu will appear. Now, select a new shade( or click Other > select a color from the Color dialog box > click OK ) > and repeat for each element you wish to change.

You can save your work by clicking Save As > type in a name for the custom scheme > click OK. Now, click OK one more time to apply the scheme to your desktop.

WinME comes equipped with an Active Desktop( just as Win98 does ). This simply means that you can add Active Web Content or pics on the desktop as desktop items.

To take advantage of the Active Desktop > right-click the desktop > select Active Desktop > and select Show Web Content.

You can also do this from inside any active Explorer window by selecting > Tools > Folder Options > on the General tab, under Active Desktop > select Enable Web Content On My Desktop.

To turn off the Active Desktop > right-click the desktop > select Active Desktop and then de-select Show Active Web Content. Or, alternately, you can go to the General tab of the Folder Options dialog box in Explorer( mentioned above ) > select Use Windows Classic Desktop.