Thread: Customize your desktop with Rainmeter and Launchy

I have been using these programs for a while now and thought it would be good to show you all how to use them. This is my first tutorial, so please let me know if you think anything should be added, or if you have any questions.



1. Launchy

The first step to customizing your desktop is to remove all desktop icons. I know for some this will be a bit hard to switch over to but with Launchy the switch is easy. Now right click on your desktop, got to view, and uncheck 'Show Desktop Icons'.

Now install Launchy (Launchy Link) and start it up. What Launchy does it allow you to call it up and have it run anything for you. Just hit alt + spacebar and it will bring up Launchy.

Now just type in what you want to run and Launchy will find it for you, and when you hit enter it will run it.

If you do not like the look of Launchy you can find new skins at deviant art (Skins).

2. Rainmeter

The next step it to install rainmeter. Rain meter allows to customize your desktop. (Rainmeter link) Now out of the box rainmeter does not do that much so what you need to do is find some skins that you like. You can find those here (Skins). Some of my favorites are Enigma, Hud Vision, Black Glass. Now what you need to do is unpack these skins into the skin folder for Rainmeter (program files/rainmeter/skins). Now start rainmeter and right click the tray icon. This will bring up a menu from which you can select from all the skins and choose what you want.

When you select a skin it will appear on your screen. You can right click the skin to get the the skin menu. Use skin menu to edit the skin or to remove it if you do not want it.

It can take a while to find a setup you like, so take your time trying out different skins and editing them. With enough time you could create a desktop which looks like this. I have spent many hours tweaking my skins, so do not expect this to be a quick thing. It takes time to learn the ins and outs of rainmeter.

pretty sick, nice tut. planning on doing this

awesome tut. Is this only for Vista?

It works for Vista and XP (32bit and 64bit for both)

I'd like stardock beat that! free software prevails :D

+1 for awesome tutorial

well i alreayd have my desktop tuned up as i want it to be. Yours looks pretty nice too. Maybe one day i'll take you up on your programs.

Thanks, I've been looking for something similar to launcher. Thumbs up, +1

Nice tip. My desktop looks sweet with all the Rainwater skins.

Q

If anyone needs help with customizing any skins just let me know, I will see what I can do.