Windows Active Desktop is good for something!
My main accomplishment today was the discovery of a use for Windows Active Desktop! I managed to get it so the Bryant Park Webcam is my desktop. The desktop refreshes every 10 minutes, just like the webcam. All this required was some serious drill-down into the Display control panel:
Here are the steps to get a webcam image displayed on the desktop; and set it so the image on the desktop updates with the one on the web:
- Right click on any blank area of the desktop, and choose Properties from the context menu
- Click on the Desktop tab
- Click on the Customize Desktop button
- Click on the Web tab
- Click on the New button
- Enter the url of your preferred webcam
- Click on the Properties button
- Click on the Schedule tab
- Click on the Add button
- Give your task a name. Ignore the hours/minutes boxes as we'll set the time later
- Click the OK button
- Click on the Edit button
- Click on the Schedule tab
- Set the Start Time for 12:01AM
- Click on the Advanced button
- Check the Repeat Task checkbox
- Enter the interval you want your desktop to refresh, in minutes; Keep in mind that refreshing more than once an hour will get annoying very fast.
- Set the Duration to 24 Hours
- Click OK
- Check the Show Multiple Schedules checkbox
- Click the New button
- Change Schedule Task to "At System Startup"
- Click OK twice
- Select the "Lock Desktop Items" checkbox
- Click OK twice
NOTE: To get the desktop to look exactly how you want, it may be necessary to move or resize the "live content." Just go back uncheck the Lock Desktop Items checkbox.
These instructions have been tested on a Windows NT/XP box and on a recent installation of Windows XP SP2. But this procedure is not recommended. Ever. It's something cool that can be done with Windows, but it will slow down your general operating speed; and likely it will occasionally crash certain processor intensive programs, such as video games.