How to Create Mouse Pointers
Get rid of that boring white mouse pointer by downloading a simple freeware application that allows you to make your own. Your new mouse pointer can come in many shapes, sizes and colors -- you can rework an old cursor or create a completely new one.
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Instructions
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Make a single pointer file and install it in Windows Vista
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Download and install the IconArt freeware from www.conware.org.
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Open IconArt and you will see a blank pink page (pink is the background, which will look transparent when you've saved and installed the pointer). Start there if you want to draw your own pointer. Or open and edit an existing pointer file by clicking on "File," then "Open." Navigate to the Windows folder, look for the Cursors sub-folder and open an existing file. Click on "File," "Save Frame as Cursor" and type in a different name from the existing one. Now you've made a copy of an existing mouse pointer file.
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3
Draw a picture, or edit the existing pointer, using the tools in IconArt. Choose a color in the color key on the right, then choose a tool to draw with. The pencil tool changes the color of a single square. The line tool draws a line, the square and circle tools draw those shapes, either filled or empty. The paint bucket fills in a whole section at once, while the spray paint tool covers a few squares. Experiment with the different tools. Click on "Edit" and then "Undo" if you make a mistake.
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4
Set the "HotSpot." The "HotSpot" is the exact square that becomes the point of the pointer. It is generally the upper left corner, labeled with 0,0 coordinates. If you opened an existing cursor file, you might not have to change this. To change it, click on the black arrow to the right of the "HotSpot" locator, directly above the color key (see picture). In the box that comes up, slide the crosshairs until the "HotSpot" is where you want it.
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5
Save your file. In Vista, the cursor files are in the Windows folder, in a sub-folder called Cursors. If you save it somewhere else, remember the location so you can find it in the next step. A regular, non-animated pointer file will have a .cur extension, such as "pointer.cur."
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To install the new pointer, right click anywhere on your computer desktop. Select "Personalize" in the menu that pops up, then click on "Mouse Pointers" (see picture, item 1). Select the "Pointers" tab (item 2), and select the pointer you want to change (I selected the default pointer, item 3). Click on the "Browse" button (item 4) and navigate to the location where you saved the pointer file in step 4. Select the file, click on "OK," then on "OK" in the "Mouse Properties" box. Close the "Personalization" menu by clicking on the red X in the upper right-hand corner.
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