How to Create an Engaging Custom Desktop HUD With Rainmeter

Posted on January 4, 2017 by resourcefulman

Rainmeter is a powerful tool that lets you create beautiful, information-rich heads-up displays that keep track of your system health, RSS feeds, and a ton of other information. Here’s how to use it to create a stunning Iron Man-style HUD for your Windows desktop.

Windows customization app Rainmeter is a frequent star in our series of recommended desktops, and for good reason. It has tons of different configuration options that let you tweak almost every pixel of your desktop exactly how you like it, plus it looks fantastic. Once set up, it’s powerful and effective, but not very user-friendly. This step-by-step guide will get you started on your journey to desktop customizable bliss without any hassle.

Install Rainmeter and learn a few basic terms

Rainmeter is extremely easy to install. Download it from here and run the .exe. You can choose from a full installation or a portable installation, which keeps everything in one folder and allows you to run it from a flash drive.

Once installed, the biggest obstacle to working with Rainmeter is its terminology. The app uses several terms differently from other apps and it can be confusing when you are just starting out. So, to make sure we’re starting on the same page (and speaking Rainmeter), here’s a quick glossary of terms:

Skins: What Rainmeter calls skins are commonly referred to as “widgets” by the rest of us. These are small applications that live on your desktop under your windows. You can have an RSS skin, a Now Playing skin, a clock skin, and so on. Some skins can be very complex, resembling small applications in themselves. The term “skin” refers to what a widget is, not how it looks.
Skin packs: Skin creators can combine a bunch of similar-looking widgets into so-called “skin packs”. For example, Rainmeter comes with a standard set of skins called “illustro” (see above left). You can mix skins from different sets, but it doesn’t have to look very coherent, so in general you want to stick to a specific set.
Layouts: The layout determines the position of your covers on the desktop. After customizing the desktop just the way you like, you can save it as a layout and re-download it later. So you can have one minimalist theme that only has a small sidebar with the information you need when you work, and a more thoughtful theme with two sidebars, more widgets, and a taskbar when you can afford it. distracted.

Rainmeter comes with a simple set of skins called illustro, so we will be using it in many of our examples. If you are not a fan of Illustro, you can download some skin packs before you start.

Find and download the perfect skin packs for your style

The Illustro Suite is a great place to start, but there is a whole world of stunning suites to try. You can start with our Recommended Desktops series, where readers share their favorite custom workspaces. You can also visit the Rainmeter forums , the Rainmeter DeviantART group, or the Rainmeter subreddit to find a huge community of fans creating their own skins. I’m partial to Enigma (which we’ll also be using for some examples) and the Omnimo UI, which is an extremely powerful collection of skins using Windows 10’s flat colorful design scheme.

When you find a few skins you like, you can install them in two ways. Some skin packs come with an .rmskin file. With these, you can simply double-click the file and click Install on the pop-up window. You can also apply the new layout right away as soon as the installation is complete.

The rest of the skins must be installed manually. They usually come as a .zip or .rar archive and do not contain an .rmskin file. For them, follow these steps:

Download the .zip file containing the skins you want.
Unzip the contents of the folder to \ Documents \ Rainmeter \ Skins on your computer.
When the extraction is complete, right-click on the Rainmeter icon in the system tray.
Click Update All.

New skins are now available in Rainmeter. Some custom skin packs include pre-built layouts, so you just have to click a couple of buttons to get a completely new desktop. The rest require a little tweak. We’ll cover the basics for both using Illustro and Enigma.

Add and organize your skins the way you want

When you first load Rainmeter, you should see a few skins on the side of your screen. You can click and drag them, align them with each other and if they contain links (like an RSS skin) you can click the information inside. You can also add a new skin with just a couple of clicks. For example, here’s how to add a basket skin from the Illustro set:

Right click any of your open skins.
Go to Illustro> Trash.
Click Recycle Bin.ini.

If you want to remove a skin, right-click it and select Unload Skin. You will also notice when you right-click on a skin, each of which has its own Settings menu. Here you can configure many handy settings. Some of the most useful are:

Position: Here you can specify where your skins will be displayed. You can make some skins appear on top of others, or choose which monitor they will be displayed on.
Transparency: This allows you to adjust how much you can see through the skin. Note that many skin packs already include some semi-transparent elements, but if you want to see your desktop a little more, you can customize it here.
Hide On Hover : This will hide the skin whenever you hover over it. This is useful if you want a shell on top of your work, but don’t want it to interfere with your work.
Draggable: allows you to move skins. Once you’re happy with where they are placed, uncheck this option to pin the skin where you want.
Click- to- slide : If enabled, you will not be able to click the cover. Instead, you’ll click on what’s underneath. This is similar to Hiding on Hover, except that you can still see your skins.
Snap to Edges: When you line up multiple skins it helps to make sure they are all in perfect position. Because there is nothing worse than a one pixel skin.

For most users, the Drag and Drop and Snap to Edges options will be most helpful when customizing your layout. You might want to disable Draggable after that to avoid accidentally moving anything.

Customize your skins for maximum customization

Some skins work right out of the box: the clock shows the time, the basket shows how many items you have in the basket. Others, like RSS Shell or Disk Shell, require some tweaking to know which drives or feeds to monitor. For some packages, you will need to dig into configuration files, while others have simpler options panels. Here’s how to edit both, using Illustro and Enigma as examples.

Editing skins through config files

The Illustro set can only be edited using the configuration files of each skin. For example, the disc cover (which should be active when Rainmeter is first installed) displays only C: and D: drives by default. If you prefer a monitor, say E: instead of D:, you need to edit the skin. This means editing its config file. To do this, follow these steps:

Right-click the “Discs” cover and select “Edit Cover”. This will open the “2 Disks.ini” configuration file in Notepad.
Press Ctrl + F and find D:
Replace every instance of D: with E:
Save the .ini file and exit Notepad.
Right-click the cover of the disc and select Update Cover.

This is a very simple edit, but it gives you an idea of how you can make small changes to skins, even if you are not a programmer. Typically, a simple scan of the configuration files for a few minutes will give you an idea of the parts being edited and what each one does. I recommend making a backup copy of the original config file (for example, just making a copy and adding .bak to the name) the first few times you edit, so if you get confused you can always paste the original values back in.

If you want to dive deeper, you can check out the Rainmeter documentation here . You will find tons of tutorials explaining how Rainmeter works, how to write your own skins, and how to customize the ones you find. You should also visit the Rainmeter forums to find helpful users who can point you in the right direction. You don’t need to do any of this to use the pre-made Rainmeter skins, but the community will help a lot if you decide to create your own.

Editing skins with your suite options

Some packages, such as Enigma , contain options windows that allow you to customize them without digging into the configuration file. To configure these settings, follow these steps:

Right click on the open Enigma skin.
Go to Enigma> Options
Click on Options.ini.

You will now see a cover page that shows the version information for Enigma. There is a strip of icons on the side. Click the gear icon to adjust options such as disk tracking or storage space for notes. Click the music icon to change the application from which you play music. Here you can change a lot of options for all skins in the Enigma pack. It’s much easier than editing config files, and most of the best packages will have an options panel like this.

Save and switch between more useful layouts

There are so many awesome Rainmeter skins out there that you can create the perfect collection of skins for both work and play. If you want to switch between them when you need certain tools, you can use the Rainmeter layout tool to save and switch between different workspaces. To access the layout function, follow these steps:

Right-click any open cover.
Go to Rainmeter and click Manage.
Click the Layouts tab.

Here you can save the current layout with a new name. For example, you can create a layout with just a few tools to help you control your emails and time while you work. You can then create a separate layout with some awesome Mass Effect themed skins whenever you feel like playing around. If you want to switch between existing layouts, you can make it easier by following these steps:

Right-click any open cover.
Go to Rainmeter> Layouts
Click the layout you want to apply.

Some skin packs also come with ready-made layouts, so check the layout manager the first time you load a new set to check them out.

Rainmeter can be quite confusing at first, but once you get the basics down, you can create a pretty chic, information-rich desktop with just a little tinkering. Of course, if you dig into config files, custom skins, and other goodies, you probably need a little more guidance, so check out the Rainmeter documentation if you have any questions.

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