Hi Merlene,
It sounds like you hav not configured your display settings correctly, try this and let me know how you get on.


Click on start
Click on Control Panel
Double click Display Properties
Click on Desk Top tab
choose Desk top background from list scroll down, single click to preview, or Click on browse to view pictures in My Pictures or other folders.
choose pictures you want for desktop, make sure you click apply, then click OK

This will be slightly different for Vista OS