I need a large font size to read my screen easily but want to keep the
monitor resolution high (otherwise the text isn't very sharp).
Using (Control Panel ->) Display -> Appearance I have set the system
to 'Extra Large Fonts'. I have also edited all the entries under the
'Advanced' button on the same tab to a font size of 16 or more. That
gives me larger text in several places. But for several system items
(e.g. the display menu itself, or the Outlook Express mail retreival
pop-up) the text size hasn't changed at all. Can that be fixed?
Similarly, changing the read font size in Outlook to 'largest' doesn't
appear to have had any effect at all on the display font. If I set it
to 'smallest' the size is exactly the same. Can that be fixed?
There is one place you can change everyting to a larger size but I
literally mean "everything", so you may end up wanting to redo some of
the settings you have already set or even try the next smaller
resolution.
Change the dpi (dots per inch) setting for your monitor.
In my case, it's located at:
start;
run;
control panel;
display;
click/highlight the Settings tab.
click Advanced - you should get your monitor and video card properties.
Depending on your video card and setup, it could be located elsewhere
but this is where it usually is.
If not already displayed, click the General tab
Note the "DPI Settng" box
First, click the down-arrow and choose "Large (120dpi)
Tick "Apply the new display settings without restarting" to avoid having
to restart between test settings.
OK your way out and Restart if you need to.
Everything should now be larger.
You'll have a short period of time to look at the screen and see if it's
something you want to try using. Press a key during that time and it'll
cancel the changes. Let the timer expire and the changes will take
effect.
For now, forget about browser and email viewing. Check the rest of your
often used applications and important folders you use and see if they're
functional for you. You might have to fiddle with some of the other
sized you've already changed to get things to look consistant. If
necessary, try the next lower resolution size, too.
If 120 dpi still isn't large enough, note that back where you chose the
120 dpi there was a "custom size" choice. Use that and enter a larger
number than 120. I know you can safely go as high as 140 with it. I'm
not sure at what size it tops out or what happens if you get it too big,
so just for safety, do NOT have any other programs running with
important data in them, just in case it makes things so large you have
trouble getting at the OK/cancel etc. buttons. Try small enough steps
in the dpi settings to avoid that if you can; it's frustrating.
If/when you find a dpi you like, then go to your browser and mail client
and see what you can do with those.
You may well still have problems with web sites. Many authors, in
their arrogance and ignorance write their pages so that text sizes
simply can not be changed by the user and you'll be stuck with an
unchangeable, smaller size of text. OR <g>
Another area you could also look into is Control Panel, Accessibility
options. It has a magnifier you can turn on and off for use on thngs
like web pages you want to see but which won't allow you to change the
text sizes.
Another option that's even better than the MS magnifier in
accessibility, is a mouse with that capability. My optical MS mouse has
a programmable 4th button I can use to turn on/off the magnifier, so
with that it's just a press of the mouse button to use it or dispense
with it. In my own case here I'm running with the large text settings
and left dpi at 96, and added the mouse. So for now it's enough for me.
Eventually I may have to make the accommodations you're looking into,
but not yet. As a result, I think I've looked at about every
possibility there is including two monitors<g> and the mouse magnifier
is more convenient than the accessibility magnifier, though not as many
different settings.
Best of luck, feel free to ask more questions if you need to,
Twayne
