everything is small!

Question

Hi:

I have a dimension 4100 running xp (upgraded from 98). A tech friend (not available on weekends) made some changes that I would like to put back but don't know how.

I believe he made some changes to the resolution and some other display properties - the end result is that all the icons and screen fonts are smaller. One thing that seems very noticable is that in the game of solitaire, the cards are now half the size they were before.

I have tried to make changes to display properties but none seem to change these - and I am using 'solitaire' as the most global example of the problem.

Can anyone suggest what I might change to put this back? (I'd would like to do it this weekend, and don't want to simply do a system restore - assuming that would work - as he did make some changes I need to keep)

thanks

dsjr

Majestic · Answer

Right click your mouse on an blank part of the screen to bring up a menu.  Then select Properties and then the Settings tab.  You can then change your screen resolution and save the settings by choosing Apply.  If you have already tried this and it didn't work then click on the Advance button and check the Font size. If set to small then choose the Large Font size and save the changes. Message Edited by Majestic on 05-15-2004 09:40 AM

DSJR · Answer

Hi Majestic, thank you.

I have actually already tried those things and they while they made some changes, they didn't change the icon sizes, nor, for instance, the size of the cards in solitaire. I know that the individual settings under properties, appearance, advanced were not changed so I assume there must be some other global change that can affect the size .... but don't know what it might be other than what you suggested.

In terms of resolution, I wasn't really sure how the adjustment would affect the desktop ... it is currently set at 1024 x 768 .... can you suggest a setting that would make thing appear larger?

Could the colour quality ... currently set at medium, make a difference?

Under the advance button, the dpi is currently set for normal, but when I tried changing it to large, it did not seem to make the changes I was looking for (again using the cards as an example). Is there one of the other tabs in that section that I might try?

thanks

dsjr

JDre · Answer

800 by 600 will make things large, but images will not display all detail. High color quality will improve the color rendition. I run 1024 by 768 on a 19' monitor. (If you have an LCD flat monitor, 1024 by 768 is the right setting for a 15 inch.)

Annie70 · Answer

DSJR, One other thing you can check> RT. click on the task bar at the bottom of the screen. Click on Properties>Start Menu Tab>Customize>Select an icon size for programs>Check to see that there is atick at Large Icons.

DSJR · Answer

thank you d

DSJR · Answer

thank you for the suggestions..... (but the large icons were already set)  I will put this down as a 'note to self' to make sure I watch when someone else is changing the settings on my pc!   d

JacquelynDenise · Answer

Hi DSJR,

I am having the exact same problem after doing a fresh Window XP reinstall on my Deminsion 4550. Did you ever find out what it was? I've change the resolution, the dpi, the advance properties in the settings tab, and on and on. I can make fonts and icons big (too big) but the windows and their contents remain too small. I wonder if anyone has the factory default settings! I'll post the question.

Jacquie

DSJR · Answer

Hi Jacquie:

Yes and no! I changed my resolution back to 800 x 600 - it looks good to me and the sizes of everything look better. (right click on the desktop/properties/settings/screen resolution - bottom left hand corner). On the same screen there is an advanced button that allows you to change the font size larger - but I found anything but normal to be too large.

You have likely already tried this, but you can also change items individually within properties under appearance/advanced - and use the pull down menu to change the font size on individual items (i.e - 'selected items')

I believe this put me back to where I had been - before my technical friend changed my settings so I would have "more real estate".

In properties, as well, either via the desktop or control panel, display, under themes, if you use the pull down menu, I see something (though have not tried it) called Window Default. (Maybe - but, again I don't know and haven't tried this, if this didn't give you what you wanted you could run system restore?)

Debra

animalfarm · Answer

Hi,

Hope this helps. I have a 4100 with a M992 monitor. After a complete re-install of XP I was extremely frustrated in trying to get the resolution etc right. Checked the driver and saw it was the Windows default. So I fed the original monitor installation CD in, and replaced the driver with the Dell installed driver. Did the job.

DSJR · Answer

Hi animalfarm!

Thank you for your suggestion.

I have become a little gun shy about trying anything further on my pc .... dell's recommendation to upgrade to xp and their subsequent 'tech support' (there is an oxymoron) have turned my pc into a constant headache.

Likely your suggestion is a good one, and, based on my experience, the forum members' information seems much more reliable than that of dell tech support.

I appreciate your taking the time to let me know this.

d

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everything is small!

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