Solved Change appearance of desktop fonts

blockie

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The text under the icons on my desktop, W8.1, are difficult to read. They look like they have shadows. How can I change their appearance?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
If you go to the performance options under system properties > advanced; there is an option to remove drop shadows from icons on the desktop. Hope that helps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 X64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Celeron B800
    Motherboard
    Asus X202EP
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Hard Drives
    500GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
    Other Info
    My little workhorse, underpowered and slightly dinged these days but it has never let me down.
If you go to the performance options under system properties > advanced; there is an option to remove drop shadows from icons on the desktop. Hope that helps.
Hmmm - I don't seem to have that option to drop the shadows

performance options.PNG
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS X54C
    CPU
    Intel Pentium B940 2.00GHz Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
    Motherboard
    OEM - ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Model K54C (CPU 1) Version 1.0 Chipset Vendor Intel Chipset Model
    Memory
    6.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    OEM - Intel Model HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    OEM
    Monitor(s) Displays
    OEM
    Hard Drives
    Manufacturer Hitachi
    Product Family Travelstar
    Series Prefix Standard
    Model Capacity For This Specific Drive 500GB
    PSU
    OEM
    Case
    OEM
    Cooling
    OEM
    Keyboard
    OEM
    Mouse
    Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    4 Mbps ADSL
    Browser
    Chrome 64bit
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Billion 400G Wi-fi router
What size of monitor are you using, or are you using an HDTV as your monitor?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
If you go to the performance options under system properties > advanced; there is an option to remove drop shadows from icons on the desktop. Hope that helps.
Hmmm - I don't seem to have that option to drop the shadows

View attachment 51112
It is the last option in the list but given that it is unchecked I don't think that will be the problem.

Could you post a screenshot of your desktop to show me exactly what you mean?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 X64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Celeron B800
    Motherboard
    Asus X202EP
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Hard Drives
    500GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
    Other Info
    My little workhorse, underpowered and slightly dinged these days but it has never let me down.
I found the check mark. It was checked so I removed the check, clicked on APPLY and then rebooted the computer. No change that I could see. How about changing the font? if so, how? Color too.

Bill
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
As far as I am aware there isn't an easy way to change the default font in Windows 8 or the colour. Could you post a screenshot of the problem and maybe I can help you a little further? The only other thing I could suggest without seeing the problem first hand is going through the clear type process to refine the font settings to your screen.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 X64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Celeron B800
    Motherboard
    Asus X202EP
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Hard Drives
    500GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
    Other Info
    My little workhorse, underpowered and slightly dinged these days but it has never let me down.
Here's the screenshot. They look much better on the .jpg. If I can get them to look like that I would be satisfied. Can I make these and these alone fonts larger?

Bill
 

Attachments

  • Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
    17.1 KB · Views: 152
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
The text doesn't look too bad to me but if it is not right for your eyes what I would suggest is disabling cleartype and also disabling font smoothing and see if that improves the font.
If that fails I would look at your monitor settings, specifically as broe23 has mentioned if you are using a HDTV as a monitor.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 X64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Celeron B800
    Motherboard
    Asus X202EP
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Hard Drives
    500GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
    Other Info
    My little workhorse, underpowered and slightly dinged these days but it has never let me down.
Click anywhere on an open area of the Desktop. Hold down the Ctrl key and roll the mouse wheel. One way increases font and icon size, the other reduces it.

See if that helps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
broe23:
The size of the monitor is 17.3. I have not used a HDTV yet.

Ztucker:
That didn't work for me.

All:
Attached is a jpg of an open folder. It looks pretty good in a jpg but believe me it is crappy. In real life it looks like a page from a typewriter that is using a worn out ribbon. OOPS! Some of you guys may not remember that we used to use typewriters before the advent of today's printers.I'm 84 and I remember when ....... Anyway, the real life page on this W8.1 laptop looks like a printer almost out of ink ( not quite, but close). Rather than sections of the page missing (like an ink jet printer) this looks like sections of individual characters are missing or much thinner than the remainder of the character. So, all text by the OS looks bad. But it appears that text on a web page (third party) is good.

Bll
 

Attachments

  • Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
    88 KB · Views: 47

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Have you tried outputting to another display to ensure it is not a problem with the screen you are using at present? The fact that the screenshots do not look anything like you are describing makes me think that it is either a problem with your display or graphics adaptor.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 X64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Celeron B800
    Motherboard
    Asus X202EP
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Hard Drives
    500GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
    Other Info
    My little workhorse, underpowered and slightly dinged these days but it has never let me down.
In fact I was thinking the same thing. A couple of hours ago I used Teamviewer to access the laptop in question and side by side there is a large diference. The first thing I will do is to investigate the adapter thoroughly.The display was diplaying the fonts like it should when I first started making changes. To recap for those involved in this thread I am modifying this computer as much as I can to give it to my bipolar son who is 55 years old. He lives alone about 200 miles away. I wish to reduce his frustration as much as possible.


Bill
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
In fact I was thinking the same thing. A couple of hours ago I used Teamviewer to access the laptop in question and side by side there is a large diference. The first thing I will do is to investigate the adapter thoroughly.The display was diplaying the fonts like it should when I first started making changes. To recap for those involved in this thread I am modifying this computer as much as I can to give it to my bipolar son who is 55 years old. He lives alone about 200 miles away. I wish to reduce his frustration as much as possible.


Bill

By the way I have read that you may have changed something yourself, trace your steps back; if that fails ensure you have the latest drivers installed. Hope you get it all sorted :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 X64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Celeron B800
    Motherboard
    Asus X202EP
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Hard Drives
    500GB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG
    Other Info
    My little workhorse, underpowered and slightly dinged these days but it has never let me down.
I'm not able to remember what I had for breakfast so tracing my steps back won't work.
I put a compilation of info in a message to the Lenovo forum. We'll see what I get there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
Did you try settings for Clear Type Fonts ? Making Icon fonts Bold ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Well!, I finally got tired of trying "this and that" and did a restore and started all over. It was lke bringing home a new computer.

This time I did things a bit differently. Thanks to Shawn Brink I got the two user accounts correct the first time. I did some minimal customizing in the MS account and then created the local account . It was then that the fonts changed to what I had before and what this thread is about. Although these fonts were just like the ones I asked for help on in the first post of this thread they were far worse that those when I setup the MS account. Now I knew what happened, I really knew that changes made were related to accounts but for some reason didn't associate the font behavior with it. To fix I merely went to "Control panel ..... Display" and increased the font size for icons and made them bold.

If the fonts stay like they are now I'll consider this problem SOLVED.

Thanks for the help,

Bill
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G710
    CPU
    Intel i5-420MCPU @ 2.6GHz 2.59 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 MB
    Browser
    Chrome / FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
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