Whenever I add a control (i.e. checkbox, command button, etc) from the
Controls Toolbox to a worksheet, the font for the text on the control
is distorted, in that it is slightly elongated and pixelated. If I
click on the control, the font returns to "normal" appearance, but once
I click somewhere else, the font "distorts" again.

Oddly, if I add a control to the worksheet from the "Forms" toolbar, it
looks fine at all times.

I'm running Excel 2003 with XP Pro on a 1-yr old Dell Inspiron 6000
laptop with a 1680 x 1050 screen. Changing the display options has no
effect.

Anyone have any ideas? Surprisingly I can't find anything via Google,
but I can't believe I'm the only one to have this problem.

I have a 3 monitor setup (3 x 19" NEC flat-panels), controlled by a Matrox
Parahelia 256 video card, and had the exact same problem you describe. I
called Matrox about the problem, and they admitted it was a problem with
their video drivers. I updated the drivers, and the problem went away. I
would suggest you get the latest drivers from Dell and see if that fixes the
problem.


--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com
(email address is on the web site)



<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Whenever I add a control (i.e. checkbox, command button, etc) from the
> Controls Toolbox to a worksheet, the font for the text on the control
> is distorted, in that it is slightly elongated and pixelated. If I
> click on the control, the font returns to "normal" appearance, but once
> I click somewhere else, the font "distorts" again.
>
> Oddly, if I add a control to the worksheet from the "Forms" toolbar, it
> looks fine at all times.
>
> I'm running Excel 2003 with XP Pro on a 1-yr old Dell Inspiron 6000
> laptop with a 1680 x 1050 screen. Changing the display options has no
> effect.
>
> Anyone have any ideas? Surprisingly I can't find anything via Google,
> but I can't believe I'm the only one to have this problem.
>

Installed, and then re-installed the latest driver from Dell, and it
made the problem worse! So, looks like I might be stuck...