Appearance>Advanced: How to adjust areas not on dropdown list?

[Christopher Glenn]

Having gone to a widescreen LCD monitor and trying to use it at the
recommended resolution (1440x900), I am in the process of increasing
all my font sizes so I can see them with my aging eyes.

For all the options under appearance>advanced, I have increased size
to 22 in the size entry line and increased MS Sans Serif to 12 point
in the font line (increased from various smaller sizes and usually
Sans Serif 8).

But some windows-based message boxes continue to use what looks like 8
point font, very small at this resolution. I'm not sure what the
messages boxes are called, so I have to use an example. In Word, when
I change a document and exit, the box asking if I want to save the
changes has the same small font size as in my old theme. Exiting all
apps after making changes results in the same tiny font message text.
This is just one example.

If someone can tell me how to change this font, I would love to hear
of it. Since it does not appear to be menu-adjustable, I have edited
the registry on rare occasions, and as long as I have exact and
detailed step by step instructions, I can do it again.

I will be forced to use a non-recommented (by LCD monitor) screen
resolution if I cannot fix this issue, but the text of my reports does
not look too good at that (1024x768) resolution. I don't do any
gaming, mostly just work and research-based browsing.

 

[Leonard Grey]

There's an easier - and more reliable - way to do what you want. First,
return all your settings to the defaults. Then, go to Start > All
Programs > Accessories > Accessibility > Accessibility Wizard. You can
also read about the Accessibility Wizard in the Help and Support Center.
Ahhh...that's better.

 

[Christopher Glenn]

Well, Leonard, I did as you suggested and went through the
accesibility wizard, but it did not increase that particular font
size. The Windows based message box to which I am referring is not
adjustable either through the Wizard or through Appearances>Advanced.

If I could find out how the registry refers to this particular message
font, and where it is in the registry, maybe I can increase it.

 

[Andrew Bailey]

Well, Leonard, I did as you suggested and went through the
accesibility wizard, but it did not increase that particular font
size. The Windows based message box to which I am referring is not
adjustable either through the Wizard or through Appearances>Advanced.

If I could find out how the registry refers to this particular message
font, and where it is in the registry, maybe I can increase it.

Hi Christopher,

I have pasted a registry update file below, just change the target font from
Arial Black to your choice and save the file as fonts.reg. When you click on
its icon it will update your registry to substitute all of the fonts.

Back up your registry first and perform a system restore save too.

Hope this helps

Andy

------------------8<-----------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]
"Arial CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Arial CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Arial Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Arial TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Courier New CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Courier New CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Courier New Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Courier New TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Helv"="Arial Black"
"Helvetica"="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg 2"="Arial Black"
"Times"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Tms Rmn"="Arial Black"
"Arial Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"Courier New Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg.X-Setup Backup"="Arial Black"
"Tahoma"="Arial Black"
"Tahoma Bold"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem"="Arial Black"
"dosapp"="Arial Black"
"modern"="Arial Black"
"script"="Arial Black"
"Arial"="Arial Black"
"Courier New"="Arial Black"
"Arial Bold"="Arial Black"
"Arial Narrow"="Arial Black"
"Arial Rounded MT Bold"="Arial Black"
"Arial Unicode MS"="Arial Black"
"Microsoft Sans Serif"="Arial Black"
"MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24"="Arial Black"
"MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24"="Arial Black"
"Trebuchet MS"="Arial Black"
"Verdana"="Arial Black"
"Verdana Ref"="Arial Black"
@="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg"="Arial Black"
"vgafix.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgafix"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgasys"="Arial Black"
"vgasys.fon"="Arial Black"
"vga850"="Arial Black"
"vga850.fon"="Arial Black"

 

[Christopher Glenn]

Hi Christopher,

I have pasted a registry update file below, just change the target font from
Arial Black to your choice and save the file as fonts.reg. When you click on
its icon it will update your registry to substitute all of the fonts.

Back up your registry first and perform a system restore save too.

Hope this helps

Andy

------------------8<-----------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]
"Arial CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Arial CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Arial Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Arial TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Courier New CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Courier New CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Courier New Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Courier New TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Helv"="Arial Black"
"Helvetica"="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg 2"="Arial Black"
"Times"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Tms Rmn"="Arial Black"
"Arial Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"Courier New Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg.X-Setup Backup"="Arial Black"
"Tahoma"="Arial Black"
"Tahoma Bold"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem"="Arial Black"
"dosapp"="Arial Black"
"modern"="Arial Black"
"script"="Arial Black"
"Arial"="Arial Black"
"Courier New"="Arial Black"
"Arial Bold"="Arial Black"
"Arial Narrow"="Arial Black"
"Arial Rounded MT Bold"="Arial Black"
"Arial Unicode MS"="Arial Black"
"Microsoft Sans Serif"="Arial Black"
"MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24"="Arial Black"
"MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24"="Arial Black"
"Trebuchet MS"="Arial Black"
"Verdana"="Arial Black"
"Verdana Ref"="Arial Black"
@="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg"="Arial Black"
"vgafix.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgafix"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgasys"="Arial Black"
"vgasys.fon"="Arial Black"
"vga850"="Arial Black"
"vga850.fon"="Arial Black"

Hello Andy,

It appears this will make all fonts the same font, but my concern is
font size. Arial Black is a good idea, however.

I found another instance of a font size not adjusting after I adjusted
all sizes that can be adjusted in appearances. When I go to Google,
the text I enter in the search box is very tiny, the same as on the
windows message box about saving files and such. This one font area
does not appear to be adjustable through any menu. The search results
(IE6) display in a nice large font when I upped the sized from medium
to extra large.

Do you know what "font area" these two examples have in common? The
first I thougth was a message box, but when I adjust that in
appearances, it does not change the font size, and as for the form
entry in google search, I have no idea.

 

[Andrew Bailey]

Hi Christopher,

I have pasted a registry update file below, just change the target font
from
Arial Black to your choice and save the file as fonts.reg. When you click
on
its icon it will update your registry to substitute all of the fonts.

Back up your registry first and perform a system restore save too.

Hope this helps

Andy

------------------8<-----------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]
"Arial CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Arial CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Arial Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Arial TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Courier New CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Courier New CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Courier New Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Courier New TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Helv"="Arial Black"
"Helvetica"="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg 2"="Arial Black"
"Times"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman CE,238"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman CYR,204"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman Greek,161"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman TUR,162"="Arial Black"
"Tms Rmn"="Arial Black"
"Arial Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"Courier New Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"Times New Roman Baltic,186"="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg.X-Setup Backup"="Arial Black"
"Tahoma"="Arial Black"
"Tahoma Bold"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem"="Arial Black"
"dosapp"="Arial Black"
"modern"="Arial Black"
"script"="Arial Black"
"Arial"="Arial Black"
"Courier New"="Arial Black"
"Arial Bold"="Arial Black"
"Arial Narrow"="Arial Black"
"Arial Rounded MT Bold"="Arial Black"
"Arial Unicode MS"="Arial Black"
"Microsoft Sans Serif"="Arial Black"
"MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24"="Arial Black"
"MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24"="Arial Black"
"Trebuchet MS"="Arial Black"
"Verdana"="Arial Black"
"Verdana Ref"="Arial Black"
@="Arial Black"
"MS Shell Dlg"="Arial Black"
"vgafix.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgafix"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgasys"="Arial Black"
"vgasys.fon"="Arial Black"
"vga850"="Arial Black"
"vga850.fon"="Arial Black"

Hello Andy,

It appears this will make all fonts the same font, but my concern is
font size. Arial Black is a good idea, however.

I found another instance of a font size not adjusting after I adjusted
all sizes that can be adjusted in appearances. When I go to Google,
the text I enter in the search box is very tiny, the same as on the
windows message box about saving files and such. This one font area
does not appear to be adjustable through any menu. The search results
(IE6) display in a nice large font when I upped the sized from medium
to extra large.

Do you know what "font area" these two examples have in common? The
first I thougth was a message box, but when I adjust that in
appearances, it does not change the font size, and as for the form
entry in google search, I have no idea.

Hi Christopher,

I think the windows dialog areas (i.e. the ones where the fonts are small
and can't be adjusted from the Appearance tab) are affected by the font
substitutions from "MS Shell Dlg" down so try cutting out all of the entries
above it. That should force the pesky font to use one of your choice that is
natively bolder/clearer/larger and leave the others alone so that you can
adjust them from the Appearance tab.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

[Christopher Glenn]

Hope this helps

Andy

Thanks, Andy. I'm off for a long weekend and will work on this early
next week. I'll post a follow-up message first part of next week.
`Chris

 

[Christopher Glenn]

I went ahead anyway. I saved the first line and the part you
specified into the C:\ , but when I clicked on it, it said fonts.reg
is not a registry script and I could only import binary registry files
from the registry editor.

I guess my Win98 knowledge did not help, because I could not find the
registry editor. I searched all the C drive with all relevant
advanced options checked, and I also looked under administrative
tools>services.

Windows help had no hits for registry editor, so I can't find it.

 

[Andrew Bailey]

I went ahead anyway. I saved the first line and the part you
specified into the C:\ , but when I clicked on it, it said fonts.reg
is not a registry script and I could only import binary registry files
from the registry editor.

I guess my Win98 knowledge did not help, because I could not find the
registry editor. I searched all the C drive with all relevant
advanced options checked, and I also looked under administrative
tools>services.

Windows help had no hits for registry editor, so I can't find it.

Hi Christopher,

Here's a cut down version of the Registry "additions", but if you have
already applied the first version then it's probably better to go into the
registry and edit out the unwanted keys. Click the START button and run
"regedit" from the RUN box. The Registry editor has an explorer-like
directory listin on the left and a data panel on the right. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > WindowsNT > CurrentVersion >
FontSubstitutes in the left panel and then you should see a list of all the
font substitutions in the right panel.

You can save out the current values in the right data panel by selecting
"FontSubstitutes" in the left directory panel, right-clicking and selecting
"Export". If you then want to revert back to how it was just click the icon
of the saved out entries.

You can delete each data key by selecting it, right-clicking it and
selecting delete. You can also multi-select by holding down the Ctrl key or
select a range by holding down the shift key.

There is no "Save" button, just closing the regeditor will save all changes.

Hope this helps

Andy

------------------8<-----------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]
"MS Shell Dlg"="Arial Black"
"vgafix.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgafix"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgasys"="Arial Black"
"vgasys.fon"="Arial Black"
"vga850"="Arial Black"
"vga850.fon"="Arial Black"

 

[Christopher Glenn]

I went ahead anyway. I saved the first line and the part you
specified into the C:\ , but when I clicked on it, it said fonts.reg
is not a registry script and I could only import binary registry files
from the registry editor.

I guess my Win98 knowledge did not help, because I could not find the
registry editor. I searched all the C drive with all relevant
advanced options checked, and I also looked under administrative
tools>services.

Windows help had no hits for registry editor, so I can't find it.

Hi Christopher,

Here's a cut down version of the Registry "additions", but if you have
already applied the first version then it's probably better to go into the
registry and edit out the unwanted keys. Click the START button and run
"regedit" from the RUN box. The Registry editor has an explorer-like
directory listin on the left and a data panel on the right. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > WindowsNT > CurrentVersion >
FontSubstitutes in the left panel and then you should see a list of all the
font substitutions in the right panel.

You can save out the current values in the right data panel by selecting
"FontSubstitutes" in the left directory panel, right-clicking and selecting
"Export". If you then want to revert back to how it was just click the icon
of the saved out entries.

You can delete each data key by selecting it, right-clicking it and
selecting delete. You can also multi-select by holding down the Ctrl key or
select a range by holding down the shift key.

There is no "Save" button, just closing the regeditor will save all changes.

Hope this helps

Andy

------------------8<-----------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]
"MS Shell Dlg"="Arial Black"
"vgafix.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgafix"="Arial Black"
"vgaoem.fon"="Arial Black"
"vgasys"="Arial Black"
"vgasys.fon"="Arial Black"
"vga850"="Arial Black"
"vga850.fon"="Arial Black"

Well Andrew,

I was able to enter the above values, and it did change some fonts,
but it did not affect at all the ones I need changed. However, the
issue I have is now clarified to the point where I plan to start a
different thread after I return from a (non) vacation with family.

Thank-you for your help,
Chris