Changing Desktop Icon Type

[John]

Vista Business using aero.

How can I change the type size/font under the desktop icons to a different
type size/font AND without the shadow? It's hard to read now

 

[Ian Betts]

Go Control Panel /Personalize and chose options

 

[John]

There is no "Options" choice. The closest is Personalize
Settings-->Advanced. However changing the Icon type font does not change the
shadow effect. I Did notice it changes the font in winmail... curious.

I have a feeling with AERO on, there is little I can do to remove the shadow
type font... I hope I'm wrong because it's such a pitty not to be able to
change something so basic to one's enjoyment of a product, IMHO.

 

[John]

One note. The "icon" font can not be given a font color like the other font
settings... curious.

 

[Ian Betts]

John you need to explore Vista a little with real courage ) . In
Personalize click Win Color and Appearance. Click the underlined Open
Classic appearance .............and then Effects. Also look at Advanced.
Change things, if you don't like then go back and have another go.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

John

Open Control Panel, in the Search Box, type effects and click on "Adjust
the appearance and performance of windows."

Scroll down to the bottom of that dialog box and remove the check mark from
the "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop" option. This will
remove the shadows.

The font size is more difficult. Any change you make to the icons font size
is global and effects just about all areas of Vista including the font size
on the start menu, windows explorer, etc.

The best solution is to set the system DPI to a size that you can live with.
Open Control Panel and type DPI in the search bar. Click the "Adjust font
size (DPI)" link. Click the Custom Button.

In that dialog box, you can drag the ruler to select a size that you want to
use. Experiment until you find a good setting for your taste.

 

[John]

Thank you, Ronnie. You have directed me perfectly to the solution of my
problem. However there's still one huge problem. Without the shadow and
given my lightly colored background and since one can't add a color to the
type font, I can't see anything!!! Thank you, Vista designers. I am sorry
but not only is the procedure to change the shadowed text convoluted and
inaccessible (for all intents and purposes), the end result is
unsatisfactory due to limiting user control over the type font color.

I am trying to like Vista but even the simplest of tasks a dumb user like me
wants to do seems like climbing Everest. I should ask for a refund of my
tuition dollars from Stanford despite the existence of the Gates Building.


But thank you, Ronnie. Vista's shortcomings are not due to your good
efforts.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

John

The desktop icons are different simply because they are usually displayed in
front of a picture or solid background color, that some users change often.
Because of this, the text on these icons is programmed to be either white
(for dark backgrounds) or black (for light backgrounds). But there is a fine
line between deciding when the text should change from white to black. This
usually works OK, but some backgrounds that have a great variety of colors
can be difficult. This is what the drop shadows option was designed to help
overcome, especially when the icon text is white.

The ability to color the fonts simply would not work, because you would end
up with some text visible and some text not visible, depending on the colors
of the background.

You can see this effect and the extent of the problem by going to
Personalize/Desktop Backgrounds and selecting Soild Colors. With the desktop
visible, select the light/dark colors and then the different shades of the
colors.

 

[John]

Thanks again for your thoughtful reply. My only comment is let me have the
option as to white or black color for the type. I have happily enjoyed all
previous versions of Windows using many different backgrounds and type fonts
as needed. I don't understand this digression from what has worked in the
past regarding the desktop. The desktop is probably the place people look at
the most and to not have the ability to completely control its apearance
seems very short-sighted, IMHO.

 

[John]

My mistake... XP also has the shadow fonts. I was thinking of Win2000 which
I still use. Time to move on, I guess.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

John

Heh. If going from XP to Vista is a trauma for some folks, you can imagine
what it's like for some who skipped XP altogether and go to Vista from 98.
<g>

 

[Guest]

Glad I found this thread on getting rid of shadow etc. I've found that the
font colour can be forced to be black or white over a picture by choosing a
solid background colour (light to force black text, dark to force light text)
and then going back to my chosen picture to see how it looks. I didn't find
any pictures which forced the font colour to change. I decided that Bold was
best but then found annoyingly that I couldn't tell which e-mails I had read
and which I had not because MS Mail seems to use the Icon setting for display.

P.S. I've come from 98 to XP to Vista. I hardly noticed XP because I
straight away decided it was better in Windows Standard appearance. Vista's
look lasted a week!

 

[Gormless Git]

Hi,

This is perhaps slightly off topic, but I'll float it here anyway...

I am running FireFox-2 on VISTA Home Premium with IE7 installed.

When I click a link I get a dialogue error box reporting that windows cannot
find the link, and when I cancel it,
then FireFox loads the relevant page.

There must be something to toggle off somewhere, but I sure as heck can't
find it - any pointers please?

Regards
Andy