Overlarge font, icons, etc.

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Since downloading SP2 it looks as though my computer has decided my eyesight
has deteriorated! Everything, including Outlook Express, is HUGE and I have
to use the side-to-side arrow. I checked previous messages but those want to
increase their fonts. I took the advice on changing font size but apparently
mine is on the "normal" i.e. smallest size. However it's not the same as it
was two days ago! I would be grateful for some advice.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On 23/01/2005 Sheila wrote:

> Since downloading SP2 it looks as though my computer has decided my
> eyesight has deteriorated! Everything, including Outlook Express, is
> HUGE and I have to use the side-to-side arrow. I checked previous
> messages but those want to increase their fonts. I took the advice
> on changing font size but apparently mine is on the "normal" i.e.
> smallest size. However it's not the same as it was two days ago! I
> would be grateful for some advice.


Is it the fonts or the screen resolution?

Right click on the Desktop, select 'Properties' then select the
'Settings' tab and look at the options for changing screen resolution,
you may find that by selecting a higher resolution things look better.

I haven't seen SP2 change anything like this but you never know


--
Jeff Gaines
Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Thanks for your reply Jeff. Unfortunately it's not just the font it's
everything - tried your suggestion but nothing happened except the whole
screen went black and I thought it had crashed! but the Properties Settings
window came back and it was as though I had done nothing - the setting had
reverted back to default "Less" ! Just to let you know the size of the font,
the letter J of your name is 5 mm tall!
Regards,
Sheila Jones

"Jeff Gaines" wrote:

> On 23/01/2005 Sheila wrote:
>
> > Since downloading SP2 it looks as though my computer has decided my
> > eyesight has deteriorated! Everything, including Outlook Express, is
> > HUGE and I have to use the side-to-side arrow. I checked previous
> > messages but those want to increase their fonts. I took the advice
> > on changing font size but apparently mine is on the "normal" i.e.
> > smallest size. However it's not the same as it was two days ago! I
> > would be grateful for some advice.
>
>
> Is it the fonts or the screen resolution?
>
> Right click on the Desktop, select 'Properties' then select the
> 'Settings' tab and look at the options for changing screen resolution,
> you may find that by selecting a higher resolution things look better.
>
> I haven't seen SP2 change anything like this but you never know
>
>
> --
> Jeff Gaines
> Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On 24/01/2005 Sheila wrote:

> Thanks for your reply Jeff. Unfortunately it's not just the font
> it's everything - tried your suggestion but nothing happened except
> the whole screen went black and I thought it had crashed! but the
> Properties Settings window came back and it was as though I had done
> nothing - the setting had reverted back to default "Less" ! Just to
> let you know the size of the font, the letter J of your name is 5 mm
> tall! Regards,
> Sheila Jones


OK, that sounds as if the screen refresh rate was set too high for the
monitor so the monitor turned itself off for protection. XP will revert
to your old settings if you don't click an 'OK' button, which you can't
see if your monitor is off Sorry, should have warned you about that.

I wonder if somehow SP2 has corrupted you display drivers, although I
haven't come across that before. Do you have a CD that came with your
PC or graphics card that contains display drivers? Even better can you
go to the web site of the manufacturer of your graphics card and
download new, up to date, drivers? There may even be a note on the web
site about problems with SP2. If you do this then you will need to
install the new drivers after you have downloaded them.

Installation of new drivers is fairly straightforward, if you tell us
the make of the graphics card we can talk you through it.


--
Jeff Gaines
Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

This is an irksome consequence of SP. Why, when on installing XP and it
detects a reasonable screen setting does SP2 come along, destroy that
setting and force you to re-set it manually? It doesn't make sense!
Computers may work logically but cannot overcome design weaknesses of
software writers.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Dear Bill
Thanks for yours. I also don't understand it - you have no idea how
difficult it was to read your posting! However, now I know in future to
click Reply immediately and then it all comes out nice and small in this
inner window! The outer wording, needless to say, is still huge!

Am about to try to work out what Jeff suggested I should do.

Regards,
Sheila

"Bill Ridgeway" wrote:

> This is an irksome consequence of SP. Why, when on installing XP and it
> detects a reasonable screen setting does SP2 come along, destroy that
> setting and force you to re-set it manually? It doesn't make sense!
> Computers may work logically but cannot overcome design weaknesses of
> software writers.
>
> Regards.
>
> Bill Ridgeway
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Dear Jeff,

Thanks for yours, which I didn’t really understand. However, "drivers" rang
a bell, I must have noticed something on an earlier search, so……….

Via Start/Control Panel/Printers & Hardware, where clicked on System, the
following wording comes up under System Properties/Hardware/Drivers:

Driver Signing lets you make sure that installed drivers are compatible with
Windows.
Windows Update lets you set up how Windows connects to Windows Update for
drivers.

I haven’t clicked on either, but is that the right area?

My computer was “put together� by a friend, System Properties states under
General that it is an Intel Pentium III processor 733 MHz, 256 MB of RAM.
Trust that makes sense.

I don’t appear to have a CD or a graphics card (or I might if I knew what it
was)

Sorry, I sound (and I guess I am) absolutely clueless.

One syllable words please…………….

Regards,
Sheila



"Jeff Gaines" wrote:

> On 24/01/2005 Sheila wrote:
>
> > Thanks for your reply Jeff. Unfortunately it's not just the font
> > it's everything - tried your suggestion but nothing happened except
> > the whole screen went black and I thought it had crashed! but the
> > Properties Settings window came back and it was as though I had done
> > nothing - the setting had reverted back to default "Less" ! Just to
> > let you know the size of the font, the letter J of your name is 5 mm
> > tall! Regards,
> > Sheila Jones
>
>
> OK, that sounds as if the screen refresh rate was set too high for the
> monitor so the monitor turned itself off for protection. XP will revert
> to your old settings if you don't click an 'OK' button, which you can't
> see if your monitor is off Sorry, should have warned you about that.
>
> I wonder if somehow SP2 has corrupted you display drivers, although I
> haven't come across that before. Do you have a CD that came with your
> PC or graphics card that contains display drivers? Even better can you
> go to the web site of the manufacturer of your graphics card and
> download new, up to date, drivers? There may even be a note on the web
> site about problems with SP2. If you do this then you will need to
> install the new drivers after you have downloaded them.
>
> Installation of new drivers is fairly straightforward, if you tell us
> the make of the graphics card we can talk you through it.
>
>
> --
> Jeff Gaines
> Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On 27/01/2005 Sheila wrote:

> Dear Jeff,
>
> Thanks for yours, which I didn't really understand. However,
> "drivers" rang a bell, I must have noticed something on an earlier
> search, so……….
>
> Via Start/Control Panel/Printers & Hardware, where clicked on System,
> the following wording comes up under System
> Properties/Hardware/Drivers:
>
> Driver Signing lets you make sure that installed drivers are
> compatible with Windows.
> Windows Update lets you set up how Windows connects to Windows Update
> for drivers.
>
> I haven't clicked on either, but is that the right area?
>
> My computer was "put together� by a friend, System Properties
> states under General that it is an Intel Pentium III processor 733
> MHz, 256 MB of RAM. Trust that makes sense.
>
> I don't appear to have a CD or a graphics card (or I might if I
> knew what it was)
>
> Sorry, I sound (and I guess I am) absolutely clueless.
>
> One syllable words please…………….
>
> Regards,
> Sheila


Hi Sheila

A graphics card is just a piece of hardware that takes the information
from the computer and converts it into a signal that your monitor can
display. Sometimes it is a separate card that plugs inside the computer
and sometimes it's actually built into the main circuit board of the
computer (known as the main board, motheboard or mobo).

A driver is a piece of software that 'tells' the computer how to 'talk'
to the graphics card.

In an ideal world we wouldn't need to know or care about either but
when things go wrong unfortunately we have to get our hands dirty

I think that the driver for your graphics card has somehow become
corrupted by the installation of SP2 and so needs to be installed
again. Of course I may be wrong!

You could ask the friend who put your PC together what sort of graphics
card it has, or if you want to check for yourself you can do the
following:

Open Control Panel

Click on 'Printers and Other Hardware'

On the left is a panel that says 'See Also'

Click on 'System' which is at the bottom of that panel

A dialog box will open which contains a lot of information about your
system.

Click on the tab at the top that says 'Hardware'

Click on the button that says 'Device Manager'

You can now see a list of all the hardware in your computer - it's
worth just scanning down it. If there is a problem there will be a red
blob or yellow blob next to the problem item (if there are any make a
note of what they are and let us know)

If you now click on the '+' next to 'Display adapters' the list will
expand slightly and you can see what sort of graphics adapter you have.

Make a note of the graphics adapter full name (e.g. mine says Matrox
Millennium G400 Dualhead Max)

Click 'Cancel' on each dialog you have opened, that will close each one
without changing anything

Come back with the name of the adapter and the model and we can sort
out what drivers you need and where best to get them.

Also let us know of any items with red/yellow blobs next to the

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Dear Jeff,

Mine too is a Matrox Millennium G400 DualHead but not Max and there were no
red or yellow blobs.

"Over" !

Regards,
Sheila

"Jeff Gaines" wrote:

> On 27/01/2005 Sheila wrote:
>
> > Dear Jeff,
> >
> > Thanks for yours, which I didn’t really understand. However,
> > "drivers" rang a bell, I must have noticed something on an earlier
> > search, so……….
> >
> > Via Start/Control Panel/Printers & Hardware, where clicked on System,
> > the following wording comes up under System
> > Properties/Hardware/Drivers:
> >
> > Driver Signing lets you make sure that installed drivers are
> > compatible with Windows.
> > Windows Update lets you set up how Windows connects to Windows Update
> > for drivers.
> >
> > I haven’t clicked on either, but is that the right area?
> >
> > My computer was “put together� by a friend, System Properties
> > states under General that it is an Intel Pentium III processor 733
> > MHz, 256 MB of RAM. Trust that makes sense.
> >
> > I don’t appear to have a CD or a graphics card (or I might if I
> > knew what it was)
> >
> > Sorry, I sound (and I guess I am) absolutely clueless.
> >
> > One syllable words please…………….
> >
> > Regards,
> > Sheila
>
>
> Hi Sheila
>
> A graphics card is just a piece of hardware that takes the information
> from the computer and converts it into a signal that your monitor can
> display. Sometimes it is a separate card that plugs inside the computer
> and sometimes it's actually built into the main circuit board of the
> computer (known as the main board, motheboard or mobo).
>
> A driver is a piece of software that 'tells' the computer how to 'talk'
> to the graphics card.
>
> In an ideal world we wouldn't need to know or care about either but
> when things go wrong unfortunately we have to get our hands dirty
>
> I think that the driver for your graphics card has somehow become
> corrupted by the installation of SP2 and so needs to be installed
> again. Of course I may be wrong!
>
> You could ask the friend who put your PC together what sort of graphics
> card it has, or if you want to check for yourself you can do the
> following:
>
> Open Control Panel
>
> Click on 'Printers and Other Hardware'
>
> On the left is a panel that says 'See Also'
>
> Click on 'System' which is at the bottom of that panel
>
> A dialog box will open which contains a lot of information about your
> system.
>
> Click on the tab at the top that says 'Hardware'
>
> Click on the button that says 'Device Manager'
>
> You can now see a list of all the hardware in your computer - it's
> worth just scanning down it. If there is a problem there will be a red
> blob or yellow blob next to the problem item (if there are any make a
> note of what they are and let us know)
>
> If you now click on the '+' next to 'Display adapters' the list will
> expand slightly and you can see what sort of graphics adapter you have.
>
> Make a note of the graphics adapter full name (e.g. mine says Matrox
> Millennium G400 Dualhead Max)
>
> Click 'Cancel' on each dialog you have opened, that will close each one
> without changing anything
>
> Come back with the name of the adapter and the model and we can sort
> out what drivers you need and where best to get them.
>
> Also let us know of any items with red/yellow blobs next to the
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On 28/01/2005 Sheila wrote:

> Dear Jeff,
>
> Mine too is a Matrox Millennium G400 DualHead but not Max and there
> were no red or yellow blobs.
>
> "Over" !
>
> Regards,
> Sheila


Well snap! It's quite an old card but still good and you can run two
separate monitors from it if you want to.

You can get the latest drivers from Matrox here:

http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/latest/home.cfm

You'll need to scroll down the page a bit, and click on the link in the
'XP' column '5.93.009 26oct04' - it's quite a new driver and it's
certified by Microsoft. Clicking will take you to a second page, scroll
down, click on the link at the bottom that says "I agree to the above
notice and would like to download 2kxp_593_009.exe." and, when Explorer
asks, tell it to save it to disk. You can tell Explorer what folder you
want it saved in - you need to remember because we need to find it
again!

I don't know what type of Internet connection you have, it's a 4.2MB
file so may take a little while to download.

When it's downloaded open Explorer and navigate to the folder you saved
the file to. When you've found it (it's called '2kxp_593_009' or
'2kxp_593_009.exe' depending on how you have Explorer configured)
double click on it and a dialog will appear headed 'Winzip Self
extractor..' and suggest that it is unzipped to: C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 -
click OK.

After a very short time a dialog will appear saying the files have been
unzipped - click OK and then click 'Close' in the dialog headed 'Winzip
Self extractor..'.

Now use Explorer to navigate to C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 and you will see a
file called 'setup' or 'setup.exe' depending on how you have Explorer
configured.

Double click on the setup file and just follow the instructions
through, you will probably have to re-start Windows at the end.

After you re-start the new driver will be installed, it may start in
quite a low screen resolution. You can change the screen resolution by
right clicking on the Desktop, selecting 'Properties' and going to the
'Settings' tab - there's a slider on the left near the bottom.

If that doesn't fix it then we'll have to think of something else - but
at least we'll know your drivers are up to date.


--
Jeff Gaines
Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

In the throes of downloading, will contact you again (please) when it's done
but won't expect a reply till after the weekend.

Many thanks for your help

Regards,
Sheila

"Jeff Gaines" wrote:

> On 28/01/2005 Sheila wrote:
>
> > Dear Jeff,
> >
> > Mine too is a Matrox Millennium G400 DualHead but not Max and there
> > were no red or yellow blobs.
> >
> > "Over" !
> >
> > Regards,
> > Sheila
>
>
> Well snap! It's quite an old card but still good and you can run two
> separate monitors from it if you want to.
>
> You can get the latest drivers from Matrox here:
>
> http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/latest/home.cfm
>
> You'll need to scroll down the page a bit, and click on the link in the
> 'XP' column '5.93.009 26oct04' - it's quite a new driver and it's
> certified by Microsoft. Clicking will take you to a second page, scroll
> down, click on the link at the bottom that says "I agree to the above
> notice and would like to download 2kxp_593_009.exe." and, when Explorer
> asks, tell it to save it to disk. You can tell Explorer what folder you
> want it saved in - you need to remember because we need to find it
> again!
>
> I don't know what type of Internet connection you have, it's a 4.2MB
> file so may take a little while to download.
>
> When it's downloaded open Explorer and navigate to the folder you saved
> the file to. When you've found it (it's called '2kxp_593_009' or
> '2kxp_593_009.exe' depending on how you have Explorer configured)
> double click on it and a dialog will appear headed 'Winzip Self
> extractor..' and suggest that it is unzipped to: C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 -
> click OK.
>
> After a very short time a dialog will appear saying the files have been
> unzipped - click OK and then click 'Close' in the dialog headed 'Winzip
> Self extractor..'.
>
> Now use Explorer to navigate to C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 and you will see a
> file called 'setup' or 'setup.exe' depending on how you have Explorer
> configured.
>
> Double click on the setup file and just follow the instructions
> through, you will probably have to re-start Windows at the end.
>
> After you re-start the new driver will be installed, it may start in
> quite a low screen resolution. You can change the screen resolution by
> right clicking on the Desktop, selecting 'Properties' and going to the
> 'Settings' tab - there's a slider on the left near the bottom.
>
> If that doesn't fix it then we'll have to think of something else - but
> at least we'll know your drivers are up to date.
>
>
> --
> Jeff Gaines
> Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Sorry, have been away from the computer. Finally downloaded the Matrox and
now have 2kxp 593 009.exe with the icon looking as though it's inside a vice
- possibly WinZip???

Now what?

Regards,
Sheila

"Sheila" wrote:

> In the throes of downloading, will contact you again (please) when it's done
> but won't expect a reply till after the weekend.
>
> Many thanks for your help
>
> Regards,
> Sheila
>
> "Jeff Gaines" wrote:
>
> > On 28/01/2005 Sheila wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Jeff,
> > >
> > > Mine too is a Matrox Millennium G400 DualHead but not Max and there
> > > were no red or yellow blobs.
> > >
> > > "Over" !
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Sheila
> >
> >
> > Well snap! It's quite an old card but still good and you can run two
> > separate monitors from it if you want to.
> >
> > You can get the latest drivers from Matrox here:
> >
> > http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/latest/home.cfm
> >
> > You'll need to scroll down the page a bit, and click on the link in the
> > 'XP' column '5.93.009 26oct04' - it's quite a new driver and it's
> > certified by Microsoft. Clicking will take you to a second page, scroll
> > down, click on the link at the bottom that says "I agree to the above
> > notice and would like to download 2kxp_593_009.exe." and, when Explorer
> > asks, tell it to save it to disk. You can tell Explorer what folder you
> > want it saved in - you need to remember because we need to find it
> > again!
> >
> > I don't know what type of Internet connection you have, it's a 4.2MB
> > file so may take a little while to download.
> >
> > When it's downloaded open Explorer and navigate to the folder you saved
> > the file to. When you've found it (it's called '2kxp_593_009' or
> > '2kxp_593_009.exe' depending on how you have Explorer configured)
> > double click on it and a dialog will appear headed 'Winzip Self
> > extractor..' and suggest that it is unzipped to: C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 -
> > click OK.
> >
> > After a very short time a dialog will appear saying the files have been
> > unzipped - click OK and then click 'Close' in the dialog headed 'Winzip
> > Self extractor..'.
> >
> > Now use Explorer to navigate to C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 and you will see a
> > file called 'setup' or 'setup.exe' depending on how you have Explorer
> > configured.
> >
> > Double click on the setup file and just follow the instructions
> > through, you will probably have to re-start Windows at the end.
> >
> > After you re-start the new driver will be installed, it may start in
> > quite a low screen resolution. You can change the screen resolution by
> > right clicking on the Desktop, selecting 'Properties' and going to the
> > 'Settings' tab - there's a slider on the left near the bottom.
> >
> > If that doesn't fix it then we'll have to think of something else - but
> > at least we'll know your drivers are up to date.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jeff Gaines
> > Posted with XanaNews 1.17.1.2
> >

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On 02/02/2005 Sheila wrote:

> Sorry, have been away from the computer. Finally downloaded the
> Matrox and now have 2kxp 593 009.exe with the icon looking as though
> it's inside a vice - possibly WinZip???
>
> Now what?
>
> Regards,
> Sheila


Yes, it's a self unzipping file, follow the instructions below:


> > > When it's downloaded open Explorer and navigate to the folder you
> > > saved the file to. When you've found it (it's called
> > > '2kxp_593_009' or '2kxp_593_009.exe' depending on how you have
> > > Explorer configured) double click on it and a dialog will appear
> > > headed 'Winzip Self extractor..' and suggest that it is unzipped
> > > to: C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 - click OK.
> > >
> > > After a very short time a dialog will appear saying the files
> > > have been unzipped - click OK and then click 'Close' in the
> > > dialog headed 'Winzip Self extractor..'.
> > >
> > > Now use Explorer to navigate to C:\mgafold\xp2k\593 and you will
> > > see a file called 'setup' or 'setup.exe' depending on how you
> > > have Explorer configured.
> > >
> > > Double click on the setup file and just follow the instructions
> > > through, you will probably have to re-start Windows at the end.
> > >
> > > After you re-start the new driver will be installed, it may start
> > > in quite a low screen resolution. You can change the screen
> > > resolution by right clicking on the Desktop, selecting
> > > 'Properties' and going to the 'Settings' tab - there's a slider
> > > on the left near the bottom.


--
Jeff Gaines
Posted with XanaNews 1.17.2.1