Windows 7 forum: Win7 shows pale& small text that were ok in XP

Sorry - beginner at this. I asked about downloaded programmes having illegible script in some parts.

"We don't know what photo editing software you are using, but may be it hasn't been upgraded for Win 7 yet?"

I have been using PhotoDeluxe BE2 for about 10 years. It is a redundant programme now. I've changed to a laptop with WIN7 (from a PC with XP). One thing Win7 has done is to discontinue the ability to read Help files which had originally been written in Word. Now I need to read the Help files, so I can't progress with this programme. Another thing I found is that in PDBE2 some toolbars (one in particular) overlaps the one above it, hiding all but the top of the text therein, as well as making the text very small.

"What are XL customer files?" "I'm not sure what you mean by a formatting problem, formatting what?"

It did a similar thing with an Excel file with all my (business) customer data. All rows overlapped the ones above, covering text and with different text size. They were displayed perfectly in XP I wound up being able to reformat the Excel pages and reset the formatting so that was all well. So I wonder whether Win7 is doing something different that I don't know about.

"Windows 7 is fully customisable, as was/is XP, so for colors, appearance, font type and size, we can adjust those to suit our needs, but I am not at all sure this is what you are talking about."

It may be. But I don't know how to go about it. Except within a Document. Would Win7 change the text size and contrast of dialogue within a Photo Editing Programme? I've downloaded Faststone Photo Editor and Win7 has done the same to that. I have to get really close to my 19" monitor and squint to read it. Yet most pages and instruction manuals are fine.

I hope this makes sense to you - thanks for trying to help. I'd also appreciate knowing how to add a screen shot to a post. I know it would be a great help to you. - Mike

and you are doing well. A new OS like Win 7 does take a while to get used to.

It would help to see an image or two of the problems so we could see the problem for ourselves as it is difficult to imagine the problem, especially when you say other things are fine. So I will explain how to do that at the end.

XL files - I think you mean .xls files for the Excel Spreadsheet application. If you were using an older version of Excel in your older XP system, (eg the Excel from Office 2002 or 2003), then move to a newer version of Excel in Windows 7, (eg Office 2007 or 2010), you will find some differences in formatting. They should be minor as both Excel 2007 & 2010 should be fully compatible with older versions, but nothing is completely guaranteed.

I am still a bit confused about the photo editing. I agree that PhotoDeluxe BE2 is now obsolete, but I am not sure if you are still using it in this new system because you also mention Faststone Photo Editor. Faststone is compatible with Win7 but again, until we can see the problem it is difficult..

You mention Help files. Windows 7 has its own help files, but within software applications help files are provided by the software developers themselves. Help files are not specifically written for use in Word, (except for Word and other Office applications themselves), and the makers of the help files for other software choose their own formats.

How to post images.

Unfortunately these forums do not allow members to post images, so we have to use a workaround.

Do you know how to take screen prints, edit them if necessary to remove any personal information, then save them, as JPEG files? If not, let me know.

Once you have the image(s) saved on your computer, (I always use the Desktop as a temporary storage area), large enough for others to see, then open your browser and go to ImageShack at http://imageshack.us/

Click the Browse button in that web page and navigate to where you saved the image(s). Select the image(s) and then click "Upload Now".

When the file(s) are finished uploading, the web site will display small icons of them. Click an image to see a full size version of it. Copy the address of that in the address bar, then paste that link into a reply post here.

Mark

Mark
In doing as you said I got almost there but somehow exited Imageshack and can't find my way back. I'd signed up, given 'em all my info including Bath Night, got their confirmation email etc, so that's all ok. Just didn't quite make it to getting the URL for you. How do I get back in?
Mike

It's quicker than trying to find them

Mark

No wonder I need help!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/faststonesettingsviewer.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/404/faststonethumbnailstab.jpg/

Note the small pale text. Is win7 doing that? And how can it be made larger and more readable?

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/5026/winhelpformat.jpg
This shows that Help files originally written in Win Help Format are no longer (in Win7) allowed to be read. So my photo editor is redundant except for use in XP.

Hey - I can bring files into the forum now! Beautifully set out for me. Thanks Mark.
Mike.

All this means is something is not stock with the fonts and settings.

Some folk use those skins, run a registry cleaner but let's hear more.
Bob

Is there a printer driver installed and selected as default?

How does that work? Would that have a bearing on the problem?
Mike

I had hoped for a simple yes or no but to dive into how Windows works is ok by me. In short Windows often will use the selected printer for hints on how to display things.

I've lost count of how many times...
Bob

Are you saying you didn't get the effect with Faststone that I'm having trouble with? Do you know how to correct it?
What does "Some folk use those skins," mean?
And do you have any suggestions for a Registry cleaner? What effect would that have?
Mike

We know that the font used and display of the font size is in the registry. So any SKIN or registry cleaner could create this issue.

But I can't help here because the history is vague to unknown.

What I did do was install Faststone so I could check to see if the app had the issue. It didn't so this leads me to suspect that someone, some app or cleaner corrupted a font or such.

It could be as simple as someone wanted some other font on on the user interfaces.

It could be as rare as someone with the Euro Windows version that doesn't have WMP.

Clues are missing, you have to keep telling more.
Bob

Giving you the "thumbs down" was an accident and I couldn't undo it. Sorry. Definitely should've been a 'Thumbs Up" one.
Mike

I agree with Bob, that Faststone font type and size is not stock settings, so something has been changed along the way. The Help file seems fine to me, so that's a mystery.

If you go to Control Panel > Display, (or right click the Desktop then Personalize), there are a lot of options available to customize the look and feel of Windows 7, including font type, size, colors and so on.

Admittedly it is not as easy as it was in XP, but all the options are still there. There are so many options that affect individual sections of the visible windows, it is difficult to track down what has changed, and what to change it back to. But changes made here are global, in that they affect every application, and not just some programs but not others, unless a particular programs developer has chosen certain font types, sizes colors etc.

If you have applied Windows Themes to this Windows 7 then This may cause the effect you see. But you would know if you have applied a different theme to the default one.

Bob's comment about registry cleaners refers to a continuing problem we see in these forums. Users use these registry cleaners and 'optimizers' not realising that they can do unexpected damage to the registry. We always suspect the use of registry cleaners when odd changes are reported.

How to access Appearance options in Windows 7;

Open that Display from the Control Panel. Then find "Personalization" at the bottom and click that.

In the new page, click Windows Color. In the new page, click the "Advanced appearance settings". A smaller, XP style window will open.

Click the "Item" pull down arrow and you will see a whole range of options where font size, type, and color can be changed.

I would be very cautious what is changed here because you can very quickly make too many changes at once, don't like the results, then forget what has been amended.

There are other options in the previous Display pages, eg in the first page there is "Set custom text size (DPI)". You could try that, but make a note of what it was before making any changes.

Also, if one of these pages, is a link to "Ease of Access Center" options if you need to have a look at those, but that is in the Control Panel anyway.

Mark