Vista fonts in title bars and menus are messed up, please help

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My problem illustrated in pictures:
- The font size in title bars, menus and and other bars become smaller
- The font changes slightly to having smaller 'font bodies' e.g. "o's" and longer 'ascenders' e.g."l's"

-- Before and After,
PGoXo.png

The problem happens in all applications, not just in Firefox shown here. Note: it only affects the title bars, menus, status bars, but it does not affect the actual text in applications such as Firefox, notepad, MS word, and so on.

How my problem occurred:
I was testing a particular setting in the control panel,
Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Performance Information and Tools -> Adjust visual effects
I clicked "Adjust for best performance", and Vista displayed a classic kind of theme. I reverted back by clicking "Adjust for best appearance" and I then ended up with the 'after' picture.

What I did to try and fix the solution:
Firstly, I thought my DPI was changed from originally 120 DPI back to 96 DPI. No such luck, it turns out in both cases it is still 120 DPI.

Secondly, I manually changed vista's fonts to try reverting back to how it was originally,
Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization -> Personalization -> Window Colour and Appearance -> Advanced
Items "Active Title Bar", "Inactive Title Bar", "Menu", "Message Box", "Palette Title", and "Tooltip" all showed the font settings of: 'Segoe UI' with font size 9. I changed the font size of these to 11, and l had some success.

However, I cannot seem adjust the fonts exactly back to how it originally looked.
Case in point:

-- Showing a Google webpage before the problem started,
14hiO.png


-- Showing a Google webpage afterwards, and after my fix attempts,
zoBKH.png


And lastly, a close up analysis of the original font vs. my current fonts
It illustrates:
1) after problem, Segue UI 12 pt
2) after problem, Segue UI 11 pt
3) before problem, original font
h35eZ.png


Here, we can clearly see not only is the original font bigger than 11pt but smaller than 12pt as well. Also more importantly, the original font has larger more bigger "o's" and relatively shorter "l's" than the fonts after the problem. As if like the original font was specifically designed for title bars while the afterwards font isn't. It is hard to describe properly but this is really the case.

What can I do to solve my problem of screwed up font displays in vista, and how can I revert to how it was originally? All responses are greatly appreciated as I am actively trying to solve the problem.
 

My Computer

System One

I think your DPI is set too High for your Screen Resolution

Go to Start>Control Panel > Apperence and personalization then click Display and change the DPI to Default 100%


Hope This Helps,
Josh
 

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System One

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Shadowjk said:
I think your DPI is set too High for your Screen Resolution

Go to Start>Control Panel > Apperence and personalization then click Display and change the DPI to Default 100%
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply Josh.

My DPI is 120 (larger scale) while the default scale is 96 DPI. However, changing my DPI will only make matters worse; my font was actually bigger before my problem and now it has turned smaller. Reducing my DPI will further compound my problem and make my fonts even smaller while not solving it. Lastly, my screen resolution is actually 1920 by 1080 px so that is not the issue.
 

My Computer

System One

Looks like you run in classic mode as your page corners are not rounded is that correct?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
Control panel, Personalization,Windows Color and Appearance.
To the left you can set the font for each item
 

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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
ilikefree said:
Looks like you run in classic mode as your page corners are not rounded is that correct?
Click to expand...

An astute observation ilikefree, however I did not actually 'print screen' my whole screen but only just on a single window. And since windows in Vista have rounded edges that is what you saw. If I were to take a 'print screen' of my whole screen, my images would show very big.

Nontheless, I checked my theme and it says I am running Windows Aero.

Following your advice anyway,
-- full screen, after problem, before your solution,
xKyGX.png


-- full screen, after problem, after trying your solution,
XqfBZ.png


Making the font sizes bold does not seem to correct the problem. Bear in mind, we're trying to revert my fonts back to how it was originally in the first place, not just to change to make it look good.
 

My Computer

System One

I thought you had the menu set to bold. You can change fonts here for each item you highlight.I run in classic mode and have changed almost everything here. Button sizes, fonts,font size,borders,you name it all possible here. But you lose Aero.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
ilikefree said:
I thought you had the menu set to bold. You can change fonts here for each item you highlight.I run in classic mode and have changed almost everything here. Button sizes, fonts,font size,borders,you name it all possible here. But you lose Aero.
Click to expand...
Yes that is true, however as you noticed changing fonts to bold does not revert back to how Vista originally looked. This is the question. And if were to go about solving this problem by manually change the fonts, to what fonts and font sizes should I change to revert back to Vista's original font displays?

Or are there other ways to solve this problem such as resetting Vista's settings somehow or something?
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
ilikefree said:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/83834-cleartype-font-settings.html

Try setting the cleartype

Tutorial thanks to Brink
Click to expand...
Thank you for your suggestion, however I checked my settings and it turns out I already have cleartype on.

The problem first started when I changed my display settings to a classic i.e. "windows 98-look" mode. My theory is that the font display settings were modified somewhow when changing to classic mode, that have since not been reverted back when I changed back to Vista mode.

Therefore the underlying cause and solution may be deeper than what we are currently trying.
 

My Computer

System One

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