Going back to Windows 7 from 10: how?

[greenozon]

I am also curious if w7 is too old for vc 2017 I written need crt 2015?

You could install any VC redist (2010-12-13-15-17-19-22) and run any modern app on W7
until... you hit the missed  api_ms_win_xxx.dll    ... there are hundreds of these... a new modern design by MS :)
I strongly believe this is a marketing step to throw away old win users and kick them towards modern crap 10/11/etc

[NoCforMe]

I'm 99.65% of the way done with my "downgrade" to W7. All my applications are working, email, web, all good.

Just one remaining annoying problem: I've been futzing around with the display settings trying to get things to look decent. Everything's OK except for one thing: fuzzy text in applications (not in "Windows text", like title-bar text). See attached pic below. This is my editor program, but it's the same with everything else I run: notice how the title-bar text is nice and clear but everything else is ... fuzzy. (And it's not only text: some toolbar icons are also fuzzy.)

The web browser I use (Opera) doesn't exhibit this problem at all. Presumably it uses a different method of displaying text. It's all clear.

I've messed with the display text settings, but no luck. All I've found is at Control Panel→ All Control Panel Items→ Display→ Set custom text size (DPI). This gives you the choice of setting the text size as a percentage of "normal size" (whatever that is???); I have it set at 140%. It also has a checkbox item, "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling", which if I check it messes up the sizes of icons (way too small), so that's unchecked.

I should tell you also that I have the display set at its highest possible resolution, 1600x1200. I really don't want to reduce this resolution if possible.

So why do I have fuzzy text and how do I fix it? I know there are some other display settings scattered here and there in Windows 7, like "Smooth edges of screen fonts" in System Properties→ Advanced→ Performance→ Settings, which makes things look horrible if unchecked. Are there other settings hidden away in some other nooks or crannies I should know about?

[hutch--]

David,

What is the native resolution of your monitor (assuming that it is a flatscreen) ?

I normally run 1920 x 1080 monitors and I always set the screen resolution to the native monitor resolution and I get sharp text display.

[NoCforMe]

I'm not sure; how do I determine the "native resolution"? I thought that would be the highest possible res, which I'm pretty sure I have set.

BTW, I'm almost certain that this isn't a hardware problem at all; it has to do with whatever method Windows uses to display what I'm calling "non-Windows text"; not a technically correct term but meaning "user-displayed" text, like in my RichEdit control. Notice also that even the menu text here is blurry.

[jj2007]

Set custom text size (DPI). This gives you the choice of setting the text size as a percentage of "normal size" (whatever that is???); I have it set at 140%.

The system may have difficulties to interpolate e.g. 12 pixels * 1.4 -> 16.8 pixels. Try 125% (->15px) or 150% (->18px).

[NoCforMe]

I don't think that's it; no matter what percentage I pick it's still fuzzy.

And why would some text be clear as day and other text fuzzy anyhow?

[hutch--]

David,

I would be inclined to start again. Using your desktop settings, see what the maximum resolution is available and set it to that. Then start with the default sized fonts without scaling and see what they look like. If you need the fonts to be bigger, use TTF fonts and set the sizes you require. Generally flat screen only look OK at their native resolution, set them to any other size and they look like crap.

Using a percentage scaling increase, wrecks some of the standard displays of text as they end up too big and bits get cut off. Avoid it if you can. TTF or OTF fonts display well if you get it right

[Shintaro]

Given that it is an old PC, I would check the cable and connection at both ends. If there is corrosion, it will interfere with the quality of the signal.

And lastly, the refresh rate of the monitor.

[NoCforMe]

No. IT IS NOT A HARDWARE PROBLEM!

Take my word for it. How could it be a hardware problem if some of the text is clear and some isn't?

[Shintaro]

No. IT IS NOT A HARDWARE PROBLEM!

Take my word for it. How could it be a hardware problem if some of the text is clear and some isn't?

Then I would say it is your font library as has been mentioned.
Some apps use particular fonts.
Strange, normally an equivalent font is ok. But perhaps not. But then again it is Windows, so anything is possible.
Is there anything showing in your logs?
Maybe someone here can remember the name of the utility that showed the resources that a Windows exe used? Resource manager from Visual Studio or Sysinternals?? It would tell what the app what font amount other things.
Did you find the latest drivers for your video card?
I am thinking maybe you need to run a system information tool. Because I hate guessing.

[NoCforMe]

You're grasping at straws, my friend.

This is a fresh install of Windows 7, but I'm using exactly the same set of fonts I was before. With no problems.

It's obviously a difference in how Windows is rendering text under certain circumstances. (What those circumstances are I have no idea.) If I change the font my editor uses to display text (through a RichEdit control), they still look fuzzy. But the title bar of the application is clear as a bell.

So no, not font corruption. Not bad connections on my monitor. Nothing to do w/refresh rate or anything like that. The text I'm looking at as I type this reply is perfectly clear. But even the text in Word (a Microsoft creation) is fuzzy. All except for window and dialog captions, which are clear.

Just to remind all what the problem is, see pic below. Notice how clear the text ("Replace Text") is in the title bar, compared to all the rest of the text in the dialog. So please forget about display device drivers: the hardware is perfectly capable of displaying clear text.

[Shintaro]

Yep, time to stop guessing.
I'll post soon with some instructions on gathering information.

I am thinking you should start a new thread though.

[Shintaro]

In the meantime have a look at THIS.

[NoCforMe]

Aaaaaaargh.

I did check that link you gave: thanks for that. Most of it I've already tried and was useless, except for this bit:

Check your font size

If your current font size or dots per inch (DPI) is set to larger than 100%, text and other items on the screen may appear blurry in programs that are not designed for high-DPI display. To fix this problem, set the font size to 100% to see whether the font looks clearer.

This seems to be the problem. Trouble is, if I set the font size to 100% it's waaaaaay too small. Teeny tiny. Unreadable.

I tried reducing monitor resolution, next step down (1280x1024). Things looked better, but the damn taskbar was below the screen!!! Couldn't access it. Forget that.

I was able to get things looking pretty much OK @ 125% font size, except that with that "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling" thing checked, font placement was screwy in some apps. So I'm at 125% with fuzzy text for now.

[Shintaro]

I have a couple of ideas.
But run: msinfo32.exe
Then Files-> Save As <some name>.nfo
Add the nfo file to a zip and post it.