# Changing Windows XP display for Easier Reading

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 8, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216 "2003-04-08T02:06:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/1 "2003-04-08T02:06:56Z")

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I just had to completely restore my system due to corrupted files. Of course, I lost pretty much everything.

A while ago, I had learned a trick here on the SDMB to change the Windows display to make it more readable. Of course, I have forgotten the trick and can’t give the right search parameters to locate the thread.

The best way to describe it is that it doesn’t change the fonts per se, but makes them more readable, more solid if you will. I had it set that way before I restored and have poked around display settings without locating it.

Can anyone please help?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/2 "2003-04-08T02:34:52Z")

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From Control Panel \> Accessibility Options, you can click the Display Tab and select High Contrast, and change the Settings to choose the high-contrast scheme you want to use. Is that what you mean?

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**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/3 "2003-04-08T03:00:29Z")

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If what **Q.E.D.** was talking about, isn’t what you’re looking for, then I can suggest this:

Note: I think this only “really” makes a difference if you have a flat panel monitor.

1)Right-click on your desktop, and select “Properties”.

2)Select the “Appearance” tab, and click on the button labeled “Effects”.

3)Check the box that is labeled “Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts”, and select “ClearType” from the drop-down list.

4)Then hit, OK and Apply. I don’t know if you need to restart for this, so…  
LilShieste

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**Author:** ![Ennui](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ennui/32/3396_2.png) [@Ennui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ennui)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/4 "2003-04-08T03:01:25Z")

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Another possibility: Right click on the desk top and select Properties \> Appearance \> Effects and change the “font smoothing” from Standard to Clear Type. This works best for flat monitors.

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**Author:** ![Ennui](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ennui/32/3396_2.png) [@Ennui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ennui)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/5 "2003-04-08T03:03:55Z")

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Oops, **LilShieste** beat me by a minute and gave clearer directions to boot. Cheers.

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**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/6 "2003-04-08T03:11:25Z")

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I just did that, wow, much improvement. Thank you .

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**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-windows-xp-display-for-easier-reading/167216/7 "2003-04-08T03:46:02Z")

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Thank you **LilShieste** , that’s exactly it. Clear type makes the laptop monitor a **lot easier** to read.