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    taskbar icons on new dell 9400 are fuzzy

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by fermanagh, Mar 4, 2006.

  1. fermanagh

    fermanagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi guys,

    Don't know if anyone has this problem...i just got my new dell 9400 yesterday and straight away i noticed that the task bar icons (ie explorer, mozilla, show desktop etc) are not smooth if you know what i mean?

    Everything else seems to be fine albeit the odd internet site like hotmail, the sign out button seems distorted!

    The weird thing is that i installed a trial copy of windowblinds and installed one of their skins - the icons on the taskbar smoothed themselves out!!!

    When i uninstalled it they went back to their fuzzy appearance...

    I checked the dpi settings and tried both normal and large - same issue...
    I installed a different driver for my nvidia 7800 card - no luck
    I changed the resolution - no change

    Please help as this is so irritating! :confused:

    Here's the link to my screendump, it's a word document - you need to view it at 500% to get any idea of what i'm talking about...

    http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php?f=e8971aad02170e2046874c27

    Thanks for any suggestions!

    Damian
     
    fermanagh, Mar 4, 2006
    #1
  2. nickspohn

    nickspohn Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I cant see the picture you provided, but this is the issue:
    Right click on the Desktop area anywhere
    Go to properties
    Click the Apperance Tab
    Click the Effects Button
    And make sure this box is checked: "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts"
    And then choose Cleartype over standard if it isn't already on Cleartype.

    Hope that works
     
    nickspohn, Mar 4, 2006
    #2
  3. cooldude1015

    cooldude1015 Notebook Consultant

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    hmmmm. I actually prefer standard over cleartype on my screen. Cleartype makes everything blurryish while standard makes everything sharper... hmmm...
     
    cooldude1015, Mar 4, 2006
    #3
  4. nickspohn

    nickspohn Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    Without Cleartype
    [​IMG]
    With Cleartype
    [​IMG]
     
    nickspohn, Mar 4, 2006
    #4
  5. robjbw

    robjbw Notebook Geek

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    is the color quality set at 32bit in Display properties?
     
    robjbw, Mar 4, 2006
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  6. DonnaB

    DonnaB Notebook Geek

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    Maybe you need to fine tune your Cleartype?
    You can get free ClearType Tuner from Microsoft:
    http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypePowerToy.mspx
     
    DonnaB, Mar 5, 2006
    #6