Legacy dialog fonts too big

[bobt1993]

I have a problem running legacy applications, like Irfanview, on the latest build of Windows (build 1909, Windows 10 home). The dialog fonts are too big. Not only is it ugly, it looks like the program is broken, but sometimes the text goes off the screen and gets clipped, so you can't read it.

Attached is a screenshot.

Is there any way to restore the font to a normal size for legacy Windows32 applications?

 

[Regedit32]

Some older applications were designed before High DPI screens were popular, and looking at your sample image you are using a build of IrfranView that is pretty old.

If you intend on sticking with that build then open File Explorer and location the IrfranView program folder. Most likely located in C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfranView in your case.

Once you get inside the IrfranView folder, right-click on the i_view32.exe file and select Properties, then:

• Select the Compatibility tab
• Near bottom of this tab click the Change high DPI settings button
• You'll now see the i_view32.exe Properties window. In the bottom panel check the box next to Override high DPI scaling behaviour, then click the drop arrow below this and select System (Enhanced) then click OK

A simpler option in the case of IrfranView though would be to download a compatible build for Windows 10, which you could get from this website:

IrfanView

Fast and simple image viewer and editor that supports all major graphics formats. Edit and convert graphics files with this top-notch image viewer.

www.techspot.com

Select, either 64-bit link if you are using Windows 10 64-bit, or if you have Windows 10 32-bit installed, select the 32-bit link on the site.

Regards,

Regedit32

 

[bobt1993]

Thanks! I solved the problem for Irfanview by downloading and installing the latest version, which fixes the scaling problem for fonts.

Unfortunately, I also have the problem with my text editor, Multi-Edit, which was last released in 2008. Attached is the print dialog. I tried your compatibility setting and it didn't work, I still get the ridiculously large font in the system dialog boxes for Mew.exe. I notice this problem only exists in the latest build of Windows 10, home edition (build 1909). At work I use Multi-Edit and the dialog fonts are fine. My work computer is Windows 10 professional, build 1903.

 

[Bighorn]

I tried to get the program in an effort to replicate the problem but looks like it is gone, links on https://download.cnet.com/Multi-Edit-2006/3000-2352_4-10218625.html don't work.

 

[bobt1993]

I just visited that link. Why are they advertising a version of Multi-Edit that's 14 years old? I think any legacy program from the 2000's has the same problem. It started with build 1909. If you have a legacy program like Examdiff-pro, an old version of Snagit, or some other DOS/Windows 95/NT/XP program from the late '90s or early 2000's, it has the same problem.

 

[bobt1993]

I just tried opening an old version of ExamDiff Pro, a file/directory comparison tool from c. 2001. Same problem. There must be a system setting somewhere to tell Windows to use a normal font instead of the large system font for old programs. I can't believe Microsoft expects everyone to stop using all software written before 2010!

 

[Regedit32]

W A R N I N G ! ! !

There are numerous third party links promoting the 2008 version of Multi-Edit and Multi-Edit Lite Edition.

DO NOT DOWNLOAD & INSTALL from these third party links ! ! !

These links contain out of date Demo installs ( free trial ) which themselves contains Rootkits, Malware and also Adware in them which currently get past Windows 10 Defender.

If you have already tried one of these links, then I'd highly recommend running a thorough rootkit and malware scan using a reputable third party Security application. I can confirm Norton Power Eraser ( the stand-alone free edition ) is capable of neutralizing the rootkit, which then allows you to manually remove the Malware and Adware. I've submitted samples to the Norton Cloud so hopefully Microsoft will update their definitions too.


If you are interested in trying Multi-Edit, then visit the official website where you can purchase a copy of the software:

Multi Edit Software

Note: This software has not been updated in several years, with its last Windows version supporting Windows 7, but from what I can tell it really only ever fully supported Windows 2000 and XP.


On that note, Bob, you might try going to the compatibility tab, and seeing whether setting it to run in Windows XP or Windows 2000 mode makes any difference to your DPI issue. Failing that, you might want to instead seek a more modern application that is capable of doing the tasks you were using it for. There are multi applications out there designed for Windows 10 capable of running Macros etcetera.

 

[bobt1993]

The DPI issue isn't unique to Multi-Edit. I see that problem in dialog boxes of any software written in the Windows NT/2000/XP era.

The problem I have with "other text editors" is none of them do what Multi-Edit does. The closest is Notepad++, which doesn't have a macro programming language. I tried Ultra-Edit and it's horrible! I can't even figure out how to remap my keyboard in that editor. I've also found other editors like the "Kitty Kat" editor (I am NOT kidding!), Atom (where do these names come from?), and one other that I can't think of right now. And what's with the black screens? The best I can tell is these kids today don't care about their editing experience. I'm an old goat from an earlier era and I do care.

Someone suggested the fix:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes

Change the font to something other than "MS Sans Sarif". I set it to "Tahoma". It did NOT solve the problem.

 

[Regedit32]

If you cannot find a suitable alternate application then you may have to set up a dual operating system, and use the older OS when you want to run these older applications.

Out of curiosity have you tried booting into Safe Mode and running these applications? In Safe mode Windows uses its generic drivers, and I am curious whether that would make any difference to how fonts are rendered in your legacy applications.