stupdasso Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 Hi All, I have been having this problem for a few months now and have no explanation as to why. I have tried everything. My problem is the text in message boxes on certain programs, not all, that tend to run off the window and I cannot read it. Not only can I not read it but I can't select certain settings in others i.e. some of the radio buttons, tabs etc. I will leave a screenshot of what I am talking about. If anyone can help me out I would GREATLY appreciate it and my thanks in advance. I again call out to a great forum for help! Thanks again,Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 I assume you have gone into Appearance>Advanced and tried different text and sizes? Other than that, it appears that it may be the fault of the programmers, such as the screensaver program in your image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupdasso Posted August 1, 2004 Author Share Posted August 1, 2004 Hey James, Thanks for the reply. Yes I have done the text change/sizes and even changed back to Windows Classic Theme. Its not just the screensaver program its other programs too. Its seems as though it may be a default setting in WinXP that these programs use. Maybe some registry hack through regedit may be in order but I wouldn't know where to start to even look. Again thanks for the reply and I hope get this one figured out. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 I wonder if you are missing a key Windows font and XP is substituting what looks to be MS Sans Serif. This KB article lists the default Windows fonts and tells you how to restore them:How To Install or Remove a Font in Windowshttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;314960 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epp_b Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I strongly concur with James that it is a problem with the fonts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc-tecky Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 My two cents most likely won't make a difference.... Can you resize the window? If not, try resizing the window after you unlock the... err.... what do you call it again???? ah yes, the task bar, or whateer you want to call it. I had a problem in trying to and re-arrange some system elements, as well as Creative's Play Center, that seemed to be the fix as I recall. Otherwise, font or the resolution/display are to blame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Hi,When you say the text and buttons run off the screen, does the background increase in size proportionate in both vertical and horizontal sync? or is the 'pic' always the same size even when the overlays are present? or, are they 'ever' present at all for the particular programmes/applications you are having problems with.Do you get any 'retrace' lines (fine diagonal lines across the screen) at boot-up?Thinking. Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Dan,Please go to 'My Options' and fill in your computers specifications, with particular attention to what your monitor is. Cathode, LCD etc. It is difficult to diagnose what may be a hardware problem when one doesn't know what one is dealing with.Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_P Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 stupdasso what is your Windows' screen resolution set to? Is it 800x600 or higher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Hey James,   Thanks for the reply. Yes I have done the text change/sizes and even changed back to Windows Classic Theme. Its not just the screensaver program its other programs too. Its seems as though it may be a default setting in WinXP that these programs use. Maybe some registry hack through regedit may be in order but I wouldn't know where to start to even look. Again thanks for the reply and I hope get this one figured out. DanI'm working on 'my' memory here and it's not that good on radio / tv / monitors / vhs these days as I haven't touched them for years.If I recall correctly, the 'primary' screen is held in physical memory, the overlay (the small one you can move around) is held in transparent memory on the video card. I'm not sure how they do it now or much memory 'all' this needs to run smoothly with these days.The primary screen loads from top to bottom, and so does the overlay, I suspect you may have insufficient transparent memory to deliver the whole insert, depending on the memory demand at that time, or whether the drivers are loading it correctly.As I said, it's been a long time. You could try rolling back your video drivers, or check for upgrades. You may even have to increase your physical memory. Video card memory you can't do much with, only find out if you've got enough on board or get it tested for faults within the memory chip itself, if not you'll have to renew or upgrade it. The same goes for the physical if it's being used as transparent.Personally! I hope this is not your problem, and that it is a software one, it's usually cheaper to fix.Ozi.BTW: you have three screens there, does the 'general' one load the same or is it 'normal.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarquin Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Hi Dan,just registered and noticed your problem.James M Fisher was correct in his assumption that it could be a font problem.This happened to me some while back and it was rectified as per the above.Hope this helps.Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Hi Dan,just registered and noticed your problem.James M Fisher was correct in his assumption that it could be a font problem.This happened to me some while back and it was rectified as per the above.Hope this helps.BryanHello Bryan,Welcome to the forum. Could someone tell me what the name of this screen-saver programme is, as I would like to have a look at it. Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupdasso Posted August 3, 2004 Author Share Posted August 3, 2004 Hey All, Sorry it took me so long to reply but I had a family emergency. Thanks for all the post's!!! Ok here is where I am at with this now. I have tried, from a suggestion from a friend, running sfc /scannow. But that will not work because I have the original CD of Windows XP Pro and it asks for the WinXP SP1 CD. Well I don't have WinXP SP1 on CD because I downlaoded SP1 off the Win Update site. What this does, just in case someone out there doesn't know what this command does, is it looks under your operating system to find out if the original Windows files have been corrupted, changed or removed and replaces them with a good copy of the original. So no luck on that front. James I went to the Microsoft KB like you suggested and linked to. It say's under there to run setup. Now when it say's to run setup to put back the original font's is this going to change all of my PC's configuration and mess with all of my other settings I have? If it does I sure can deal with the problem I have instead of starting from scratch. Ozi I am about 95% sure that this is not a hardware problem. If it was a hardware problem it would exist in several other area's also and not just in the default windows of program settings, options and the like. I think that James is somehow on the right track. I am in the line of thinking that it may have to do with a default setting in the registry for the size of fonts in certain windows. Maybe if someone here might know where the size and style of fonts are hidden within the regisrty I can tweak it in there to get things working. Yes I am somewhat familiar with the registry Anyway's I am up for suggestions from anyone. Thanks for all of your guys' help! It IS GREATLY appreciated!DanP.s. I will post some more screen shots and system spec's.System Spec:384MB RAMWindows XP Pro SP1Pentium III 550mhz (I know its slow but a few tweaks and it runs faster than some of the fastest comp's)30 GB HD64 MB GeForce3 Vid Card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Thanks for getting back to us. I hope everything's OK now with the family?I wanted you to check your system to see if you indeed have all those default fonts installed. Let's determine that first.Your Fonts folder can be accessed via Control Panel.(BTW, I gave your post a little editing to make it easier to read by breaking it into paragraphs. I hope you don't mind?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupdasso Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 James, My family is all ok now and thanks for your concern. Yes I went into my fonts folder and from what I can tell is that all the default fonts are there. From the list on the KB it has all of those in that folder. Danp.s.- Naw I don't mind ya editing it. I never thought I would have my own personal editor!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 OK, now to address your previous question: James I went to the Microsoft KB like you suggested and linked to. It say's under there to run setup. Now when it say's to run setup to put back the original font's is this going to change all of my PC's configuration and mess with all of my other settings I have? If it does I sure can deal with the problem I have instead of starting from scratch.Re-running Setup will replace missing files (if any). It will likely require you to reapply updates after and you should do a full backup first. It should not harm any of your files. See this article for more directions:http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,105866,00.aspI was wondering about System Restore. Can you go back to a point when this wasn't happening?If you could supply a link to one of the software apps that exhibit this behaviour, one of us could install it to see what happens. Maybe it's not your PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Hi Dan,I agree with James also, and I hope you are both right. My experience in diagnosing M$ could be written on the back of a matchbox with room to spare. The nuts and bolts I'm comfortable with.I got to thinking it may be a timing problem, where the video refresh rate was too fast for the information being supplied and chopping it off. The other thought was, is the information itself being delivered intact, buffer / memory capacity etc? That's is why I picked on some H/W problems.I know this is a stupid suggestion because you have probably already tried it, but.... Have you tried reducing the video bit-rate to as slow as possible, or tried this with 256 colors set? It may help to unload some resources, as will reducing the font size, because going by what your system is, you're pushing the envelope to the limit with such high resolution screens.Here are the specs for Win-Plus, I suspect that's what you're using as it appears integrated with your OS.Processor PC with a 500-MHz or faster processor; 750-MHz processor recommended.Memory 128 MB of RAM or more recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features) Video Card 3-D graphics accelerator card with 16 MB of RAM minimum; compatible with Direct3D 8.0 API I take it when they mention Memory, they mean 'Free Memory', I'm also beginning to think again that there is a resource or timing problem in here somewhere?. (But we're never too old to learn).Tweaking may fix it, James is the specialist there.............. I can't come up with anything else, so I'm out of here. Ozi. PS: After looking at your latest screen shots, I find it intriguing that the Display Properties Overlay is normal in all aspects, It's the last overlay that has 'Lost It'. The X x Y screen factor on the Screen Saver Properties is the same but the 'fill' is what is out of proportion. No doubt that both James and Yourself are correct in thinking that the font in the Regisitry Entry may be too high a number, viz 7 vs 3 etc for that particular overlay screen. Or it may just be called by FONTVIEW.EXE with the appropriate variable. I am at a loss (And that's not hard these days) as to why or how that entry is not complimenting or equivalent to all the other overlays.What is the actual programme? WinXP, Plus or a stand-alone, because I'm not sure Yet! and I'd like to play?Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar Man Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Dan,After reading this thread at least twice, I must ask if you've tried reducing the font size of the 'message text' IN the 'message box' in Appearance>Advanced, to, let's say, 8, by clicking on the text once, and changing it to, let's say, 20, and back to 8 ??... After looking at your latest screen shots, I find it intriguing that the Display Properties Overlay is normal in all aspects, It's the last overlay that has 'Lost It'. It's this comment by Ozi that got me going on my above logic.Reason: when you open up the Advanced 'overlay', it happens to be the LAST one ! And when you change the text size by scrolling down to find a bigger size, and click it, you end up with a similar screenshot to the one posted in your last one, i.e. the 1st dialog is OK, but the one in front (or last overlay), is distorted.Hope I make sense here, and not repeating what has already been said. I don't think so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 tried reducing the font size of the 'message text' IN the 'message box' in Appearance>Advanced, to, let's say, 8, by clicking on the text once, and changing it to, let's say, 20, and back to 8 ??... it happens to be the LAST one!Hi Guitar Man,No-one has replied yet, but since receiving the Email of your post I took a look at what you had to say. I think you're absolutely right! though only Dan can confirm that. There are more overlays here than meets the eye. I experimented with 'progman' and a few others in the software / folders / and the borders proved to be 'picture frames' without fill-in.So that means the text itself is the last overlay, and the last overlay is the message box with a point size from 6 to 24. I didn't even know 'all' those options existed, I might have a look around this OS one day and learn a bit. Ozi. I said I might! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebone Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 There is another system setting that might be "at fault". If you right click on the desktop and select the rightmost "Settings" tab (as opposed to the "Appearance" tab), you can usually change the overall system font relative size. In my Settings tab the fonts are available after pressing the "Advanced" button. It looks like you may have the larger font size selected.A friend of mine has convinced me to always test the software I write with the smallest and largest font sizes to insure that the software will look proper on any machine. He always chooses large fonts, so he can read it. I always choose the smallest readable font, which he finds unreadable when he uses my machine. My notebook's video adapter allows me to set the font size to one of two pre-set DPI values or to choose a custom value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 you can usually change the overall system font relative size.Good thought littlebone, and I'm learning more and more everyday. But the problem here is the last overlay. Everything else is normal as far as the X x Y factor goes and the over-all screen fonts appear not to be oversized. I'm not sure by any-means what calls this overlay and assigns the XY factor, be it from the Registry or directly from the programme. I also don't believe that the fixed fonts on the overlay screen itself are a problem because I suspect they are part of the 'Picture' themselves. What effect the fonts in the 'Boxes' (another overlay) have in this, I have no idea? I'm going to wait now, and see what James comes up with. I agree with Guitar Man's possibility, BUT! I'm also a little sceptical now that James would have missed this one, I don't think it is that easy. Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 BUT! I'm also a little sceptical now that James would have missed this one, I don't think it is that easy. You ain't seen nuthin' yet, my friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 You ain't seen nuthin' yet, my friend! Hello James, The tree! in the forrest huh? The obvious amongst the obscure huh? Been there... done that. And what if I was to say that "There is a possibility that Dan has a local piece of orphan code on his computer that may be the problem, and could have been generated by the configuration and / or age of his computer". :whistling:Nuts! most likely. :wacko:I wrote an article today, and when I finished and re-read it, it dawned on me that this could happen and / or be the cause. It is both logical and possible. How and Why is ..................Watch this space? Ozi.Edit: I used the term "Feral Virus" here, when I was referring to a piece of Orphan Code left floating in the system because the file may have been truncated while loading or running. Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 I think you've been bitten by a 'roo or a Kukaburra or whatever beasties you Aussies produce down under! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupdasso Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 Hey Guys, Sorry its taking me so long to reply but I have been busy getting my son ready to go back to school plus my work and the like. Well I have tried without success to rebuild my fonts folder by deleting certain fonts in there. I went to regedit and went to this subkey to see if I could find out anything: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FontsThe fonts listed in there are:"HogwartsWizardOrnCaps Bold (TrueType)"="HOGWWOCB.TTF""HogwartsWizard (TrueType)"="HOGWW___.TTF""HogwartsWizard Bold (TrueType)"="HOGWWB__.TTF""HogwartsWizardOrnCaps (TrueType)"="HOGWWOC_.TTF""Ablefont (TrueType)"="ablefont.TTF""InkPotFitCaps (TrueType)"="INKPFC__.TTF""InkpotFitcapsOutline (TrueType)"="INKPFO__.TTF""InkPotOutline (TrueType)"="INKPO___.TTF""InkPot (TrueType)"="INKPOT__.TTFWell I went to the Fonts folder and deleted all the fonts listed above to no avail. I deleted them and then restarted my computer and nothing happened. I still have the problem. Does anyone know what this Registry key controls in Windows or what fonts are listed under your registry? I deleted them in safe mode by the way. Ozidave I also have an antivirus program that I ALWAYS keep up to date. I have an always on connection to the internet so I need to keep it up to date as well as with my firewall. So I know I don't have a virus. Guitar Man As for changing the size in the "Message Box" settings and making the fonts smaller, I wish it was that easy otherwise I wouldn't be asking for help on this AWESOME forum. I have changed EVERY setting under the "Appearance" tab and "Advanced" settings button under Display Properties with no success.So here I am back to step one. I think what James said about running Setup is my last and final resort unless someone out there can figure out how to check under the registry for window size settings or default font settings. If I have to resort to what James has suggested then I will just live with the problem cause it will take me forever to get everything backed up and settings written down blah blah blah. That would be too much and I really don't have all that much time cause like I said earlier my son needs me.Well I will keep checking on here and I will reply quicker to any postings. I REALLY appreciate all of your guys' help! A forum like this should be on the top of everyone's favorites list.Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Ozidave I also have an antivirus program that I ALWAYS keep up to date. I have an always on connection to the internet so I need to keep it up to date as well as with my firewall. So I know I don't have a virus.Hi Dan,That's not quite the sort of virus I meant, maybe 'feral' was a bad choice. Local and Unique would probably describe it better. Let me also add before I attempt to explain: 1. I believe the last overlay is a picture file and you can't change that.2. The fonts in the boxes may or may not be able to be changed as they are proportionate to the overall size of the 'part' of the picture you can see.3. The overlay commands (electronic impulses) are in this case the 'last' in a series of all of the information needed to complete the process.4. because the overlay size is set by the X x Y factor (within the primary screen) it produces the limits to be filled by the next lot of information that is supplied (the picture). If the information received is the full data quota it will fill the overlay as expected, if it's not the full quota it will 'still' fill the overlay even though the information has been cropped and will spread it between the parameters and result in producing a full-size partial picture which of course appears out of proportion and too big.Time for a Kit-Kat and a cup of tea....... I'm back............. I've written a piece about Hardware (in layman terms) and some of the problems it can cause which I will post at a later date, if I elaborate too much here it will be pointless posting it. But I'll give you a diagram of what could be happening, and the fact that it is possible. Bear in mind that Video-Data is not much different to Audio-Data in that it can be cropped and still function as an endless chain. The primary screen data is A x B in this case, the overlay X x Y and includes extra overlays to get a better mental picture.A...........................BX...............YX.................YX...................Y and so on.Now the problem!A...........................BX...............YX.................YX........... and it stops here, and goes back to A and starts again.This can happen, and there are perfectly logical reasons for it. Where are the lost bits you may ask? They are now a harmless but annoying Orphan String that caused this problem to run in a loop. Ozi.Edit: Replace Virus with Orphan String. :"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozidave Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 Hey Guys,     Sorry its taking me so long to reply but I have been busy getting my son ready to go back to school plus my work and the like.Hi Dan,I would like to continue to help with this because us 'older' fellows have more time to find out about it than you do. I was browsing the web today looking, but gave up! no-one has actually said what the screensaver programme is, XP Pro, Win Plus or Stand-Alone?????????? I run XP Home NTjb! (No Toys, just basic). Ozi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleo_QofD Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 Hi, i would really love to know the answer to the problem with the text thing because I am having the very SAME problem. and mine isnt just with one program. my text and buttons run off the screen for almost every single popup style dialog box i use. be it a windows one or a new program i am installing. it drives me crazy! especially when I am installing something and I cant read all the instructions for the setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M. Fisher Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 Hi, i would really love to know the answer to the problem with the text thing because I am having the very SAME problem. and mine isnt just with one program. my text and buttons run off the screen for almost every single popup style dialog box i use. be it a windows one or a new program i am installing. it drives me crazy! especially when I am installing something and I cant read all the instructions for the setup.Hi there and welcome! Have you tried any of the suggestions in this thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupdasso Posted August 26, 2004 Author Share Posted August 26, 2004 Hey Cleo, I have never gotten a fix to my problem and just gave up on the thing and decided to just deal with it. I really don't want to re-install WinXP or anything of the sort. Maybe someone will see this post and have an answer for it. *crossing fingers* Anyway's if I do find an answer I WILL post it here and let everyone know the solution. Good Luck to ya.DanP.s.-This is a STILL a great forum!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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