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More on Windows 7, bitmap fonts and DPI settings

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David Meego - Click for blog homepageThis post is a follow up to the previous post on the topic which discussed how you can use the registry editor to adjust the font files used for bitmap fonts to restore them to the default 100% DPI size.  If you have not read the previous post, please use the link below:

Windows 7, bitmap fonts and Microsoft Dynamics GP

As I hinted at in this previous post, any older applications that use bitmapped fonts such as MS Sans Serif, MS Serif and Courier are likely to have this same issue. 

I have already explained the logic behind the change in behaviour for Windows 7 which can automatically set the DPI to 125% during the install.  What has not been explained is why the bitmap fonts are not restored to 100% DPI when the DPI setting is changed back to 100% via the User Interface.  This is the subject of this post.

How we see Windows is controlled by two primary settings:  The resolution and the DPI setting. 

In Windows Vista (and earlier) the resolution could be changed for each user on a workstation, but the DPI setting was system based.  This means that a user did not really have full control of the settings for their profile and if another user changed the DPI setting, it would affect all users on that workstation.  Changing the DPI setting would require a reboot for the change to take effect and it would adjust the bitmap fonts as part of that change. 

So Windows 7 introduced a change to allow the DPI setting to be set on a per user basis (only requiring a logout and login to make the change).  It is important to note that the user based DPI setting only affects the scalable fonts which can be adjusted without a reboot. 

The bitmap font DPI settings are still system based and would still require a reboot to change and would also affect all users on the workstation.  To avoid the now user based DPI setting from affecting other users in the system, the bitmaps fonts are no longer changed when adjusting DPI via the Display Control Panel applet.

The bitmap font size is now set only once during the installation and not altered thereafter. As we now understand, the initial DPI setting used during the install will control how the bitmap fonts are set.

I am researching if there is a way to make Windows 7 always default to 100% DPI during the installation, or a way to keep the bitmap fonts at 100% DPI size.  However, if you DO want the 125% DPI setting, you will then have the same issue but the other way around.

Thanks to Peter Constable from the Windows 7 Development team for his input.

I hope this clarifies what is happening.

David

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 17, 2010
    Thank you so much for this - when I installed W7, i had an hdmi cable to my tv plugged in as a secondary monitor, for routing video to the tv.  Win took this as the primary desktop, over the standard monitor that was also plugged in, and adjusted all the fonts (and the resolution of the initial login screen!) to be too big.

  • Anonymous
    November 08, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2013
    Hi, Thanks for all of this great info!  I went into the registry editor to make these changes, and they were already made!  So now I still have the wrong font size.....any further suggestions? Thank you, Alec

  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2013
    Hi Alec is the font too small or too large? These articles are about setting the DPI to 100% and the bitmap font being too big. David

  • Anonymous
    July 09, 2013
    Hi David, Did you ever find a way to default to 100% during the installation? We are having this issue with our SCCM OS deployment. Thanks JW

  • Anonymous
    July 09, 2013
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 03, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2016
    The only workaround I have found for this is to simply leave the video driver out of our .wim files for laptops with hi-res displays then install the driver after the machines have been imaged.

  • Anonymous
    February 29, 2016
    Hi James Not having the driver available means that the standard driver will be installed and the DPI will start at 100%. If you want to include your driver, it will probably start the DPI at 125% or 150% and you will need to adjust the registry if you want the bitmap fonts set back to 100%. This is discussed in the first article. David