Windows 7 - Notification area icons and date/time font sizes

Although I have "Use Small Icons" UNticked & a screen resolution of 1280 x 1024, I find the notification area and the date/time display rather small (yes, my eyesight is NOT that brilliant!!). I do NOT want to switch screen resolution, but would like these items larger. Any ideas please, anyone?

Why don't you take a look at some of the many 3rd party date/time apps that are available?

Also, some of your system's font size settings are directly affecting the font size of your date and time display.

As another person who prefers (and needs) larger fonts and images, I'm happy to share my list of settings with you. As you go through them, you'll see which one(s) affect the time and date display:

1. Fonts - Change - This is the one of the main setting tools for setting various locations of Windows font sizes. Right-click on the Desktop and go to Personalize, Window Color and Appearance. Click on Advanced, and in the drop-down menu, select the item that controls the location where you wish to change the font size. (Note: the last one, Window, does not have an option to control font size.)

2. DPI - How to Change the Display DPI Size in Windows 7
Right click on Desktop, Personalize, On Personalization Page, (OR go to Start Menu, Control Panel, Display, and in left column select Custom DPI setting.) go to left column to: Adjust Font size – DPI, DPI Scaling: Click on Large scale (120 DPI), and click Apply. OR Click ‘Set custom text size (DPI)’ in the left pane to customize the text size and drag the ruler with your mouse to increase or decrease the percentage.

3. Screen Resolution - TechTalkz.com Technology & Computer Troubleshooting Forums > Operating Systems > Windows 7 – Guide to How to Change Font Size + Icon Size

Right-click on the Desktop, choose Screen Resolution, (OR go to Start Menu, Control Panel, Display, and in left column select ‘Adjust resolution.’) click on the down-arrow at the end of the Resolution box, and pick the desired resolution. Check OK.

4. Display: Right-click on the Desktop, select Personalize, then Display. (OR Start Menu, Control Panel, Display.) From the 3 settings: Small, Medium, Large, if screen defaults to Medium (125% size for font and images) and that’s too large, use Small for 100% size (aka “normal”)

5. At the lower right hand corner of every IE web page, there’s a Zoom control that lets you increase the size of every web page, and it stays at that Zoom setting for every page until/unless you change it.

6. Open Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, Advanced, UNcheck all three:
Reset text size to Medium for new windows and tabs, and
Reset text size to Medium while Zooming, and
Reset Zoom level to 100% for new windows and tabs

7. Open Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, General, Accessibility, Select Ignore font sizes specified on web pages. Click OK, then Apply, then OK.

8. Open Internet Explorer, click the Page button, click Text Size, and then select the size you want i.e. Large (Largest may be too large).

9. Ease of Access Center – Go to either: Control Panel, All Control Panel Items, Ease of Access Center, Make Your Computer Easier to Use, Explore All Settings, and click on: Make this computer easier to see (Optimize Visual Display). OR go to Control Panel, and Explore all settings. Under the following heading, Make things on the screen larger, select: Change the size of text + icons. This takes you to the dpi settings screen.

10. If you have a scroll wheel on your mouse, use command/ctrl + your scroll on a web page to increase the font size. (You should be able to change the button assignments of the mouse in its Control Panel by selecting an appropriate option for the function you want.)

11. MS Word templates: In the Ribbon or QuickAccess Bar select Styles, Normal, and when the little arrow appears, select Modify. Under Formatting you can change the default font size (12) to whatever size you wish. At the bottom of the screen select Only in this documents OR New documents based on this template. Click OK. You can change this font size setting for any/all other MS Word templates as well.

12. In IE and FireFox (for current use – not permanent): press Ctrl and the + key to increase screen size. To reduce screen size press Ctrl and the – key. (To restore screen size to 100% press Ctrl and 0.)

13. FireFox (permanent setting): go to Tools, Options, Content, and on that screen set the new default text size that you wish. Then, click Advanced and there are additional default text size settings. Plus, in the box that says "Minimum text size" select None, and down below, UNcheck the box that says "allow pages to choose their own fonts instead of my selections above."

14. FireFox Add-On: NoSquint (http://urandom.ca/nosquint/)

15. Magnifier – To Magnify Entire Page: Start, Search pane, and type: magnifier. When it comes up click the plus (+) sign. The entire page will magnify. OR go to: Control Panel, All Control Panel Items, Ease of Access Center, Make Your Computer Easier to Use, Start Magnifier.

16. Magnifier – To Magnify a Certain Portion of the Screen - go to Start, Search pane, and type: magnifier. Click the program at the top. The Magnifier can be set to Docked Mode which places a re-sizable window at the top of the screen that follows the cursor. (To read more about Magnifier go to Start, click "Help & Support" on the right hand side, type in "magnifier.") Magnifier is actually located at: Start, All Programs, Accessories, Ease of Access, Magnifier.

17. 3rd Party apps: Magic Zoom Plus (http://www.magictoolbox.com/magiczoomplus/)

If you are using the default aero theme I can change that for you. I have Windows Style Builder that can make that change. Here is an example the first one is the default Aero theme with size 9 the second one is size 12.

If you are using a custom theme you will need to ask the theme maker. It's not cool to change someone else work.
It would be making a custom theme so you would need to do 1 of these 2 ways of Enabling custom themes for it to work.
Enabling Custom Themes - Windows 7
Or
Theme - How to Apply Custom Themes

As far as the notification area icons they are a fixed size sorry
Let me know
Jerry

You can alter the size of the notification icons slightly if you play around with the advanced appearance settings and taskbar width.

Standard


Smaller


Its not a massive change and you loose a little detail in them aswell

Danny

NOBODY has yet come up with a solution - NOTE: I am COMPLETELY HAPPY with the size of EVERYTHING ELSE on the screen, so I DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE icons, fonts size, screen resolution, Word, Excel, IE fonts or ANYTHING ELSE.

I LIKE the Aero scheme - It works fine for me.

I ONLY ONLY ONLY want to CHANGE the SIZE of the System Tray/Notification area and date/time. ie: make them BIGGER.
If you do NOT have an ACTUAL solution to this ACTUAL request, then please don't waste my time by posting.
Thank you.

Shucks Peter - try show show some gratitude for the effort put in so far. if you scroll up a few posts you will see that Bongo has offered to build you a customised theme to do some of what you require : why don't you explore that further and see how that works for you?

Good luck,
Golden

Sorry to appear ungrateful, but I have spent SO much time chasing this one and going through the various suggestions without success.

Also Bongo's post says: "As far as the notification area icons they are a fixed size sorry"

ie: customization will NOT achieve the main objective of increasing the icon size.

Hence my post with the particular emphases.

No worries Peter

Perhaps the icons in the notification area can't be done at all? Bongo is pretty handy with the customisation, and I'd still encourage you to see if you can at least get the clock large enough.

Regards,
Golden

The clock is only secondary, it is the icons I REALLY want to enlarge to be the same size as the taskbar icons. From what I have found so far, this is NOT possible.

How does one make an enhancement request to Microsoft?

Hi Peter,

I was hoping there might be a registry hack to enlarge the icons (there are hacks for hiding them) but alas I couldn't find anything. I'll aks our resident MVP's to comment on the best way to request an enhancement.

Regards,
Golden