Outlook 2003 - how the HECK can I view my emails in Arial (not Times)?

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  1. shiphen
    Posts : 207
    Windows7 Pro x64
       New #1

    Outlook 2003 - how the HECK can I view my emails in Arial (not Times)?


    Hi

    How do I get Outlook2003 to display emails (when viewing not editing) in Arial and not in Times New Roman?

    I have tried *everything* !! And am getting DESPERATE.

    I have tried setting internet explorer 8 (I tried MSIE 9 too out of desperation but have now uninstalled it) MSIE8 > Tools > Internet Options > Fonts > Latin Based > WebPage Font = Arial

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Message format >
    Word 2003 to Edit email messages
    ...But this Word2003 is not used when just VIEWing an email.

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Use this stationery by default > None

    AND I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Use this stationery by default > Johns_Stationery
    (I specially set up Johns_Stationery with Arial, 11pt in use)
    ...but this makes no difference to viewing an email.

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Use this stationery by default > Fonts > When composing a new message > Arial, regular 11 points

    AND

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Use this stationery by default > Fonts > When replying and forwarding > Arial, regular 11 points

    AND

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Use this stationery by default > Fonts > When composing and reading plain text > Arial, regular 11 points

    AND

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Use this stationery by default > Fonts > International Font > Western European > Proportional Font > Arial > Set as user defined


    AND

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Stationery Fonts > Use the font specified in stationery (if specified)


    AND

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Stationery Fonts > Use my font when replying and forwarding

    AND

    I have also tried Outlook2003 > Tools > Options > Mail Format > Stationery and Fonts > Stationery Fonts > Always use my fonts.

    I have even changed the signature to no signature and I have tried editing the signature to be in Arial AND later I tried rebuilding the signature to have text but to not have any font...

    NONE of the above seem to have any effect on how an new HTML email is displayed (if it does not contain its own font).

    Can anyone help?? (Before I give up the will to live!)

    John
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  3. Neutron16
    Posts : 934
    Windows 8.1 ; Windows 7 x86 (Dec2008-Jan2013)
       New #2

    Default font in Outlook 2003 should be Courier New, and NOT Times New Roman.

    What do you have in MSIE8 > Tools > Internet Options > Fonts > Latin Based > Plain text Font ?
    Try to change it too.
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  4. Irene
    Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       New #3

    Perhaps this will help:
    How to view all e-mail messages in plain text format
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  6. shiphen
    Posts : 207
    Windows7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Neutron16 said:
    Default font in Outlook 2003 should be Courier New, and NOT Times New Roman.

    What do you have in MSIE8 > Tools > Internet Options > Fonts > Latin Based > Plain text Font ?
    Try to change it too.
    Wait - the problem is for reading my HTML emails (not my plain text ones)!

    J
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  7. shiphen
    Posts : 207
    Windows7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Irene said:
    Perhaps this will help:
    How to view all e-mail messages in plain text format
    I agree that if all else fails I could read EVERYTHING in plain text, but that's very 1990s Darling.

    No, I want to read and write in bold, colour and italics. And I want to do so in a fon that doesnt hurt my eyes (i.e. almost anything sans serif and defintiely NOT Times New Roman).

    How hard can it be in 2011?
    (I know, I know our office is stuck in a time warp by forcing us to keep using Outlook2003, but SURELY there is a way of doing it! In fact there *HAS* to be a way of doing it because my Outlook2003 used to work like that!!)

    J
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  8. Irene
    Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       New #6

    shiphen said:
    In fact there *HAS* to be a way of doing it because my Outlook2003 used to work like that!!)
    Is this a recent occurrence?

    Are all users in your office experiencing the same problem?
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  10. shiphen
    Posts : 207
    Windows7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    Irene said:
    shiphen said:
    In fact there *HAS* to be a way of doing it because my Outlook2003 used to work like that!!)
    Is this a recent occurrence?

    Are all users in your office experiencing the same problem?
    Yes, it is a recent occurrence on my main (office) WinXP Pro computer.
    I'm less sure about my home Win7 x64 computer.

    I have also just been checking on my (also WinXP Pro) LAPTOP and it does NOT have the same problem! On this laptop, if you change the font in Internet Explorer8
    MSIE8 > Tools > Internet Options > Fonts > Web Page fonts > [whatever font]...
    then whatever you change the font to, will be ALSO used as the font that msOutlook2003 uses to view emails (!)

    However although I have made every setting that I can find the same on both my WinXP computers on my main (office) PC and also on my home Windows 7 x64 PC the font on all VIEWED (rather than edited) emails always seems to be Times New Roman on everything except my laptop. :^[
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  11. Irene
    Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       New #8

    Detect and Repair has a setting to restore default settings - although I expect you would lose other customization. Maybe just use the detect and repair:
    How to understand the repair feature in Office 2003 and in Office XP
    .
    .
    .
    On-demand detect and repair

    To run the Detect and Repair feature in your Office programs, follow these steps:
    1. Start an Office program.
    2. On the Help menu, click Detect and Repair.
    3. In the Detect and Repair dialog box, do any of the following:
      • Click to select the Restore my shortcuts while repairing check box. By default, this check box is selected. If you select the Restore my shortcuts while repairing option, Detect and Repair will keep your custom Office shortcuts. If you do not select this option, Detect and Repair will remove your custom Office shortcuts.
      • Click to select the Discard my customized settings and restore default settings check box. If you select the Discard my customized settings and restore default settings option, Detect and Repair will set the following back to the state that they appeared in when you first installed Office:
        • The Assistant character selection.
        • Most-recently-used entries on the File menu will be removed.
        • The size of the program window for all programs.
        • Menu and toolbar position and any customizations.
        • The security level for each program.
        • View settings in the program, such as the Calendar view in Outlook.
        • You must re-enter your User Name and Initials when you restart your Office programs.


    4. Click Start.
    5. Click Ignore if the Close Office Programs dialog box displays the following message (where program is any Office program that is currently running): In order to correctly pick up or restore your settings, the following programs must be closed:
      Microsoft program
    6. After the repair process has completed, click OK to the following message where edition is the version of Office that you have installed (for example, Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003):Microsoft Office edition Setup completed successfully.
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  12. shiphen
    Posts : 207
    Windows7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    Thank you - yes Detect-and-Repair is was a good (if painful) suggestion... and if you select "Discard my customized settings", yes it did manage to bring back MSIE 8's font to be controlling what font HTML emails are viewed through. (Hallelujah)

    Getting replies, new emails, signatures etc all into a matching font was harder... After MUCH time-wasting experimentation, it now appear that there is a genuine bug in Outlook2003 whereby
    A) It doesnt really like Arial 11. (Arial 10 and Arial 12 seem to be fine.)
    B) It doesnt like you messing with Stationery - just leave it blank!
    Because if you mess with Stationery, at some (random) point it then suddenely decides that emails will be no longer viewed (and I do not mean edited!) through the MSIE v8 web font and once it has done this, there is no way back!

    NB So far I have done this experimentation on WinXP. I'll let you know in due course if the problems are different on Win7.

    What I find surprising is that nobody else seems to have found this bug !

    J
      My Computer
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  13. Irene
    Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       New #10

    Keep up the good work - let us know how it goes. :)
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