Solved Make my desktop icons more readable!

bertie11

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I enclose a screenshot of what I mean. I'm talking about the icons on the 'sky' background, which I have great difficulty in reading. Is it possible to have so;id clour for those icons (all of the desktop icons)?

I'm using Win 7 64 HP. I've tried using Fences and Iconoid, but couldn't make much sense of them!

Thank you,
 

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My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Envy 15
OS
Windows 8.1.1
CPU
AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
Memory
8gb
Hard Drives
1TB Serial ATA 16mb buffer
Hello Bertie,

You might see how the icon text looks to you after turning off drop shadows for them.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/127333-desktop-icon-labels-turn-drop-shadows-off.html


In addition, you might open the Advanced Appearance Settings, select the Icon item, then adjust either it's font, font size, and try bold or unbold to see if it may help. I marked them in red in the screenshot below to help. The screenshot shows the default settings for the "Icon" item. This will change the text for all icons though, and not just on your desktop.

appearance.jpg

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

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Self built custom
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64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
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Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
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ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
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64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
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Hello Shawn

Well, I think it is now a bit better. If I turned off Drop shadow, I couldn't see ANY text so I had to turn it on again. I finished up just making the same size font (Segoe 9.5) bold.

It is better now but not as good as I would like. I notice that I cannot change the colour of the font as it is greyed out.

Thanks for a very detailed tutorial!
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Envy 15
OS
Windows 8.1.1
CPU
AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
Memory
8gb
Hard Drives
1TB Serial ATA 16mb buffer

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Hewlett packard/p6512uk
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7600
CPU
IIx4 amd athelon 635 processor
Motherboard
FOXCONN 2AA9
Memory
2x2gb
Graphics Card(s)
ati radeon HD 5450
Sound Card
(1) Realtek High Definition Audio (2) AMD High Definition
Monitor(s) Displays
samsung lcd tv 32"
Screen Resolution
1360x 768
Hard Drives
(1) WDC WD10 01FAES-60Z2A0 SATA Disk Device (2) Maxtor OneTouch USB Device (3) ST310003 33AS USB Device (4) WD My Book 1111 USB Device
PSU
?
Cooling
air!
Keyboard
wireless hp
Mouse
wireless Hp,optical
Internet Speed
1.10mb/s
Antivirus
MSE
Browser
Firefox
Hello Shawn

Well, I think it is now a bit better. If I turned off Drop shadow, I couldn't see ANY text so I had to turn it on again. I finished up just making the same size font (Segoe 9.5) bold.

It is better now but not as good as I would like. I notice that I cannot change the colour of the font as it is greyed out.

Thanks for a very detailed tutorial!

You're welcome Bertie.

Hopefully what Julian posted above may work better for you. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I had another try with Fences, and this time, I can see what you mean! I think that will probably do the trick.

Thank you Shawn and Julian.
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Envy 15
OS
Windows 8.1.1
CPU
AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
Memory
8gb
Hard Drives
1TB Serial ATA 16mb buffer
That's great news. I'm happy to hear that will work for you. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi there
Another trick -- this changes the size of them. (W8 users too this works as well).

1) Click anywhere on the desktop

2) Hold down the CTRL key

3) Rotate the scroll wheel on your Mouse.

This increases the size of the Icons (pic shown) - extreme case but just to show !!

For TEXT use the properties in the display to change the std text size - in personalisation you can change the text size.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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My Computer

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I had another try with Fences, and this time, I can see what you mean! I think that will probably do the trick.

Thank you Shawn and Julian.
good news, changing the color of the fence background to one that suits will definitely help make the shortcut text stand out.
i have used fences since the first try ,cant imagine not having them now.
although it has made me lazy at keeping my desktop cleaner, before i just used a dock that was hidden until mouseover, and that made me keep the desktop clear now i can just hide my crap with a click and i clean it usually when i run out of desk space. :cool:
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Hewlett packard/p6512uk
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7600
CPU
IIx4 amd athelon 635 processor
Motherboard
FOXCONN 2AA9
Memory
2x2gb
Graphics Card(s)
ati radeon HD 5450
Sound Card
(1) Realtek High Definition Audio (2) AMD High Definition
Monitor(s) Displays
samsung lcd tv 32"
Screen Resolution
1360x 768
Hard Drives
(1) WDC WD10 01FAES-60Z2A0 SATA Disk Device (2) Maxtor OneTouch USB Device (3) ST310003 33AS USB Device (4) WD My Book 1111 USB Device
PSU
?
Cooling
air!
Keyboard
wireless hp
Mouse
wireless Hp,optical
Internet Speed
1.10mb/s
Antivirus
MSE
Browser
Firefox
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