Windows and Fonts

[Мастер]

So, owing to a catastrophic hard disk failure on the laptop, I'm on my old desktop computer. The laptop had Windows 7, and also a home-brew version of Linux. The desktop also has a home-brew version of Linux, but not as well-developed yet (specifically, I don't have the GUI, KDE, installed yet), and Windows XP.

Now, say what you like about Windows 7 (and I had some big problems with it), I do have to say, the fonts on my laptop looked pretty damn good. The fonts on my desktop under Windows XP look, in comparison, like something the dog threw up.

Why is that? The resolution on the desktop is 1440x900, which, while not 1080p HDTV, isn't too far off. So why doesn't it look nice?

Possible explanations:

a) The monitor is rubbish

b) The video adapter is rubbish

c) Windows XP is rubbish

d) Something else?

Thoughts?

[Lance]

Well, it's not "C". The fonts are the same.

[Мастер]

Huh.

Maybe it was just a matter of the laptop screen being smaller . . .

[KLA2]

So, owing to a catastrophic hard disk failure on the laptop, I'm on my old desktop computer. The laptop had Windows 7, and also a home-brew version of Linux. The desktop also has a home-brew version of Linux, but not as well-developed yet (specifically, I don't have the GUI, KDE, installed yet), and Windows XP.

Now, say what you like about Windows 7 (and I had some big problems with it), I do have to say, the fonts on my laptop looked pretty damn good. The fonts on my desktop under Windows XP look, in comparison, like something the dog threw up.

Why is that? The resolution on the desktop is 1440x900, which, while not 1080p HDTV, isn't too far off. So why doesn't it look nice?

Possible explanations:

a) The monitor is rubbish

b) The video adapter is rubbish

c) Windows XP is rubbish

d) Something else?

Thoughts?

Wow. I have not had one of those for over a decade. Still, I know, a HD is a mechanical, moving device. It is not a question of if, only when, it will fail.

Any identifiable cause? How old was it? Make/model? (This is kind of like slowing down to observe a car crash.)

Hope, hope you were backed up.

I am running XP (much to the disdain of some) and my resolution seems fine.

I shut up now. I feel like a high jumper giving advice to astronauts.

[Мастер]

Wow. I have not had one of those for over a decade. Still, I know, a HD is a mechanical, moving device. It is not a question of if, only when, it will fail.

2005, 2011, 2012.

Any identifiable cause?

None that I can tell.

How old was it?

1.5 years.

Make/model? (This is kind of like slowing down to observe a car crash.)

WD something-or-other 320 GB, 2.5" drive for laptops. Quite similar to the disk that failed in 2011, although that one was 500 GB.

Hope, hope you were backed up.

The disk had several Windows (NTFS) partitions, and a Linux partition. The Windows partitions were totally backed up, the Linux partition had been backed up five days before.

A great deal of what I had been working on over those five days, had been emailed to other people, and can likely be recovered that way. A certain amount of email that had been filed away in local folders during that period is almost certainly lost.

I am running XP (much to the disdain of some) and my resolution seems fine.

Well, that's what I'm on now. Some of the fonts look fine, others look like they've been put together with toothpicks.

[KLA2]

"Windows partitions were totally backed up"

How? Or, using what?

ETA: And if your fonts are funky, should NOT be, that suggests another problem. Virus? Logic and (small) experiance tells me that is not normal for XP. Time to call in the Geek Squad.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/category/co ... 28857.aspx

[Мастер]

"Windows partitions were totally backed up"

How? Or, using what?

Last Thursday, I copied (manually) the entire contents of all partitions to an external hard drive. The Linux partition had been modified since that time; the Windows partitions had not.

[KLA2]

"Windows partitions were totally backed up"

How? Or, using what?

Last Thursday, I copied (manually) the entire contents of all partitions to an external hard drive. The Linux partition had been modified since that time; the Windows partitions had not.

Wow, you replied quickly. I edited my post since.

Was that sheer luck, or do you do that every Thursday?

[Мастер]

Was that sheer luck, or do you do that every Thursday?

It was definitely luck, usually I would have lost a lot more.

I think I'm going to research redundancy/automatic backup. This is not fun. At least the last two times, the disk was largely recoverable (from the 2011 crash, I don't think we lost any data in the end). This time, the disk is 100% dead. Can't even get the computer to acknowledge there's a disk there.

These new ultra-light Macs seem to have no hard disks, but a totally different storage technology.

[Blue Monster 65]

These new ultra-light Macs seem to have no hard disks, but a totally different storage technology.

Yep - they use solid-state drives, which are generally smaller in capacity, but have no moving parts nor do they generate the heat normally associated with a hard drive. There can be other problems with them, though: you may wish to do some research about their supposed limitations.

Did you get your font problem fixed?

[Мастер]

The fonts may be the same, but I suspect the technology to draw them is different.

Following these instructions

http://www.ehow.com/how_2001303_make-wi ... etter.html

helped a lot.

[Мастер]

That looks like it. Cleartype is installed, but by default disabled, in Windows XP (what is on the computer I was complaining about), but enabled by default in later versions (what is on the laptop, which looks good).