All change after PC reboot... mystified

RainbowsInTheSpray

Hi guys. After a restart of my PC today, everything looks bigger... desktop icons twice the previous size and 'inflated' internet pages with less visible but larger detail.

No idea why - have restarted the PC many, many times before without this happening. Anyone able to supply a solution?

[Deleted User]

Resolution change?

Olinda99

Did you accidentally put on your old glasses..?

If Windows 10, rt-click on desktop, choose 'display settings' and check the scaling is at 100% and not eg 150%

RainbowsInTheSpray

I personally have changed nothing. Windows (7) seems to have done it all by itself without authorisation. Great, eh? Can't find any Windows setting for 'scaling' and the Screen Resolution alternatives all appear to be worse. Baffled.

RainbowsInTheSpray

I've managed to unbaffle self. The trick, at least with W7, is to find a tiny link calling itself 'make text and other items appear larger or smaller', memorably. This is to be found under control panel > appearance and personalisation > display > screen resolution and is not particularly obvious on that page.

My system, completely on its own initiative, had switched to larger detail by 25%. I've now corrected but am wary that this may now happen each time I perform a re-start.

The wonders of progress. No wonder my friends who have inflicted smart phones upon themselves spend half their lives sorting out problems...

Neil_Jones

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

My system, completely on its own initiative, had switched to larger detail by 25%. I've now corrected but am wary that this may now happen each time I perform a re-start.

The wonders of progress. No wonder my friends who have inflicted smart phones upon themselves spend half their lives sorting out problems...

Um, pardon me but none of the computers I own/setup/look after/fix on Windows behave like this.  They never have done either.

This option doesn't change on its own, it may have come about because of something else you have on the computer.

Alternatively if you are signed in with an MS account and you've changed it on another computer you happen to be signed in with that account as well, changes like this will affect all of them.  Not saying that's what you've done but that's a possibility too.

debitcardmayhem

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

I've managed to unbaffle self. The trick, at least with W7, is to find a tiny link calling itself 'make text and other items appear larger or smaller', memorably. This is to be found under control panel > appearance and personalisation > display > screen resolution and is not particularly obvious on that page.

My system, completely on its own initiative, had switched to larger detail by 25%. I've now corrected but am wary that this may now happen each time I perform a re-start.

The wonders of progress. No wonder my friends who have inflicted smart phones upon themselves spend half their lives sorting out problems...

Hmmm what has progress to do with it ?

badmemory

Forget it for now, turn it off & let it update later today/overnight.  Mine has a nasty habit of losing the number lock when it updates & then next day (as long as I turn it off) it is alright.  It is irritating as they keep telling you passwords should have numbers in them & I always use the keypad.

400ixl

badmemory said:

Forget it for now, turn it off & let it update later today/overnight.  Mine has a nasty habit of losing the number lock when it updates & then next day (as long as I turn it off) it is alright.  It is irritating as they keep telling you passwords should have numbers in them & I always use the keypad.

What updates? Its Windows 7 which is out of support, insecure and should not be connected to the internet.

EssexExile

I had a similar thing a while ago with Windows 11. All of a sudden all the desktop icons were enormous, it looked like a child's version, Turned it off, next day turned it on again, all fine.

IvanOpinion

Try clicking the desktop, hold down control and rotate the mouse wheel (one direction zooms in, the other zooms out)

Or try looking at your display settings (start -> settings -> system -> display.  There is an option under 'Scale & Layout' that lets you set the size of screen items.