registry hacks don't change system font

[leafdesigner]

HI

I'm brand new to this forum, so please bear with me. After quite a bit of on-line research, I discovered that it is possible to change the default system faults in xp by entering new values for "MS Shell Dlg" and "MS Shell Dlg2" in the registry editor. (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes).

I changed "Microsoft Sans Serif" to "Calibri" for "MS Shell Dlg" value, and "Tahoma" to "Segoe UI" for "MS Shell Dlg2". Well, the Calibri one worked great...everywhere I used to see the dreaded Microsoft sans is now cool, clean, Calibri. However, Segoe UI barely shows up anywhere in the system. Tahoma still seems to be everywhere, including the "system tasks, file and folder tasks," etc. Segoe UI only shows up in a few drop-down menus (like in the "appearances" dialog box) and the occasional (seemingly random) menu tab.

Is there some other place that needs to be changed to give Tahoma the burial it so richly deserves? You can't delete it from the fonts folder (I made a back-up copy and tried- nothing doing). Maybe I'm obsessing too much, but I really don't like Tahoma! :wacko:

[dreamz Veteran]

have you tried overwriting the tahoma font with a calibri one renamed to 'tahoma' (you may need to edit the actual font to change the name)?

[leafdesigner]

  dreamz said:

have you tried overwriting the tahoma font with a calibri one renamed to 'tahoma' (you may need to edit the actual font to change the name)?

Would that work? Would I just create a copy of the calibri font (or whatever I want to replace tahoma with) and rename it? Also, if I put it in the fonts folder, there's already a "tahoma" in there and I can't remove it.

Ihave attached a screen shot showing the mix of fonts. Notice Tahoma still showing up on the left-hand links menu. The other image shows the advanced appearance window...notice that Segoe UI shows up here.

Thanks.

[-Medic-]

I create a reg file to change my default font to Segoe UI (size 8) everywhere on XP ... But something I don't get it it's not here (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes)

That you can modify the default font ... cos with my reg file I modify [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics] and change the code for :

"CaptionFont"

"IconFont"

"MenuFont"

"MessageFont"

"SmCaptionFont"

"StatusFont"

:whistle:

[leafdesigner]

  bentonton said:

I create a reg file to change my default font to Segoe UI (size 8) everywhere on XP ... But something I don't get it it's not here (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes)

That you can modify the default font ... cos with my reg file I modify [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics] and change the code for :

"CaptionFont"

"IconFont"

"MenuFont"

"MessageFont"

"SmCaptionFont"

"StatusFont"

That's nice to know, but I know nothing about changing code...it took a bit of investigation just to find the "easy" registry hacks. The ones in "FontSubstitutes" simply consisted of typing in the font name, there was no code involved.

Edited May 3, 2007 by leafdesigner

[leafdesigner]

  leafdesigner said:

That's nice to know, but I know nothing about changing code...it took a bit of investigation just to find the "easy" registry hacks. The ones in "FontSubstitutes" simply consisted of typing in the font name, there was no code involved.

Me again...I took a look at the font codes in the registry under "WindowMetrics". I was at least able to tell which ones were still Tahoma. It looks like "SmCaptionFont" is the only one. Would that possibly explain all the instances of Tahoma still on my system? However, I'd still be uncomfortable changing the code. Any advice?

[martin10018]

The settings in 'advanced appearance' overwrite the registry values. You must change all fonts in 'a a' also.

[leafdesigner]

  martin10018 said:

The settings in 'advanced appearance' overwrite the registry values. You must change all fonts in 'a a' also.

Yes, I am a aware of the advanced appearance settings...I changed those long ago. It was only after that when I noticed Tahoma was still present. I changed every possible font in advanced appearance, plus the fonts in MS Shell Dlg & MS Shell Dlg2. Tahoma is still everywhere (see screen shot above). So obviously there is still some hidden location that insists on Tahoma being applied to certain system windows, etc.

[martin10018]

  leafdesigner said:

Yes, I am a aware of the advanced appearance settings...I changed those long ago. It was only after that when I noticed Tahoma was still present. I changed every possible font in advanced appearance, plus the fonts in MS Shell Dlg & MS Shell Dlg2. Tahoma is still everywhere (see screen shot above). So obviously there is still some hidden location that insists on Tahoma being applied to certain system windows, etc.

Dumb question: Did you reboot after changing MS Shell Dlg?

[leafdesigner]

  martin10018 said:

Dumb question: Did you reboot after changing MS Shell Dlg?

First thing I did, actually.

[elpres]

I'm also having troubles changing a font. After installing a theme the font used for directory trees and file names as well as icons on the desktop has changed to "trebuchet ms". I've the only instance where i can still find "trebuchet ms" being mentioned is the "WindowsMetric" section in the registry, and there it's found under "IconFont". Is there a way to change this font without hacking the hex code in the registry? Thx.

[leafdesigner]

  elpres said:

I'm also having troubles changing a font. After installing a theme the font used for directory trees and file names as well as icons on the desktop has changed to "trebuchet ms". I've the only instance where i can still find "trebuchet ms" being mentioned is the "WindowsMetric" section in the registry, and there it's found under "IconFont". Is there a way to change this font without hacking the hex code in the registry? Thx.

Sometimes when I install a new theme, fonts change as you described and I can usually make those changes in "advanced appearance." However, it doesn't always work. Right now I'm using Microsoft's new Zune desktop theme, and I changed all the fonts to Calibri. However, the font in the task bar still shows up as Tahoma. In other themes, the taskbar font will change to whatever is called out under "icon" in aa. So, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it all. And after all this, I still have Tahoma in too many places.