Input font size or auto complete font size too small

I'm having a font issue and after much reading I haven't found a solution
yet. I'm using IE7 on Vista. The text I see on a webpage looks fine. The text
I see on menu bars/address bars/search bars, also looks fine. What I'm having
trouble with is anything that I have to "input" on a webpage. It's too small
to read and it appears to be a strange font. For example, when I log into an
account my username and password appears too small to read while I'm typing
it. It's very bothersome as you can't tell if you've typed something
correctly or not. They're are a couple of instances where it shows up that
way on a page somewhere but it "always" does it in any field in which I have
to "input" data.

My view: text size is set to "Medium" and changing this has no affect on
these fields. It only changes to text that appears on webpages. I did make
one discovery though. When I change the "encoding" from Unicode (UTF-8) to
Western European it seems to fix the problem (my input text shows up
normally) but it's only temporary. As soon as I reload, visit another page,
or open another window it reverts back to Unicode (UTF-8) and the problem
returns. I've tried using the "Auto Select" after switching but I get the
same result.

I am running IE7 on my other machine with WinXP and I don't have this
problem. View: text size is set to medium and the encoding is Unicode (UTF-8)
yet input data on that machine appears normal.

I have just noticed that My Norton bar at the top of this windown has a drop
down menu in which the text appears normal but 2 "buttons" beside that which
have this same small and strange looking font.

Is there an option to change the font that is used for "input" fields?

 

I just opened my Windows Mail and I noticed that some of the messages in my
inbox have this same small font in the headers. The "From", "To" and
"Subject" look normal but the text that follows them is the same small font
that I get in the "input" fields of IE7. It only appears on a few of the
emails though. The headers in the rest of the emails look normal.

 

Hi,

Tools>Internet Options - General tab, Accessibility button

"Ignore font sizes specified on web pages" and
"Ignore font styles specified on web pages"

You will also find settings for how font sizes and the zoom level are
adjusted for new tabs and windows on the Advanced tab of Internet Options.

The symptoms you have described though have also occurred on Vista machines
with Stardoc's Windows Blinds installed and a Classic Windows Desktop Theme.

uncheck "Enable visual styles on buttons and controls in webpages" on the
Advanced tab of Internet Options if this is the case and you want to still
use the Windows Blinds Eye Candy.

Regards.

 

Ok, that took me in the wrong direction. Ignore font sizes and Ignore font
styles just made the small font show up in more places like the search field
on this page for example. So, I'm assuming this small font is a setting on my
machine somewhere and not coming from the webpages I'm viewing.

The other options you suggested only affected the text on the pages I'm
viewing and not what I'm typing in the "input" fields.

I don't have the Window Blinds and I'm not using Windows Classic Desktop.

The Enable Visual Styles...... is already unchecked.

Does that offer any more insight?

 

Hi,

No. No insight... I'm stumped.

"Ignore font sizes and Ignore font

View>Text Size - Medium? Any zoom value?

Tools>Internet Options - General tab, Fonts button. Times New Roman is the
default. Choosing a "Small Font" may be the cause when you have "Ignore font
styles specified on web pages" checked.

Can you give a web address (apart from the newsgroup site) where this is
most pronounced?

Regards.

 

Can anyone tell me if there is an edit I can make somewhere in the registry
that will change this font for "input" or "auto complete" data within IE? I
know it's a setting somewhere on this machine because this small font is even
showing up in some of the headers of my incoming emails.

 

Some Success!! The good news is that I managed to change the font for some
of the fields in which I "input" data on a webpage. I turned on the menu bar
for IE. I clicked on File and then clicked on Page Setup. At the bottom of
that window was a Font button. When I clicked on the button there was no font
or size chosen. I selected Arial Narrow size 10. Now my Login Name and
Password fields look normal and readable. However, there are still some
buttons on webpages and a few search fields in which the font is the same
small and illegible font that's hard to read. Likewise some of my email
headers still have this small font. Any ideas where I might find another font
setting in which a font may not be selected that could be affecting these
items?

 

Hi,

I have never seen a case like yours.... very strange. It sounds like your IE
settings have been corrupted. You may like to try an IE Reset - Internet
Options - Advanced tab, Reset button, but this may be a bit drastic, as it
resets everything in the browser and disables all of the IE Addons.

"I turned on the menu bar

Fonts for the screen display of the browser are set from the Fonts button on
the General tab of Internet Options..
There are no Font settings on the Page Setup dialog. You probably mean the
General tab of Internet Options.

Times New Roman is the Default Font Family that IE uses first time it is
installed. Choosing that font will restore IE to its factory font settings.
Tohama is another font that you can try which is distributed with XP and
Vista, but the fonts available for selection depends what fonts have been
installed on your computer.

(The Fonts on your computer are not made by Microsoft, they are licensed
from other companies).

Regards.

 

Actually, There is a "Change Font" button on the "Page Setup" window from the
file menu. This is IE8. I noticed on my other machine which still has IE7 on
Windows XP that this button isn't there like you said. However, IE8 does have
it. I installed this beta version of IE8 last night to see if it would help
with this problem and at first it seemed like a no go but that extra font
button allowed me to make my logins and passwords readable. The unreadable
font now only appears on a few buttons/search fields/drop down menus on
certain webpages.

Also, the the fonts settings on the General tab of Internet Options is still
set to Times New Roman and it only affects the text that I see on a webpage
which is not a problem. The problem only occurs in a field in which I have to
"input" something. I usually can't read what I'm typing. It's like bad
handwriting for the keyboard!! Likewise, the "ignore font styles/sizes"
options on the Advanced tab also only affects the text on a webpage and not
the input fields.

I'm currently trying to figure out if there is anything in the registry that
would control a "system" font that IE might be trying to use or at the very
least try to find this screwy font and remove it from the computer to see if
IE reverts to a default font or one that's more readable at least.

Thanks for the assistance rob, it's much appreciated and everything helps in
one way or another.

 

Just as a note........ I tried to Reset Internet Explorer and that didn't help.

 

Hi!:

I'm new to this forum, so please bear with me, If I do anythin
incorrectly!

I am having the exact same problem with Vista on my pc. I'm relativel
computer literate, but not an expert by any means. Hope someone ca
find a resolution to this problem. I have senior eyes and it's ver
annoying!

Note, my sister's laptop is also running Vista Home Premium and sh
does not have these problems. Go figure

Thanks

Kath

 

Actually what I did was cheat. I zoomed in a webpage with the crazy font in
it and then I opened Microsoft Word, typed something on the screen, then
right clicked it and chose "font" from the menu, resized the windows and put
them side by side, then I started scrolling the fonts in Word until I found
the match for what I was seeing in IE. Then! I went to Control Panel, click
on Fonts, and found the font file and deleted it. Vista then defaulted to
another font that's not exactly perfect but 100% better than the screwy font
I was seeing before. I can't remember the name of the font now but I do
remember having to change the ownership permissions of the font file to
delete it. I right clicked on the font file name, chose properties and then
played with the permissions until it let me delete it. It took a few minutes
since I didn't look up the procedure online! lol At least I can read what I'm
typing now.

 

This is happening to me also. It happened right after I updated to IE8.
I have some pictures if you would want to look at them to see what is
happening.

 

Is your systemwide font size setting "Large Fonts (120dpi)"?

 

Rob,
You rock! I can see the text again!
Thank you

BTW - just so someone else can have the info
I run WinXP Pro, with MSIE 8 and windowblinds 5.