Changing the Display

If you want to squeeze more items onto your Desktop, you can change its size...sort of. This is one of those "virtual" realities. You "enlarge" the available space by changing the screen resolution, and thereby the scaling, which lets you fit more items onto the Desktop even though its area on your screen doesn't get any larger. Your gain in virtual area comes at a cost, thougheverything will be smaller and harder to read. Also, changes to the screen resolution and the color quality change the system demands on the video memory (the memory on your computer that's dedicated to producing the video image on your monitor). Therefore, you might need to adjust both the screen resolution and the color quality until you're happy with the result.

Increase the Computer's Screen Area

Click the Start button, choose Control Panel from the Start menu, and, in the Appearance And Personalization section, click Adjust Screen Resolution to display the Display Settings dialog box.

Drag the slider to specify the screen-area size in pixels (the degree of screen resolution).

Specify the color quality you want to use.

Click OK.

If the Display Settings dialog box appears after you've changed the Desktop's screen resolution, click Yes to accept the new settings or No to revert to the original settings. If you don't click Yes or No within 15 seconds, Windows Vista will restore the original settings.

Tip

If the screen text is too large or too small after you've adjusted the screen area, right-click the Desktop, and choose Personalize from the shortcut menu. Click Adjust Font Size (DPI) in the Tasks section of the Personalize window, and, in the DPI Scaling dialog box, specify the font size you want; click OK.

Tip

Don't be surprised if you see more than one monitor icon in the Display Settings dialog box even though you have only one monitor on your system. Check your computer documentation to see whether your equipment is capable of using multiple monitors.