PC Setup Tips

1. Microsoft ClearType

While it’s Microsoft’s fault for hiding this option away when a new PC is set up, it staggers me the number of people who do not have this option turned on and do not know what it does.Put simply, old CRT style monitors do not have the same type of pixel that new flat panel screens do. ClearType is the setting to render text for display on flat panels.It does exactly what it says on the tin – text becomes clearer and easier on the eyes to read. If you are spending hours in front of a screen every day, you are really doing your eyes a disservice is this is not enabled. I believe more recent flavours of Windows such as Windows 7 have this enabled by default. Often it is worth adjusting when enabled for your particular screen to avoid colour fringing.For more information (and an example screenshot with and without ClearType), see Wikipedia’s page about ClearType

2. Native Screen Resolution

A few years ago when CRT screens were the norm, this item would have been about the vast numbers of people giving themselves completely unnecessary eyestrain and migraines by sitting in front of flickering monitors set to the Windows default 60hz refresh rate. With flat panel technology, refresh rate is no longer an issue, but native resolution is. Flat panel screens, unlike old CRT screens are only sharp at one resolution, their ‘native resolution’. If you don’t have this resolution set as your desktop resolution, you will see a fuzzy display that’s likely to cause serious eyestrain. Personally, I know one experienced marketer who had their screen set up at non-native resolution for who knows how long before until I pointed it out…

3. Using “Run”

The ‘run’ prompt in the start menu is handy to access a number of tools. Simply type ‘calc’ into the run box to run the Windows calculator, or ‘cmd’ to bring up a DOS prompt. There are a number of other system tools and apps that can be launched this way.