PICK A SIZE, ANY SIZE

Wish your desktop icons were just a wee bit smaller, or larger? Unfortunately, you can't change this setting in the familiar Display Properties dialog box, but if you're willing to do a little Registry editing, you can pick and choose your icon size.

(Warning: As with all Registry-editing techniques, we recommend backing up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files on the root of your hard drive--before continuing.)

Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing

regedit

and clicking OK and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics. In the right pane, right-click Shell Icon Size and select Modify. In the Edit String dialog box, change the number on the Value data line to match your desired icon size in pixels (the default is 32). Click OK. Close the Registry Editor, click the desktop once to place the focus there, then press F5 to refresh.

(Note: If you don't see a Shell Icon Size value, you'll need to create one: With the WindowMetrics key selected, right-click a blank area in the right pane; select New, String Value; type

Shell Icon Size

and click OK.)

This page last updated: Monday, 24. May 1999 09:46:51 -0500