Windows 7 cannot turn off DPI/PPI scaling for an application

compatibilityhigh-dpiscalingwindows 7

I have Windows 7 with DPI scaling set to 120 DPI. It makes some problems with older applications like clipped text, blurred graphics or too big text.
I'd like to disable DPI scaling for these applications. I've tried that: application.exe "context menu -> properties -> compatibilty -> Disable display scaling on high DPI settings".

This setting doesn't change anything. Application is still displayed as 120 DPI, not as 96 DPI. I've also checked it on fresh, not messed Windows 7 in a virtual machine – the same behaviour.

The question is: how to force single application to use 96 DPI in another, WORKING, way?

Best Answer

I just had the same problem, and selecting any of the checkboxes didn't make any difference. This is what I did that fixed it:

  1. Go to "Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display" and click on the "Set custom text size (DPI)" option. Make sure that the "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling" checkbox is NOT checked. Log off to apply changes if necessary.

  2. Instead of selecting the compatibility settings yourself, run the wizard and let Windows choose it for you. You can do that by right-clicking the program icon and choosing "Troubleshoot compatibility" from the menu. This fixed the display clipping for me. The text is a little fuzzy, but that I can live with; I'm just happy I can see all of it. :)

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