Dottie Moore wrote that everything on her desktop had suddenly become very large and she asked how to get it all back to its previous condition.

Windows XP users can fix this situation by right-clicking their desktop and choosing Properties>Settings to find a horizontal sliding knob marked Screen Resolution. Sliding the knob to the right increases the resolution, which makes text and images smaller so more information can fit on the monitor. Sliding it to the left does the opposite.

Windows 7 users can find these options by right-clicking their desktop and choosing Personalize>Display> Adjust Resolution> Settings to find a vertical sliding knob marked Screen Resolution.

Lower resolutions (such as 640x480) are sometimes preferred by people with vision limitations. Well, changing these settings used to work well on older CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors; but LCD (liquid crystal display) flat screens are designed to use a specific resolution, and changing it can reduce the sharpness of text and images.

On laptops, the resolution is factory-set with seldom any reason to change it. On desktop PCs, however, changing from one monitor to another can necessitate a change in the screen resolution.

Linda Petrucci asked how to launch the Windows’ built-in image-editing program Paint. You can type the word Paint (CAPS or lower case optional) into the Windows 7 Taskbar “Search” box, or into the Windows XP “Run” box that appears after clicking on Start>Run.

Also, a “shortcut” icon for Paint usually appears in the “Start” menu of most versions of Windows.

I find Paint particularly useful for adding text to a photo or any other kind of an image. The program lets you choose from the complete range of Windows fonts on your computer, along with choosing plain, italic and/or bold styling. Furthermore, you can choose to have the lettering on a transparent or opaque background.

When you click on the “A” in the toolbar, a “text box” will appear, into which you can type any text that you want. You are not bound by the dimensions of the box that first appears; it can be widened or lengthened by adjusting the tiny square “handles” on its edges and corners.

Mouse-scroll over any of the text to make changes to the font and its styles. Change the font color by clicking on any shown in the Color Palette, or click “Edit Colors” to mix your own special shades.

You can mouse-grab any edge of the text box and move it around, but once you click outside of the box it will remain in its current position. However, if you are unhappy with the way things came out, you can undo it by clicking on the tiny bent-left-arrow in the topmost toolbar (or by doing Ctrl+Z). In fact, Paint lets you undo several of your most recent edits, which makes experimenting with the program marvelously easy.

I’ll explain more about Paint in future columns, but I’m normally available to offer help via phone or email.

Contact Don Edrington, (949) 891-1731,