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Eye strain is a hazard to anyone who uses their computers for any extended period. So anything that eases the pressure on the eyes is a bonus. To this end, Microsoft have developed a tool for making text more legible called ClearType Tuner.

The ClearType Tuner only works on Windows Vista and XP, and is available as a web-based tool here. You will be required to choose which is the clearer text from a variety of options a couple of times, and then - hopefully - text should be clearer on your screen. Windows XP users can also download a Control Panel version from the Microsoft XP Power Toys page.

If you are a Vista user and wish to switch off ClearType check out Diana Huggin’s instructions on the excellent Lockergnome site.

When I first started doing the groundwork for this article I incorrectly assumed that the default mail client was a setting that each user could change in Windows.

What I mean is - I thought if ‘USER A’ logged in, set the default email client…then ‘USER B’ could login to their account and set their own default email client.

After testing many different ways I have found that it does not work this way at all.

If you are not an administrator, windows will gladly let you go into the internet settings under the control panel - and make the change:

Unfortunately it does not give you an error. If you go back into the settings, it will have reverted back to the original default email client.

This is because the setting is located in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive of the registry, and there is no corresponding HKEY_CURRENT_USER entry. If you create one on your own, windows will simply ignore it.

Here is the key for setting the default email client:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Clients\Mail

If you drop down to this in the registry, you…

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