Question about icon size

Display Properties/Appearance/Effects/Advanced/other advanced controls

from Stardock Forums
Let me see if I can explain this in a cogent fashion. In "Display Properties/Appearance/Effects/Advanced/other advanced controls" and the item "Icons", the size displayed on my system is "39". Is this Window XP's default setting?

The reason I am asking is most all of the Desktop icons, regardless of which icon set I use, appear a bit ragged around the edges, even with "Clear Type" enabled. If I increase the size from 39 to 48, for example, the icons become very sharp, crisp, etc., but of course quite large. Soooooo,

- What is the right or ideal size that this option for icon size be set at?
- If "39" is what it normally should be, is there something else I can do to improve the display of these icons?

My resolution is set at 1024x768, 32-bit color, and full acceleration. My video card is a Nvidia GForce2 MMX400 with the latest drivers.

Of course, perhaps I'm too picky?

THANKS
windowblinds
3,279 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If I am not mistaken, 32x32 pixels is the default size of desktop icons, and 48x48 pixels is the default size for Windows Explorer, My Documents, My Music, etc., with 16x16 pixels in the task panes, taskbar, and title bars.

128x128 pixel / 32 bit icons are supported in Windows XP, though it depends on the author's attention to detail and importance put on the quality of icons which will determine how they look at different sizes.

It is my understanding that Windows XP will take what it considers to be the best match for the selected icon size to display. Most ".ico" files that are created for Windows XP have 16x16, 32x32, 48x48, and 128x128 in the file (though authors like "Mormegil" include 24x24, 64x64, 72x72, and 96x96 - which make them XP only, due to Windows 2000 and 9x not supporting those additional sizes).

It may be that Windows XP is selecting the 32x32 image to display 39x39, instead of the 48x48 (which would display better).
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yeah.... 32x32 is the norm. There is no 39x39 ico format.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Corky_O & Koasati,

Thanks ... I reset the icon size to 32 and the improvement was remarkable. One can only guess why the size was set to 39. Hopefully, this will stick from now on.