Changing Your System Font

One of the many things that I love about Windows Mobile devices is the amazing array of customization you can do to them. From colorful external cases to a seemingly unlimited amount of Today screen images, you can truly make your device more reflective of you!

One such customization you can do is change your System Font. The System Font is, essentially, the default font that your device uses to display text on the Today screen, menus and dialog boxes. With all due respect to Tahoma... I find it a little boring! :-) So with a little bit of time and a piece of software or two you can change your System Font to make your Windows Mobile device even more reflective of its owner - YOU!

To change your System Font you are going to need a few things ready and available on your PC and your Windows Mobile device:

1. You need to you have your device connected to your PC via ActiveSync

2. You need to have Tweaks2K2 installed on your device (personally I recommend Tweaks2K2 as you can make these types of changes to your device without the fear of "fat fingering" a change in your registry that could cause your device to not work properly)

3. You need to have all files visible on your PC. To do this, go to File Explorer and click on Tools>Folder Options...>View and move the radio button to "Show hidden files and folders"

The first few steps in changing your System Font on your Windows Mobile device actually take place on your desktop PC.

1. Open File Explorer making sure that you have your hidden files and folders visible.

2. Go to C:\Windows\Font and find the font that you are wanting to copy over to your device. There are usually multiple versions of a font in the folder - one for italic, one for bold and so forth. All you need to do is find the "normal" version. If the font is a True Type Font, your Windows Mobile device can italisize or bold it with no need for the other fonts. Right-click and drag the font you want to copy to your desktop and select "Copy" on the dialog menu.

3. With the font now copied to your desktop, close File Explorer and open up Explorer in ActiveSync. To do this, open ActiveSync and click the Explorer button. This will allow you to explorer your device's files much like File Explorer on your desktop.

4. Go to My Windows Mobile Based Device\Windows\Fonts on your device then drag the font file that is on your deskop into this folder. ActiveSync will convert it automatically and it will then appear in the Explorer window.

5. With the font now installed on your device, start Tweaks2K2 on your device. My instructions here assume that you have the latest version of Tweaks2K2. If you are a registered owner of the application, you can download the latest version at no cost from the Tweaks2K2 website.

6. In Tweaks2K2, go to Tweaks>System Tricks>System Tricks. On Collection 1, the fourth item down is the System Font. Use the pull-down menu to choose your font then check the checkbox. You must do this in this order in order for Tweaks2K2 to accept your change.

7. Tap the Home icon then Tweak>Exit and you will be prompted to Soft Reset your device. Tap OK and your device will reset.

That's it! When your device restarts you will have your new System Font in place and ready to go. Now your Windows Mobile device is customized in yet another easy and fun way.

For more information on Tweaks2k2.NET, visit http://www.tweaks2k2.com.