The program (EXE's) manifest resource is usually stored as Resource type 24.

Start Resource Hacker and open the app's EXE in it which looks unusably small on your high resolution display.

We don't want to ignore the internal app manifest completely if it exists, that is, if the app's developer has added it because besides DPI scaling, it contains other important information about the app's side-by-side configuration and UAC elevation. The reason we need it is because the app manifest is sometimes stored inside an EXE and Windows prefers this internal app manifest by default.

Download and install the free Resource Hacker program from here.

Then you can create the text file with the appropriate name. On the Details tab, the EXE name will be shown. Select the app and right click it and click Go to Details. If you don't know the EXE name, right click the Taskbar and open Task Manager while that app is running. For example, if the name of the program you use which looks small is SearchTool.exe, the text file you create should be named ''. The text file should have the name of the program EXE, which renders too small, followed by the text '.manifest'.

Create a blank text file from the New menu by right clicking anywhere e.g.

If you are running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, continue with these instructions. Doing the Registry tweak involved in this tweak on Windows 7 or Windows 8.0 caused some strange behaviors and side-effects like system tray icons disappearing so do it at your own risk if you run these OSes. The procedure is long and a bit complex for novice users but there is no quick GUI in Windows to force DPI virtualization on for a specific app. However according to my testing, it can only safely be done on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. To fix them, a trick can be done which forces Windows to scale the app using DPI virtualization. Such apps render improperly on full HD or 4K resolutions. However there are some apps which lie to Windows that they are high DPI aware even if they are not, which is why Windows does not scale them.

Windows normally scales all apps automatically using XP style scaling as well as DPI virtualization for those apps that don't tell Windows that they are DPI aware. Often buttons are misplaced or too tiny to click for old apps which haven't been updated for high DPI displays. They appear too small on the screen with impossible to read fonts and they don't scale properly. Typically, such apps were written before high DPI displays appeared and were not properly updated to support high DPI.

Let us see how to fix them if Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 does not scale them properly. They look too small for the screen resolution. However, there are some third party apps, which don't render properly on high DPI screens. At such resolutions, Windows automatically turns on DPI scaling so everything on your screen becomes larger. Or you may have a desktop monitor with 4K resolution. Today, many PCs ship with very high resolution displays even if the PC form factor is smaller for example, an Ultrabook or a tablet. RЕCOMMENDED: Click here to fix Windоws issues and optimize system performance

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