TCC Window Background Color Anomaly

[TedM]

I recently built a new computer that runs Windows 10, to replace an old machine that ran Windows 7. I moved the TCMD.INI file from the old machine to the new after installing Take Command 24.

TCMD.INI specifies "Bright White on Blue" as its standard color for TCC. The background was the correct dark blue on my old computer. But on the new computer the background is BRIGHT blue, in a Take Command tab or as standalone TCC. The Options dialogue shows the dark (non-bright) blue color correctly, so it doesn't look like there's a problem with the display or monitor settings. But the background is the same bright blue whether TCMD.INI says "Blue" or "Bright Blue." I'm using a black background as a workaround, but I'd really like to have the non-bright blue background I've used since the 4DOS days.

 

[AnrDaemon]

Win10 uses different color scheme for terminal by default.
You can try the following script to restore colors:

@ECHO OFF

reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable00" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable01" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00800000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable02" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00008000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable03" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00808000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable04" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000080 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable05" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00800080 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable06" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00008080 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable07" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00c0c0c0 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable08" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00808080 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable09" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ff0000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable10" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0000ff00 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable11" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ffff00 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable12" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x000000ff /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable13" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ff00ff /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable14" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0000ffff /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable15" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ffffff /f
REM reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "EnableColorSelection" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

DO n IN /P REGDIR /F "HKCU\Console" /S1
  IF %[_do_loop] = 1 ITERATE
  reg DELETE "%[n]" /f
ENDDO

Color values in this script are in xRGB format.
An alternative palette I'm using is

reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable00" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable01" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00a80000 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable02" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0000a800 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable03" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00a8a800 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable04" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x000000a8 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable05" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00a800a8 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable06" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x000058a8 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable07" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00a8a8a8 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable08" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00585858 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable09" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ff5858 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable10" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0058ff58 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable11" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ffff58 /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable12" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x005858ff /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable13" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ff58ff /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable14" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0058ffff /f
reg ADD "HKCU\Console" /v "ColorTable15" /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00ffffff /f

 

[rconn]

TCC v25 also supports the ColotTool utility and ITERMCOLORS files with the COLOR /F option.

 

[Charles G]

TCC v25 also supports the ColotTool utility and ITERMCOLORS files with the COLOR /F option.

I did not find any matches for "ColotTool" with Google....

 

[rconn]

Look for "Windows 10 ColorTool". It's a Microsoft app.

 

[Joe Caverly]

This looks like the ColorTool that @rconn is recommending.

However, in the comments at the bottom of the page, it says;

none of this information on ColorTool holds true anymore

Joe

 

[rconn]

This looks like the ColorTool that @rconn is recommending.

However, in the comments at the bottom of the page, it says;

none of this information on ColorTool holds true anymore

Which is only accurate if you're talking about Windows Terminal, not ColorTool or the Windows console.

 

[TedM]

First, thanks to all of you for the quick response.

Changing the color palette seems insane to me. But I don't know if Microsoft is insane, or if I'm the insane one for my inability to recognize and be grateful for Microsoft's improvements.

This isn't the first insane thing I've encountered in the journey I've just begun through the looking glass of Windows 10. Since the standard bright white background bothers my eyes, for the last 25 years or so I have been using a light blue background that works better for me in application windows. (That color is R166 G202 B240, for which I claim no intellectual property rights.)

Microsoft made it very easy to change the application background color since at least Windows 3.1. But the brilliant designers of Windows 10 removed that ability. (Because Microsoft wants you to buy Themes from them rather than set up your own preferences?) The only way to make Windows 10 give me background I want (rather than adapting myself to what Microsoft wants) is to hack the Registry. (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors\Window)

I visited the link to Color Tool. The tool apparently no longer exists. And when it did, it apparently was provided only in source code form. I'd have to get the necessary compiler and tools to build it.

It appears that the only way to get the Take Command color scheme I want-- the color scheme I've been using for 29 years-- is to once again hack the Registry. So after backing up the color table settings, I ran AnrDaemon's script. The DO loop produced an error message about being unable to find the key to delete. But I now have the old blue background in Take Command/TCC! I don't know how that will affect other parts of Windows 10, or whether it will reset to the Microsoft palette the next time Microsoft pushes a new Windows version. But for now, it's good.

Thanks again!

 

[Alpengreis]

@TedM

You could go over this link:

ColorTool

Under Section "Installing" you will find a link for the latest binary ...

 

[TedM]

Thanks, Alpengreis. ColorTool does work.

Also, there is (sane) logic to changing the color scheme, as explained here. If I weren't using a dark-blue background for TC, I likely would have noticed only that the colors are clearer against the standard black background.

The real problem was that even though I did quite a lot of research in planning my build and migration to Windows 10, I never saw anything about changes to console colors. I guess the console itself isn't significant for most users. The information is all there if you know to look for it, but it never occurred to me to look. (I don't know whether the chicken or the egg came first, but I'm still wiping the egg off my face.)

Maybe this is something that needs to be included in the Take Command documentation, if it isn't already. The Options menu shows only the legacy palette, which only added to my confusion.

(This still doesn't address the insanity of removing the ability to change the application window background color. Users have complained about that for years, but Microsoft seems intent on ignoring them.)