As a matter of fact, there is another way to set consolas font for console through registry, which doesn't require us to change code page. Our preferences for default console are saved in HKCU\Console, including console's width, height and font. Subitems of this key save preperences for console with specified title. So we can modify the FaceName item to force a font get applied. As shown below.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console]
"FaceName"="Consolas"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console\%SystemRoot%_system32_cmd.exe]
"FaceName"="Consolas"
Here is a snapshot of the font comparison:
BTW, consolas font is designed specifically for ClearType. It looks extremely poor if ClearType is not enabled. We can use ClearType Tuner PowerToy to fine tune ClearType under windows xp.
References:
Necessary criteria for fonts to be available in a command window
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