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Question

Screen Resolution Problem

by Oct 11, 2012 9:51PM PDT

A Toshiba Satellite laptop running Vista I was recently given crashed on me today. When it restarted, Windows updater started running, and at that point I noticed the screen resolution was off. When the computer turned on, I couldn't get onto the internet, and couldn't run diagnose and repair (although that problem has been fixed).

The remaining problem is my screen resolution: everything is too big. I went to try and change this in Display Settings, but allegedly I am already in 1024x768, and the only alternative (800x600) just makes the problem worse. After googling, I checked my DPI, which is 96, I'm guessing not the problem.

Anyone able to help?

Here's a picture of what I am looking at. Thanks!

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
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Answer
Did you try System Restore to a day ago?
by Former Forum moderator Oct 12, 2012 3:58AM PDT

That's what System Restore is for.

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System restore problems
by InsertWittyUsername Oct 12, 2012 5:23AM PDT

That has already been attempted. My earlier restore points have gone, and all that remain are two restores points from before updates which took place today. One restored, but made no difference, and the earlier one failed due to "unspecified error".

Also, the internet has stopped working again.

Sad

If I decide to reinstall windows, will using a Vista CD from a different computer work?

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About the restore issues.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Oct 12, 2012 5:55AM PDT

Norton, Kapersky and other things do cause that. I have no kind words for those companies about how they FAILED to inform the user that they blocked system restore and how to get around that. Yes, they have such information at their web sites but no message tells the poor owner that the antivirus suite was blocking that.

I can only hope such discussions roast their feet and goad them into fixing that.

About that Windows Update. You didn't accept a DRIVER FROM MICROSOFT did you? If so, this does happen and we use either system restore or DRIVER ROLLBACK.

In your case the details are still slim so try DRIVER ROLLBACK next.

As to the Vista CD a few problems. 1. Vista has never come on CD. At least I've never seen that. On DVD? Yes. 2. If the Vista DVD is from another Toshiba of the same series, maybe.
Bob

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Driver Rollback greyed out
by InsertWittyUsername Oct 12, 2012 6:13AM PDT

Thanks for your help!

Which driver should I role back, exactly? The option under Display Adapters is greyed out for rolling back.

Unfortunately, the Vista DVD I have is from a Dell.

What other information would be useful?

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Internet problems
by InsertWittyUsername Oct 12, 2012 6:15AM PDT

IF it is relevant, my problems with connecting to the internet come up when I try to diagnose why I cannot properly connect to the network, and which point I get told to manually start Diagnostic Policy Service, which doesn't start because I get the Error 5: Access is denied.

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There is too little detail. But Error 5 is ..well discussed
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Oct 12, 2012 6:26AM PDT

If this was my machine I'd immediately try a new user account (make it an admin) and try that again.

And AGAIN, those security suites can cause that Error 5. I have no kind words for security apps that cause this and don't announce they caused it.

I did not say to roll it back. I did write about if you accepted ANY driver from Microsoft to know that such is just a bad idea. Drivers are on the optional updates and your posts are far too slim on details so I'm tossing out ideas so you can reveal more about what this update did.

Bob

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Answer
Which Toshiba Satellite laptop
by Oct 14, 2012 7:27AM PDT

It would be helpful to know what model laptop you have, since you may have been using (perhaps somewhat acceptability for you) a display resolution that was beyond your machine's capability.

As for you being stuck in a lower than expected resolution, it should only be that you do not have the proper video driver installed yet.

All PC video cards have a "VGA mode" where they must have the 640x480 or 800x600 mode built in. That is so that there is always a "fall back and will work resolution" built in capability, requiring no special drivers other than what comes with vanilla Windows.

Since your laptop is running at 1024x768, which is higher than VGA, I would say you have some driver loaded that gives you some higher resolution capability but not as high as what you are use to.

In that case, I am wondering if you may have been running a higher than native resolution (native = the number of physical pixels you have on your display) and while not optimum, it was something you were used to.

Many less than premium-buck laptops just have a 1024x768 native resolution, so if that is what you have then that is what your machine should be set to. However, if you just let us know what your model is then we can verify what your proper resolution ought to be.

Once we know what your native display resolution is, then we can direct you to where you can get the proper driver.

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