I got a new Dell PC with 19 inch screen. I cannot change the resolution to be greater than 640 by 480. What can I do to change it? In this mode the Start menu itself goes off the top of the screen. 640 by 480. There was a day when we were excited to have it - and with all of 16 colors. Now, 640x480 is so "small" as to be unusable in most cases. Even the most basic new computer supports at least 800x600, if not 1024x768 or much higher. But what if it appears that 640x480 is your only option? 640x480 "VGA" resolution is the lowest-common-denominator - by definition all PC's, graphics adapters and monitors must support at least VGA. Because it's the one thing that can be counted on to work, and always work regardless of your hardware selection, it's often used as the fallback when troubleshooting, or the default if your computer doesn't know it can do any better. "... it's often used as the fallback ... if your
computer doesn't know it can do any better."
To change your resolution, in Control Panel, Display, and then the Settings tab, you'll see something like this:
Yours may vary based on what hardware and drivers you have installed. And there's the rub - if you have the wrong drivers, or the default drivers, installed, the slider under Screen Resolution may not give you any option other than 640x480. So what to do in that case? 99% of these problems are simply not having the correct video drivers installed for your machine. Normally, and especially in a case where your computer has come pre-configured from the manufacturer, this will already have been done. And, unfortunately, exactly where you go to make sure you have the proper drivers will vary based on where you got your computer, and whether or not you installed a new graphics card yourself. To see what your computer "thinks" you have, right click on My Computer, click on Properties, click on the Hardware tab, and then click on Device Manager. Expand the node labeled Display adapters by clicking on the boxed plus sign in front of it:
If it says something like "default" display adapter, then Windows does not know what kind of adapter you have, and what its capabilities are - thus is must assume the lowest common denominator: 640x480. If this was a pre-packaged machine, get in touch with the manufacturer's technical support - you'll need to locate and install the correct driver for whatever video card you have. If you installed a new video card yourself, you'll need to locate the drivers for it (they should have come with the card) and install them. Related:
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Hey..My friend Meg is having trouble with the 640x480 prob.. 16bit or 2it colours..and the slider wont move, and the screen is tiny in the middle of her screen. She has a windoes 98 laptop..and she had her screen FULL SCREEN once before..and suddenly this happened. Could anyone please e-mail me at "mad_muskie@hotmail.com" for help please. Thanks guys! Posted by: Alex at October 23, 2006 05:19 PMHere's a solution I found: Now here is the important part that stumps some people: Click the radio dot for Show _all_ hardware and then highlight [Standard Display Types]. Usually you'll see a Standard PCI Graphics Adapter has been nominally chosen by Windows. Change to Super VGA and OK close everything and let it reboot. You should now be able to change to 800x600 and High Color _IF_ your card will support it. This only works if the maximum capabilities of your system are being twarted by Windows stupid default choice. If not, get a better vid card is all you can do. Hope this helps, that's how I solved it. I'm having the same problem also, however I have options to change the display settings to higher res. Once I've changed them, it will prompt to restart, but after restarting the settings are back to lowest and I get a pop-up saying that the settings aren't correct and need amending - this will take me back into the properties and back around in circles!! I've the work around above but I don't have the 'display list of drivers' option. Does anyone have a suggestions? Any help grateful received!! Posted by: Victoria at February 10, 2007 03:39 PMI have a toshiba satelite computer it has an s-video cord but when I hook it up to my tv the screen is working but so blurry you can't see a thing. I know the resolution on my computer can be lowered but the lowest mine goes is 800x600 my tv is an older one a "Sharp" is there ANY way I can lower my screen resolution ad play my movies on my tv...? Posted by: Jamie Jade at March 12, 2007 05:07 PMNice one Leo! as we say over here in the UK. I reinstalled windows on my dell dimension yesterday but had the same problem with the poor display. I read your excellent article and immediately understood my problem. I went to Dell support and downloaded the graphics driver and EUREKA! You're doing a great job! best wishes, Barry Posted by: barry sprules at July 26, 2007 05:33 AMHow can I force Windows XP Pro with SP2 in safe mode to allow me to change the drivers from a standard 640x480 VGA display mode Screen Resolution on my LCD which is confined to large graphics, to a larger view [1024x768] that is not the 640x480 that also does not allow to view adjustment functions like [OK] when a corection has been made. Your expedited cooperation in this matter is appreciated. Thank you. I want to change my resolution to 640x480, but graphic card doesn't seem to let me in display settings. I have a 7300gt. Please help. Posted by: someguy0 at July 31, 2007 04:27 PMThanks Leo. Your a genius. Posted by: Lamar Hill at November 30, 2007 03:01 PMI recently had to reinstall windows xp on my mothers dell dimension 2400. I was left only with the option of 640x480 color resolution. I installed the drivers that windows found on the original dell drivers disc that came with the computer. I thought that it solved my problem because when I went to change the color display, I had all my options restored like im used to(ie, more color options than 640x480). However when I pressed ok to change the settings, my screen flickered(like usual)then went completely black for about 5 minutes before I shut off the computer, and turned it back on, and still only the black screen. Why did this happen, and what can I do to fix it? Posted by: theycallmesir at December 16, 2007 01:41 PMi'm having the same problem with not bieng able to increase the screen resolutionmore than 640x820 what driver can i install on my Dell branded system with no manufacturers cd. I formated it with Windows XP 2005 version. Posted by: Sam at April 30, 2008 06:27 AMPost a comment on "Why is 640x480 my only resolution option?":
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