Forcing a Screen Resolution

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I am running into a problem where new computers I am adding to my network, in
which a 17 LCD screen is attached; I set the resolution to be 1024x768 as an
admin. When the user logs onto the workstation, the resolution is reset to
be 1200x1200. I am not sure if the setting is linked to a user profile, in
which the default for a user is this high resolution, OR, if the monitor is
resetting the resolution based on what it thinks is the optimum setting.

So I was wondering if there is a way to force a policy to set the resolution
of a user's desktop to be 1024x768. Under normal policy settings users do
not have rights to the desktop settings. And this behavior seems to be only
with LCD displays. I now have 2 new machines that are behaving this way...?
Crazy.

J
 
Smurfman said:
I am running into a problem where new computers I am adding to
my network, in
which a 17 LCD screen is attached; I set the resolution to be
1024x768 as an
admin. When the user logs onto the workstation, the
resolution is reset to
be 1200x1200. I am not sure if the setting is linked to a
user profile, in
which the default for a user is this high resolution, OR, if
the monitor is
resetting the resolution based on what it thinks is the
optimum setting.

So I was wondering if there is a way to force a policy to set
the resolution
of a user's desktop to be 1024x768. Under normal policy
settings users do
not have rights to the desktop settings. And this behavior
seems to be only
with LCD displays. I now have 2 new machines that are
behaving this way...?
Crazy.

J
Click to expand...

Hi,

This is indeed crazy. Resolution is not set in the User Profiles. It
is set at the machine level. Therefore if you set for Admin, it should
be set for all users. I use Display Switch Platinum which runs in the
system tray and allows users (who have no access to display
properties) the ability to easily switch resolutions. Beware though
that sometimes they can set it out of the monitors range and then the
"last known good profile" is needed.

Works like a charm.
http://www.download.com/DisplaySwitch-Platinum/3000-2347_4-8755576.html?tag=lst-0-2

Cheers,

Lara
 
Hello,

Thank you for your posting.

According to your message, I understand that you want to use a policy to
set the resolution. As far as I know, there is no such policy.

I think when you set the resolution to be 1024x768 as an admin, the other
user will also open the computer with the same resolution. So the behavior
of the workstation is not proper. Have you got some error messages? What is
the OS of the workstation? Please give me more information about the
workstation.

You mentioned you had 2 new machines that are behaving this way. Do they
have something in common?

Please help me gather the following information. Download MPSRPT
SetupPerf.exe and MPSRPT SetupPerf readme.txt from the link below. Then run
MPSRPT SETUPPerf.exe in your workstation. Please send the result to
v-franhe for further research.

Microsoft Product Support's Reporting Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cebf3c7c-7ca5-408f-
88b7-f9c79b7306c0&DisplayLang=en

I am looking forward to your reply.

Best regards,

Frances He


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Hi Frances, thanks for the reply.

The two machines are HP D530 Business machines, and both have ViewSonic 17"
LCD screens attached.

Both are windows XP Pro, one is SP2, the other is SP1a

In both cases I logged in as an admin, changed the screen resolution to be
1024x768. And this setting stays true, even when I log off as admin, and log
back on as admin.

BUT - the users do not have rights to access the desktop settings and change
the resolution. HOWEVER, after a normal network user logs on, the resolution
resets back to the default or optimum setting of the ViewSonic something like
1200 x 1200 and it is really small. I can't seem to figure this one out...so
I thought if I could force the resolution in some way that would be even
better.

the v-franhe address is @microsoft.com I presume?

Thanks

J
 
Smurfman said:
Hi Frances, thanks for the reply.

The two machines are HP D530 Business machines, and both have
ViewSonic 17"
LCD screens attached.

Both are windows XP Pro, one is SP2, the other is SP1a

In both cases I logged in as an admin, changed the screen
resolution to be
1024x768. And this setting stays true, even when I log off as
admin, and log
back on as admin.

BUT - the users do not have rights to access the desktop
settings and change
the resolution. HOWEVER, after a normal network user logs on,
the resolution
resets back to the default or optimum setting of the ViewSonic
something like
1200 x 1200 and it is really small. I can't seem to figure
this one out...so
I thought if I could force the resolution in some way that
would be even
better.

the v-franhe address is @microsoft.com I presume?

Thanks

J
Click to expand...

Hi,

It may be something funky with HP machines. I avoid them like the
plague because they often have weird preinstalled software that does
stuff like this. Checkout their website for troubleshooting. There may
be a third party software reseting to optimal or something like that.

By the way, just because users don’t have access to desktop settings
doesn’t mean they don’t have access to change the resolution. As I
pointed out with the software I posted above, it does let the user
change the resolution even though the machine is locked tight via
group policy. It may be a piece of software that is doing this? Often
3rd party games or software automatically set the resolution when they
start. They are suppose to return back to the previous, but they may
not.

Cheers,

Lara
 
Thats it...perfect. Did a troubleshoot for HP and found a similar article
related to machines that did not take a resolution setting. They had a tool
that you coudl install called SetRefresh which would automatically probe the
video card and the monitor to determine the best setting for the resolution
and/or refresh settings.

To make a long story short, this program was probably already installed (pre
that is) and was acting exactly like the program said it would. I installed
the SetRefresh program again, with apparently updated the registry as to the
location of the program...in the readme, you can run the program again with a
-u to remove all registry entries...I did that and all is well..

Kudos.!

Thanks guys.

J
 
Hello J,

Good to hear that the problem is solved by installing the SetRefresh
program again. It is a great experience sharing. Thank you, J!

In addition, thank Lara for reminding us to checkout HP website for
troubleshooting.

In the future, if you have any other concern, please feel free to let us
know.

Best regards,

Frances He


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
To make a long story short, this program was probably already
installed (pre that is)
Click to expand...

Yep, that is why I despise buying from the Big Manufacturers. Takes me
hours to uninstall all their pre-installed garbage and it leaves the
registry a mess.

"I Don’t want a copy of Symantec Norton Antivirus" that is going to
expire in a month and spend every minute poping up and reminding me to
buy the update." I also don’t want all the "goodies" that fill up
the harddrive and are basically advertisments.

IBM and Dell are bad for this as well. I phone Dell and wanted to
order a Dell Without an OS. I have a retail version of Windows 2000
Pro and didn’t want their garbage. They wouldn’t sell me a machine
without charging me for the preinstalled XP Home and Wordperfect etc.

Cheers,

Lara
 
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