Windows 10: Monitor resolution changed when loading Win 10

Compaq Presario system with Acer G205HL monitor - loaded Win10 today (upgrade from Win 7) - all seems OK except monitor is not recognized by Win 10, so the default Generic Non-PNP monitor is all that is shown in Device manager. The Acer monitor is 1600x900, but the default monitor resolution is different than that so the image is distorted (stretched wider). Within Device Manager, I tried to 'Scan for hardware changes' but that was fruitless. I think I need to 'tell' the system what monitor it has and load the proper driver, but I don't know how to do that. Can anyone help?

:)

 

Win 10 display scaling issue

I work daily with a lot of diffrent monitor brands and designs, paired with Nvidia, AMD or Intel GPUs. I have come across an issue with Win 10 not reporting the correct resolution to the monitor. If I change the resolution via win 10 the video resolution
will change visually but the monitor never receives the correct resolution information.

This becomed a problem when the monitor needs to change aspect ratio. Since the resolution info is not reported to the monitor, the monitor has no idea what the aspect ratio should be.

But when I use the GPU control panel to change the resolution the resolution info is successfully transmitted to the monitor.... Even the OSD information displays the correct res.

This issue does not occur on win 7 with the same system and GPU set up. Which leads me to believe it is a win 10 issue.

Has anyone seen this issue before?

Doing a search showed that several people had similar issue that were "corrected" by a new GPU.That makes sense because when you do a hardware install the GPU will use the driver to control the res and by pass the win control. I see the issue because
I change resolutions all the time using the windows controls.

Thanks

 

Windows 10 resized screen

I have had the same monitor for 4 yrs. It has worked 100% without a moment of fail on Windows 7, 8 and Linux a;; of the time. The resolution settings on my monitor are perfect, as they have always been. When I switch the monitor up to another box (running
another OS - other than Win 10). The monitor functions as it should, flawlessly. It is only with Win 10 and recently.

The background, an image win 10 had as default, its margin to the right "receded" / retreated to the left. There is now what physically appears to be a 1/2 inch gap (I am sure it is smaller) on the right hand side of the screen. The full size background does
not cover the background any longer. When using Microsoft Edge, Mozilla or others with Win 10 on this monitor the text is forced up about half an inch.

When I run a game in full screen mode it is "flawless" - taking up the full screen. Finally some of my icons on the top are not visible, well the top of them (they were pushed up). This issue does not present itself with fullscreen video or games. Again,
the monitor works perfect when plugged into another machine not running Win 10 (I just tried 3 15 min ago), it works.. I tried the resolution fixes (change it to one, then change it back). Change it reboot, change it back NADA. I know what my resolution
is and needs to be. It worked great on Win 7, 8, Linux. Win 10 is doing something funky - to say the least.I obviously changed some type of setting or WIN 10 which made it mad. Or there is an issue.

Thoughts

 

Monitor drivers are here:

Download Drivers and Manuals | Acer Official Site

(select them from a list). There is no install application, so you install them manually. (extract the .zip, right click on the .inf, choose "install". Or change drivers in Device Manager.)

It seems likelier to me that you need new graphics card drivers. As you haven't told us what you have, it's not possible to point you to them.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply, Bob. As for a graphics card, I'm reasonably sure the graphics circuits are integrated on the motherboard, so I don't know how better to answer that question. I tried what you wrote (download, extract, install) and I really appreciate that instruction. It is quite direct, but I was ignorant of the technique. (By doing it, I learned there is an unzip function built in to Windows - who knew? Probably everyone but me. :-( ) Unfortunately, that process failed but not my fault - the feedback message was "The third-party INF does not contain digital signature information." My assumption is that is related to the problem of being able to choose only from Win Vista, 7, and XP versions: Nothing for 8 or 10. And that was directly from the Acer website. I acknowledge the monitor - although it is a flat panel - must be approaching dinosaur status.

I learned what I know about computers during the '80s and '90s. In 2000 I moved and changed jobs - leaving behind all of my computer expert friends who unselfishly nurtured my knowledge. Since then, all of my learning has been on a need to know basis as a user who rarely goes under the hood, so to speak, so the presence of a built-in unzip tool, or installing a driver by right-clicking and selecting 'Install" was an education for me. I really appreciate your well-written response as it helped me without confusing me. As far as the final resolution (no pun intended) of the problem, it appears Acer will be no help, and am thinking seriously of replacing the system. Not just for this problem, but a laptop would be infinitely better for our current needs. It's August: Back-to-school sales will soon be in full swing: You never know...

Thanks again for your help.

 

I'd hoped the monitor "drivers" would install. I've generally had no problems with that, even for quite old ones (as they aren't really "drivers").

What shows up in Device Manager for the display adapter?

 

Re: What shows up in Device Manager for the display adapter?

Microsoft Basic Display Adapter

 

Those are generic drivers. If you want to be able to set the display up properly, you'll need the ones for your graphics card (or onboard graphics).

What's your Compaq Presario model, exactly? (Sticker on the PC somewhere?)

 

Re: What's your Compaq Presario model, exactly? (Sticker on the PC somewhere?)

According to Start>Control Panel>System, it is Hewlett-Packard/Compaq CQ5320K. (I can't pull the tower out of its 'nook' in my desk without crawling behind to disconnect some wires. It has plenty of ventilation, but not much room for eyesight.)

 

I can only find CQ5320F for your computer. The "F" version had integrated nVidia GeForce 6150SE with an nVidia chipset. Disclaimer: Since I don't know what is the difference between CQ5320F and CQ5320K, the steps MAY not work.

Go here: Download Drivers | NVIDIA

Choose, in the drop boxes, in order:

Legacy
nForce 4 Series
nForce 430 / GeForce6150SE
Windows Vista x64
English

Yes. Windows Vista drivers. Your PC is very old. If that drivers doesn't work, you'll have to turn back to Windows 7 and it'll probably be the last OS your PC can run with all hardware recognized correctly with supported drivers.

 

HerbK, did you install drivers when you upgraded? Windows update will install most of the drivers if you can't find proper drivers. I updated an old Dell Laptop that came with Vista on it and there are no Windows 7 Drivers even. I just let windows update install the drivers and it works pretty good. Well, as good as a laptop with a T2390 CPU can work.

 

Lebon14: I did what you recommended, but the video problem remains - the displayed image is somewhat stretched horizontally. (Vertical resolution appears to be OK.) It's probably apples-oranges, but for comparison, (my) Gateway ZX6980 displays a desktop icon in a space about 3/4" wide by 1" tall, while my wife's Compaq (the PC which is the subject of this discussion) displays a desktop icon in a space about 1-3/8" wide by 1-1/8" tall. What is that - about 12% higher and 83% wider? So the displayed image is readable and scrollable - it just doesn't look right.

Oh, by the way, I was careless when installing the new driver(s) and installed everything in the package. OH NO!! I lost my network connectivity!! That cost me a little time (and angst) working on that, but eventually I got to the Device Manager and did an update function for the Network Adapter. The software found the old driver and the internet connection was immediately restored. Phew! Dodged a bullet on that one. I've come to accept the display problem may not be fixable, but I wonder why it was OK in Win7, but not in Win10. I'm sure there's an explanation somewhere; just not in my brain.

 

Re: did you install drivers when you upgraded?

essenbe: No, I did not install any drivers. This Compaq PC is my wife's computer which she uses only occasionally. Before upgrading her PC, I upgraded mine, a Gateway ZX6980. It truly was plug-n-play: Everything worked perfectly after the upgrade (as best I can tell, anyway). All of my PC functions work as expected, and all of my optional software programs that I've tested work as expected. Based on that positive experience, my wife's Compaq CQ5320K was next. I 'expected' the same plug-n-play experience, and it was... except for this display issue. I have tried to manually load the driver - direct from Acer - but Windows refused it because it was not digitally signed.