Screen resolution problem

DeadMoney

Hi, I just got a second hand computer and connected it to my old monitor. The screen resolution is set so that everything is huge and I cannot seem to alter it. I have gone in to control panel and clicked 'advanced' but when I click on the wheel to alter the resolution it will not move from its current setting which is 640x480 pixels. I am using a 22inch monitor also and when I click on the monitor tab the box says 'default monitor'. Can anybody please help??

Thanks!!

JDxtra

Sounds like the graphics card drivers for the PC are not loaded. You need to find out what card is in the PC and download drivers from manufacturers web site.

DeadMoney

Thanks, how do I find out what graphics card is in the computer?

DeadMoney

Does this mean the computer is completely useless now since it does not have the necessary graphics to support my monitor? It is a Dell dimension 1100. I don't have the spec so I cannot see what type of graphics card is installed. Is there a way I can check on the computer. Sorry but I know NOTHING about computers so I sort of need to be told these things. ; )

Thanks!!

marco_polo

As far as I can tell the Dimension 1100 has only one VGA port, was a seperate graphics card put into it at some point do you know?

If you download and install speccy it will tell you what graphics cards are installed.

Chet T16

Assuming its still using the onboard card (its a colour coded blue connection towards the top) the driver can be dowloaded from the dell site.

Have a look here:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WW1&catid=6&dateid=-1&impid=-1&osl=EN&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=DIM_CEL_1100&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=&scanSupported=False&scanConsent=False

Its the top one you want

DeadMoney

Chet T16 wrote: »

Assuming its still using the onboard card (its a colour coded blue connection towards the top) the driver can be dowloaded from the dell site.

Have a look here:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WW1&catid=6&dateid=-1&impid=-1&osl=EN&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=DIM_CEL_1100&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=&scanSupported=False&scanConsent=False

Its the top one you want

As far as I am aware no external graphics card was put in to the computer and the one that is in it is the original card. Also this computer worked perfectly on the original monitor it was used with but I am not sure what size monitor that was (if that matters). So do I just need to find the correct drivers from the above link to download to my computer?

DeadMoney

I've just entered in my service tag no. on the Dell website and it has given a list of downloads. I can't tell though which one is for the graphics, should I just download them all so?
Thanks

DeadMoney

Chet T16 wrote: »

Its the top one you want

Sorry didn't notice this. Thanks!

DeadMoney

Ok I downloaded the driver. Can you please tell me how I can implement it in to making the resolution normal size? I've gone back in to control panel but it will still not let me adjust the resolution wheel.
Thanks

DeadMoney

It say 'Double-click the new icon on the desktop labeled R104515.EXE' when finished downloading. For some reason it is actually saving to my desktop as an internet explorer file so when I click on it, it just opens an explorer page with a bunch of script written on it.

The instructions on the dell site say

2.The Self-Extracting window appears and prompts you to extract or
unzip to C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R104515. Write down this path so the executable (I.e. Setup.exe) file can be found later.
3.The Self-Extractor window appears.
4.Click OK.
5.After completing the file extraction, if the Self-Extractor
window is still open, close it.
6.Click the Start button and then click Run.
7.Type C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R104515 in the Open textbox and then click OK.
8.Follow the on-screen installation instructions.'

So if I can get it to download as a .exe file it should work but dunno why it isn't saving itself as one.

marco_polo

DeadMoney wrote: »

As far as I am aware no external graphics card was put in to the computer and the one that is in it is the original card. Also this computer worked perfectly on the original monitor it was used with but I am not sure what size monitor that was (if that matters). So do I just need to find the correct drivers from the above link to download to my computer?

Don't mind me, I somehow managed to misread you original post as you attaching a second monitor to the PC

DeadMoney

marco_polo wrote: »

Don't mind me, I somehow managed to misread you original post as you attaching a second monitor to the PC

No probs. So do you know why the driver will not save as an .exe file to my desktop? I've been trying to google to solution to the problem for a while now but cant seem to resolve it.

marco_polo

Mmm it looks like the instructions are a little out of date, it seems you have to install some sort of Dell download manager as it no longer possible to download the exe file directly. I clicked on the link and it started trying to install a download manager (a browser window does open during the process), once this is installed I presume it will either download the driver automatically or give you some option to download it.

DeadMoney

marco_polo wrote: »

Mmm it looks like the instructions are a little out of date, it seems you have to install some sort of Dell download manager as it no longer possible to download the exe file directly. I clicked on the link and it started trying to install a download manager (a browser window does open during the process), once this is installed I presume it will either download the driver automatically or give you some option to download it.

Thanks, when I download the link it saves to my desktop as 'Dell Driver Download Manager' as an explorer page and when I open it up, I get

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
- <asmv1:assembly xsi:schemaLocation="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1 assembly.adaptive.xsd" manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3" xmlns:dsig="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#&quot;

....etc

So this is where I am stuck at as I cant figure out how to download the driver the way the instructions are saying it should be i.e, an .exe file

marco_polo

DeadMoney wrote: »

Thanks, when I download the link it saves to my desktop as 'Dell Driver Download Manager' as an explorer page and when I open it up, I get

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
- <asmv1:assembly xsi:schemaLocation="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1 assembly.adaptive.xsd" manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3" xmlns:dsig="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#&quot;

....etc

So this is where I am stuck at as I cant figure out how to download the driver the way the instructions are saying it should be i.e, an .exe file

Figured it out, I clicked the download button across from 'Intel - Driver' I got a popup option to 'Download via Internet Browser' and I was able to download the exe directly.

DeadMoney

marco_polo wrote: »

Figured it out, I clicked the download button across from 'Intel - Driver' I got a popup option to 'Download via Internet Browser' and I was able to download the exe directly.

Awesome, thanks so much I got the driver installed and everything is normal resolution now