startup resolution problem

[friesian]

Several years ago, I had this problem, asked here after contacting
dell, found the solution on dell's website, and posted the solution
here so that others could find it. I even used it myself again.

Just recently, I got another laptop, same model, for my mom. It has
the same problem, and now I cannot find the solution (that I posted),
and I cannot solve this problem.

The problem is that the resolution is super low at startup. It boots
up, shows a normal screen, blinks, and then switches to a really low
resolution with 8 colors. When I found the problem on dell's website
(after 4 hours of searching), I found that the problem was caused by
removing it from the docking station while turned on. The solution was
to delete 4 registry files and reboot the computer.

My problem is that I do not know which files to delete. Dell's website
is different, and I have already spent an hour searching with no luck.
I have tried searching the archives of this newsgroup, and the only
thread I can find has my post that says I found a solution, but the
not the post where I included the solution.

Anybody know which files I need to delete so that the computer will
reset the monitor?

 

[Paul]

Several years ago, I had this problem, asked here after contacting
dell, found the solution on dell's website, and posted the solution
here so that others could find it. I even used it myself again.

Just recently, I got another laptop, same model, for my mom. It has
the same problem, and now I cannot find the solution (that I posted),
and I cannot solve this problem.

The problem is that the resolution is super low at startup. It boots
up, shows a normal screen, blinks, and then switches to a really low
resolution with 8 colors. When I found the problem on dell's website
(after 4 hours of searching), I found that the problem was caused by
removing it from the docking station while turned on. The solution was
to delete 4 registry files and reboot the computer.

My problem is that I do not know which files to delete. Dell's website
is different, and I have already spent an hour searching with no luck.
I have tried searching the archives of this newsgroup, and the only
thread I can find has my post that says I found a solution, but the
not the post where I included the solution.

Anybody know which files I need to delete so that the computer will
reset the monitor?

http://groups.google.ca/group/micro.../41ac115c4c024c6a?q=registry#41ac115c4c024c6a

or in case that doesn't work

http://groups.google.ca/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware/msg/781ea97e65eeeb99?dmode=source

*******
Apr 18 2006, 6:32 am
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
From: "(e-mail address removed)" <[email protected]>
Date: 18 Apr 2006 03:32:32 -0700
Local: Tues, Apr 18 2006 6:32 am
Subject: resolution is wrong at startup - what happened?

I have a Dell C400 laptop with windows xp.

It starts normally and shows my background photo fine at first, but by
the time it finishes the bootup sequence, it has reduced the resolution...
*******

There is some limited info on registry files here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry

Paul

 

[friesian]

http://groups.google.ca/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware/bro...

or in case that doesn't work

http://groups.google.ca/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware/msg...

I found those previous posts, but not the one where I explained the
actual solution. I had typed up a solution that included the cause of
the problem, and the exact files to be deleted. My plan was to let
other people with the problem find the solution if they searched. And
I know I used it again once. But I sure can't find it now. I remember
that I need to delete certain registry files, but I'm not sure which
ones.

 

[Paul]

I found those previous posts, but not the one where I explained the
actual solution. I had typed up a solution that included the cause of
the problem, and the exact files to be deleted. My plan was to let
other people with the problem find the solution if they searched. And
I know I used it again once. But I sure can't find it now. I remember
that I need to delete certain registry files, but I'm not sure which
ones.

http://groups.google.ca/group/comp.sys.laptops/msg/d74406017aa41ef2?dmode=source

*******
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
From: "(e-mail address removed)" <[email protected]>
Date: 20 Apr 2006 01:51:37 -0700
Local: Thurs, Apr 20 2006 4:51 am
Subject: Problem Solved - Re: video card problem

I found the solution on the forum. It didn't explain where to find the
registry files, so I had to do another search to find that topic, but
once I found it, it was pretty easy to do:

Start Menu > Run > Regedit

Find and delete these two folders

HKey_Current_Sser\Software\Intel\Display\igfxcui\Configuration\Active
Devices\4
HKey_Current_Sser\Software\Intel\Display\igfxcui\Configuration\Available
Devices\4

Reboot computer

Problem solved.

No hardware problem at all.

Apparently, it happens when improperly shut down, and also when removed
from docking station improperly. I did do that once, and I've had a few
crashes. From the postings in the forum, it seems pretty common, and
well known since 2002.
*******

So you didn't delete files after all. Just some sort of
registry keys for integrated graphics. Had me worried for
a moment...

Paul

 

[friesian]

http://groups.google.ca/group/comp.sys.laptops/msg/d74406017aa41ef2?d...

*******
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
From: "(e-mail address removed)" <[email protected]>
Date: 20 Apr 2006 01:51:37 -0700
Local: Thurs, Apr 20 2006 4:51 am
Subject: Problem Solved - Re: video card problem

I found the solution on the forum. It didn't explain where to find the
registry files, so I had to do another search to find that topic, but
once I found it, it was pretty easy to do:

Start Menu > Run > Regedit

Find and delete these two folders

HKey_Current_Sser\Software\Intel\Display\igfxcui\Configuration\Active
Devices\4
HKey_Current_Sser\Software\Intel\Display\igfxcui\Configuration\Available
Devices\4

Reboot computer

Problem solved.

No hardware problem at all.

Apparently, it happens when improperly shut down, and also when removed
from docking station improperly. I did do that once, and I've had a few
crashes. From the postings in the forum, it seems pretty common, and
well known since 2002.
*******

So you didn't delete files after all. Just some sort of
registry keys for integrated graphics. Had me worried for
a moment...

    Paul

Awesome! How did you find that? I spent over an hour looking for it.
It has been a few years, so I couldn't remember the important details.

 

[Paul]

Awesome! How did you find that? I spent over an hour looking for it.
It has been a few years, so I couldn't remember the important details.

Google is badly broken (on purpose), but there is still one feature
left that works. That is the user's profile. You have about 10000
posts archived. Using some info from the profile (or the table that
shows posts by date), it is possible to hand craft a search to
find some of them. It is too much work, for me to use if for
everything I do, and the technique is not a replacement
for the staff at Google to fix what they broke. But if a
person asks a "I made a post years ago..." type question,
with a little work, I might be able to find it.

Paul

 

[friesian]

Google is badly broken (on purpose), but there is still one feature
left that works. That is the user's profile. You have about 10000
posts archived. Using some info from the profile (or the table that
shows posts by date), it is possible to hand craft a search to
find some of them. It is too much work, for me to use if for
everything I do, and the technique is not a replacement
for the staff at Google to fix what they broke. But if a
person asks a "I made a post years ago..." type question,
with a little work, I might be able to find it.

    Paul

weird. I actually found the first two posts you quoted via the
profile, but it only showed me a few posts during that time period, so
I didn't see the one I needed. I did the instructions I wrote, and it
worked perfectly. Different laptop, but I knew it had to be the same
problem.

Thanks again. I really appreciate it. I know how to manually fix the
resolution when it happens, but this one belongs to my mom, and she is
not that great at computer stuff.