resolution is wrong at startup - what happened?

[friesian]

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
to the lowest possible - 640 x 480.

When I first got it, it was fine. I started using it with a docking
station so that I could use my full size monitor and keyboard when
working at home. It was fine if I booted up with the laptop open, but
would screw up if I had it hooked to the monitor.

Then later, it started doing it with just the laptop. So, now, no
matter what, I have to go into the control panel, display, settings,
and change the resolution back to what I need.

I would like to have it permanently set to bootup at 1024 x 768 so that
is correct for the laptop monitor.

I am just really tired of having to manually set it every time I boot
the computer, regardless of which setup I am doing.

According to the display settings, it has the monitors listed as

1. Digital Flat Panel (1024x768) on Intel(R) Extreme Graphics
Controller-0
2. Default Monitor on INtel(R) Extremes Graphics Controller - 1

I tried going into the system properties, device manager, and deleting
both monitors. When I reboot, it does the same thing. Shows the photo
nicely, and then reverts to 640 x 480 and 4-bit color. When I go to the
display panel to change the settings, it shows the digital flat monitor
back, set to the lowest setting.

Any ideas?

 

[Malke]

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 to the lowest possible - 640 x 480.

When I first got it, it was fine. I started using it with a docking
station so that I could use my full size monitor and keyboard when
working at home. It was fine if I booted up with the laptop open, but
would screw up if I had it hooked to the monitor.

Then later, it started doing it with just the laptop. So, now, no
matter what, I have to go into the control panel, display, settings,
and change the resolution back to what I need.

I would like to have it permanently set to bootup at 1024 x 768 so
that is correct for the laptop monitor.

I am just really tired of having to manually set it every time I boot
the computer, regardless of which setup I am doing.

According to the display settings, it has the monitors listed as

1. Digital Flat Panel (1024x768) on Intel(R) Extreme Graphics
Controller-0
2. Default Monitor on INtel(R) Extremes Graphics Controller - 1

I tried going into the system properties, device manager, and deleting
both monitors. When I reboot, it does the same thing. Shows the photo
nicely, and then reverts to 640 x 480 and 4-bit color. When I go to
the display panel to change the settings, it shows the digital flat
monitor back, set to the lowest setting.

1. Update the video drivers from Dell's website for your specific
laptop.

2. If this doesn't solve the problem, you have hardware failure. Call
Dell tech support. Since this is a laptop, you cannot fix the video
failure yourself.

Malke

 

[friesian]

2. If this doesn't solve the problem, you have hardware failure. Call
Dell tech support. Since this is a laptop, you cannot fix the video
failure yourself.

How would it be hardware failure? I can change the setting manually and
it fixes til the next time I boot up. That sounds like a driver or
software issue. I did reinstall the graphics driver, but I could't find
anything specifically for the monitor.

I emailed tech support, and they told me to call (and of course pay a
high rate). He wouldn't even say what was wrong.

 

[friesian]

How would it be hardware failure? I can change the setting manually and
it fixes til the next time I boot up. That sounds like a driver or
software issue. I did reinstall the graphics driver, but I could't find
anything specifically for the monitor.

I emailed tech support, and they told me to call (and of course pay a
high rate). He wouldn't even say what was wrong.

Dell finally replied again. Yesterday, they wanted me to call the
number and pay for tech service to talk me through some step-by-step
instructions. Today, they informed me that it is a hardware repair, and
I must send them my computer because it is out of warranty.

First of all, I can understand them doing he repair if it was covered
by warranty, but why would I HAVE to send it to them if it isn't
covered? Packard Bell told me that years ago. I had a local place fix
it for less than half the cost.

So, they said I need to replace the video card. How hard is that to do
with a laptop? I'm not going to pay a shop to do it. I can fix it
manually every day for free, so no sense spending over a $100 to fix
it. I will buy a new card if I can do the repair myself. But I am not
wasting a lot of money on it otherwise.

I've done a lot of repairs and upgrades to desktop computers, so I am
not new to repairs or computer issues. I have just never done one on a
laptop, so I don't know if they are a lot more complicated or not.

 

[xfile]

Hi,

Just to share with you,

(1) For your problems, you could also try Dell forum, as I found many useful
tips from there as well. So you could try next time if you have any problems
or questions regarding Dell's computers,

(2) Dell repair: I too play around computers a lot and used to work for
hardware industry about 10 years ago. But I still would like Dell to fix my
notebook instead of myself. I just sent my I8600 to Dell for a power
problem - the power adapter sometime cannot be recognized by the system.
It could be a minor problem (who knows) for some screws or panel is not
tighten up.

If they charge you a reasonable fee, why not let them do it for you and take
the responsibility if something goes wrong? Of course, I won't say so for my
"old" systems such as I8000.

In any case, Dell forum is another place you could find some tips and helps
for Dell's models.

Good luck

 

[friesian]

Hi,

Just to share with you,

(1) For your problems, you could also try Dell forum, as I found many useful
tips from there as well. So you could try next time if you have any problems
or questions regarding Dell's computers,

Thanks. Since my last post, I have spent a couple hours on teh forums,
and I found several posts with exactly my problem. And it is not a
hardware problem like Dell told me. It is a software problem. It looks
like I need to delete a registry folder and reboot the computer. I just
haven' t found the folder yet.

If they charge you a reasonable fee, why not let them do it for you and take
the responsibility if something goes wrong? Of course, I won't say so for my
"old" systems such as I8000.

If this were a serious problem, I'd do it. But I have two objections.
One, this isn't a hardware issue. They are telling me this because they
want to make some extra money doing a fake repair, or they are stupid
and can't properly diagnose the problem. If they read their own forums,
they'd know this a common problem, one answered by a Dell rep back in
2002.

Also, this really isn't a serious problem. It's annoying to have to
manually change it every time, but I'd rather do that than pay
shipping, pay for a repair, and go without my computer for several
weeks. It just isn't worth it for this problem.

 

[friesian]

The problem is solved. I found the two registry files for devices,
deleted them, rebooted the computer, and it works fine now.

Definitely NOT a hardware problem

 

[xfile]

Glad to know that and if you wish, could also post results back to Dell
forum (I have no relationship with it other than a user and customer) so
other users (could be me) could find it as well in the future.

Take care.