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PC monitor resolution is wrong and won't go any higher?

Anonymous
2016-02-22T05:55:47+00:00

This is what happened. 

I shut down the PC, everything was perfect, nothing new downloaded. I moved the desktop downstairs next to my HDTV and set it up, plugging an HDMI cable to the PC to the TV. It started up, I watched a movie, was marvelling at the screen and adjusted one thing just to see things better.

That was the 'Make text and other items larger or smaller' it was originally on small so I popped it up to large. Before turning off the PC I turned it back to small. 

I unhooked it, brought it back to my room and set it up with the monitor I've been using for roughly 3 years. I noticed it was off right away. Things were too big. The buttons on the desktop were too big, the taskbar at the bottom was too big and the folders, applications and so on felt too fat and bulky.

Another reason I know it's not the right size is because my friend played a prank on me by taking a screenshot of my desktop, setting it as my background and hiding my desktop buttons. So I know what it's suppose to look like but cannot for the life of me get it back to normal. I also screenshot things on my desktop for various reasons and have a consistent size going on in all of them.

And I just noticed my desktop buttons are no longer where I left them and have reset to an alphabetical order.

I tried adjusting the size of the buttons, that wasn't it. The buttons were roughly the right size, medium, but the resolution is off. I figured I needed to go higher to make everything fit neatly where it use to. But the recommended setting is at the highest resolution, 1600 x 900. 

Please, help me get my PC back to normal resolution...! This is frustrating me beyond all reason.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-02-23T03:28:06+00:00

    Hi Leah,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

    • What is the make and model of the computer?
    • What is the make and model of the TV?

    Windows chooses the best display settings, including screen resolution, refresh rate, and color, based on your monitor. It's a good idea to set your monitor to the resolution it was designed to display (called the native resolution). To see your monitor's native resolution, check the display settings in PC settings.

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.

    (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.) 2. Tap or click PC and devices, then tap or click Display. 3. Tap or click the resolution slider and drag it until you find the resolution marked (Recommended). This is your monitor's native resolution—usually the highest resolution your monitor can support. 4. Tap or click Apply.

    If the situation remains, you may try the following steps and check.

    Step 1: Update the Display driver 

    Please follow the steps given below to update the display driver.

    a. Press Windows key + X key when you are at desktop.

    b. Select Device Manager.

    c. Find and double-click Display driver from the left panel to uninstall

    d. Right-click the device, and click Update Driver Software.

    e. Select Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software.

    f. Reboot your computer.

    Check for the issue, if it still persists go to next method.

    Step 2: Visit the computer manufacturer's support website and install the latest display driver available for Windows 8.1

    Step 3: You may check with TV manufacturer to see if you need to install any firmware updates for the TV.

    Step 4: You may try running the Windows Updates and install all the available updates including the optional driver and firmware updates: Windows Update: Frequently Asked Questions

    You may also refer to the article(s):

    Get the best display on your monitor

    Connect a second monitor or projector

    Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

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