I have chosen a screen resolution that has corrupted the display and now I can't change it back.

John Savill

March 4, 1999

1 Min Read
ITPro Today logo in a gray background | ITPro Today

A. When you try and change screen resolution, Windows NT asks you to test it, if you ignore this and set the display to a resolution that causes a problem your only course of action to to boot in VGA mode, and then once in VGA mode set the resolution back to something you know works.

  1. Reboot the machine

  2. Select the option
    Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]
    If you find you don't have this option edit boot.ini and add a line similar to your normal NT Workstation startup with the /basevideo /sos, e.g.
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINNT="Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]" /basevideo /sos

  3. The machine will boot in base 16 colour VGA mode

  4. Select the Display Control Panel applet (start - settings - control panel - display)

  5. Click the Settings tab and change to a resolution you know works (use test)

  6. Click OK

About the Author

Sign up for the ITPro Today newsletter
Stay on top of the IT universe with commentary, news analysis, how-to's, and tips delivered to your inbox daily.

You May Also Like