Support Solved Monitor Resolution Issue

Yesterday, my mom's printer glitched up when attempting to print and the queue got clogged up and wouldn't delete the pending document. We tried to print other stuff, but because of the document that was stuck on pending deletion, the queue filled up, but we got that stuff deleted and it took two computer restarts to fix the problem with the document that wouldn't delete.

The second time the computer was restarted, though, the resolution on my mom's monitor had changed to 1024 x 768 from the maximum and recommended resolution available, and I don't know how to fix it because of some issues.

If I try to set it to the highest resolution available (1600 x 1200), it doesn't change and I get an Out of Range error from the monitor, so I just I have it on the second highest right now. The other issue is the thing that tells you what it recommends is missing.

I think the main issue is that the display seems to have changed. I'm sure it was V something before, like mine.

This is how it looks on mine:



And this is how it looks on my mom's:



Things on my mom's monitor sometimes also appear fuzzy, but I think that's just a lose connection.

Anyway, any ideas? How can I fix this?

 

Actually, if you run an LCD panel at below its native resolution, things will look fuzzy.

Two things:
I just want to make sure it's not confused somehow lol; if you click detect does it do anything (it might just bring up output options from your video card, no need to select any of it)?

& If you go into advanced settings and click on Monitor, what does it say about the refresh rate?

 

Well, even when it was at the recommended resolution it'd get fuzzy and jiggling the display cable fixed it.

I've tried clicking Detect, yeah, though I'm still not exactly sure what it does.

60 hertz like mine, though that's all I have available. In addition to 60, she has 70, 75, and 85.

Also, in the advanced settings, the monitor type is the generic for both of us, but I'm pretty sure Display had V###HL whatever like mine. Not sure if that's related or not, though.

 

Do you have another spare cable by chance? :V Maybe one you could swap out for this one temporarily?
This may or may not be part of the issue but messed up cables can cause problems.

It's supposed to detect another display connected to the computer. If it doesn't do anything though then don't worry about it.

Okay, don't change any of that then haha.

I can't say tbh, although it's weird it'd change. Mine is ID'd as my brand of computer in the resolution options but when I go to advanced it's identified as a generic.

Have you tried updating the drivers? Might not do anything, worth a shot though.

 

I'll have to take a look tomorrow and get back to you. I'm wiped out.[DOUBLEPOST=1424372252][/DOUBLEPOST]

We'll give a try. Might be the issue, though I don't know how if it was fine before I restarted her computer the second time on Tuesday night.

When I turned my mom's computer off last night, I disconnected the display cable from both the monitor and tower and when my mom turned it on this morning, the Display box had changed to:



Clicking Detect changed it back to what you saw in the OP. However, the Display box I'm sure was VG###HL like mine before. In addition, taking a closer look, it looks like at least one resolution is missing for my mom. There should be a resolution there that shows recommended in bold like mine.

That's probably normal, then.

Her drivers are up-to-date.

I'm not sure if it could be related, but her chip type is unavailable, and mine isn't.

Mine:



Hers:

 

To me it kind of raises a red flag that the act of disconnecting the cable messes with your display options. Monitors have to communicate to the computer about their functions; they usually have an internal chip to do this and need to pass the information over their cable when they're plugged in. If the pin(s) related to this are damaged they can't communicate properly and the computer may default to something else. Please try a spare cable if you have one.

If you click on List All Modes for your adapter is your current resolution the maximum listed (ignoring refresh rate)?

This is odd also. :v I don't know why this would be the case but like the monitor I would click properties and see if you can download drivers for the adapter.

 

I'm thinking it's my mom's monitor or something else. I tried my cable on hers with the same issue, but trying her cable on mine showed no issue.

Excluding the missing resolution, correct? If so, yes. We don't have it set to that, but the maximum resolution available is 1600 x 1200 and that's showing on the List All Modes popup, though that's the one that causes the Out of Range error, so we have it set to the second highest of 1280 x 1024.

Looking at the help center, though:



My mom's monitor is a widescreen 21-inch, so according to the above, its native (recommended) resolution is 1680 x 1050, and that's the resolution that went missing Tuesday night.

No issues there, either. Drivers are up-to-date.

Edit: Tried a system restore to no avail, so I undid that.[DOUBLEPOST=1424418072][/DOUBLEPOST]@Stardust, don't know what we did, but it's fixed.

My mom installed Microsoft Fix-It to detect something to bring the option back or something, and it fixed it, but then her monitor showed Out of Range because it didn't add it to the graphics card or something. She restarted her computer in safe mode and chose another resolution and restarted normally and ran into the same issue and restarted her computer again in safe mode.

I then hooked up her monitor to my computer and figured out it wasn't her monitor, but her computer -- more specifically, her graphics card, likely. When I clicked Detect, all the options changed to what they should be for her monitor size (and for the record, I was wrong earlier, as you can see, with the 1680 x 1050):



I hooked the monitor back up to her computer and in safe mode I changed the resolution to 1024 x 768 because that seems to fit all monitor sizes and restarted the computer. And lo and behold. No problems. It restarted fine in 1440 x 900 resolution and no Out of Range error, whatever that means.

She didn't think changing the resolution in safe mode would carry over to normal mode, but I guess it did.

Edit: I know, I said "or something" a lot. I sowwy.