Thinkpads Forum

Just last night, my windows login screen switched to what looks like an 800x600 resolution. This is just where I enter my password in to get into windows. I can't figure out how to get it back.

My settings are below:
- W500
- Windows Vista Business
- Normal display resolution = 1920x1200 (this shows up as monitor 3 of 4 in my display settings
- Display setting monitors = 4 (primary with discrete graphics is #3. All the other monitors show 800x600 and I cannot appear to change them while staying on #3

Things I have tried:
- Restarting the computer multiple times
- Lowering my resolution then raising it again
- Trying to change the resolution for the other virtual monitors (1, 2, 4). I cannot appear to change any of them and have the options stick. Only #1 gives me options anyways - 2 and 4 are grayed out on 800x600. (I don't understand why I have 4 monitors. I can see two with the switchable graphics, but 4?)

Anyone have any ideas what could be going on? I'm not sure what I changed to did to cause this.

-Dan

The four monitors is because of the dual graphics cards (Intel graphics and ATI graphics) in the W500 - each card has two monitors. If you click on them in the Graphics Properties you'll see that #3 and #4 are internal and external monitors for the ATI card, and that #1 and #2 are the same for the Intel card.

Mine is also locked to 800x600 for the external monitors, until I actually plug in a monitor, at which time all the options open up. (And I mean ALL - with a TripleHead2Go I see all the crazy extended resolutions.)

Can you check to see which card is active? Perhaps you switched it using the power manager.

I would also open up the Device Manager and look at the properties for the graphics card, and see whether the drivers are correctly installed.

When I first switched to the Intel graphics, my system went through the whole "new hardware found" rigamarole. If this happened to you and you didn't install the drivers, you might be seeing the limited resolution boot screen.

Try this: switch to Intel graphics (using BIOS or power manager), set the resolution on #1 to 1920 x 1200, apply it, then switch back to ATI graphics. (It is possible that the system may boot using the Intel graphics, though unlikely.)

Otherwise, try reinstalling the ATI drivers, then switching to Intel graphics (via BIOS or power manager), then reinstall the Intel graphics drivers.

Switching my graphics and then redoing the settings did it. Thanks!

I'm seeing the same thing with my T500.

Interestingly, it started happening sometime after I installed the latest update to the Lenovo Fingerprint software.

Since the update did change the login screen (at least for me -- it now shows the users and a separate fingerprint login icons whereas before it would show just the fingerprint login icon and I'd have to hit "switch user" to get to the user selection screen) perhaps that has something to do with the resolution thing.

Anyone else notice any connection between the two? Or am I just experiencing a coincidence?