How to select Standard VGA driver on T61/Intel?

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Edward Mendelson · #1 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:56 pm

For various reasons I need to use the Standard VGA video driver on most of my systems that run Vista. (The Standard VGA driver is the only one that supports full-screen DOS applications.) I've had no trouble selecting the Standard VGA driver on all other systems I've tried (desktops and ThinkPad T42 models), but Vista doesn't show it on the list of available drivers on my T61 SXGA+ with integrated Intel graphics.

Does anyone know how to force the Standard VGA driver to be selected on a T61 with Intel graphics?

(And if you are kind enough to reply to this message, please don't waste your valuable time by suggesting that I use DOSBOX or Vmware or Virtual PC or any other virtualization method to get full-screen DOS; I already know about these and other methods and even though they are genuinely wonderful for many other purposes, they are completely impractical for the specific software that I want to use. I'm ONLY asking how to get the Standard VGA driver to become available on this T61 system - not how to use DOSBOX or Vmware or Virtual PC or any other virtualizing software. Thanks!)

Nolonemo · #2 Post by **Nolonemo** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:44 am

I don't know how, but here's a suggestion which may or may not be too risky for you:
Set a restore point and back up your system (in case the restore point doesn't work) set a restore point.
Go into properties for the Intel adapter and see which drivers its using.
Boot into safe mode and delete the drivers from the HD, restart and see what happens.
Revert to the restore point if your display is screwed up.
I don't have the slightest idea if this would work or not or how dangerous it is.

One other approach might be to set your display properties to 640x480 (if you have an option for such a low resolution). That might make the DOS window display larger....

Edward Mendelson · #3 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:12 am

Interesting suggestion - Thank you. I'll try it as a last resort (after making a full image of the drive....) if no simpler solution turns up. This one is a real puzzle - I've never seen a Vista system that won't support Standard VGA as an option.

diamondlight · #4 Post by **diamondlight** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:41 pm

u can try install ur vista in vmware.
they like using standard driver.

Edward Mendelson · #5 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:09 pm

Thanks for the Vmware suggestion, but the goal is to get the a full-screen console-style (non-GUI) screen for a DOS application. Vmware displays a non-GUI screen in a tiny window. (VirtualPC can imitate full-screen console-style for DOS applications, but there are a dozen reasons why it's not useful in this situation.)

Very puzzling that the Standard VGA Driver isn't available with the T61; it's available with the T42 and every desktop I've tried.

TTY · #6 Post by **TTY** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:53 pm

On this T61 with a Mobile Intel GMA X3100, a XGA panel and Vista Business 32-bit SP1, the Standard VGA graphics card driver is available.

Edward Mendelson · #7 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:20 pm

TTY wrote:On this T61 with a Mobile Intel GMA X3100, a XGA panel and Vista Business 32-bit SP1, the Standard VGA graphics card driver is available.

Interesting! I wonder if the SXGA+ on this machine is the problem. Perhaps the resolution is too high for the Standard VGA driver.

Edward Mendelson · #8 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:17 pm

I found the answer to my own question. The Standard VGA Graphic Adapter is available under Vista only if Microsoft's default "display.inf" file is present in the C:\Windows\inf folder. Place a copy of that file (from some other Vista installation) in the correct folder, and the Standard VGA Graphics Adapter becomes available.

How to select Standard VGA driver on T61/Intel?

How to select Standard VGA driver on T61/Intel?

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