Take the 2-minute tour ×

I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 running Windows XP. It has Intel 945GM graphics. When I bought the computer, I got it with a native resolution of 1920x1200. However, this resolution is far too small to use, in my opinion. I have tried adjusting DPI settings, but it's not the same.

Under Display Properties, there are many resolution choices, but the only one that is 16:10 is 1920x1200. I would like something like 1440x900, as I don't want to stretch the screen. I tried re-installing the driver listed on Dell.com, but it didn't help. Any ideas?

share|improve this question

3 Answers 3

I know this isn't exactly what you're asking for, but may I suggest increasing the font size in your display settings if they are too small to read? Running at native resolution is generally optimal if you can at all stand it.

share|improve this answer
I've done this in the past, but a lot of programs don't obey the windows DPI sizes, or things go a bit whacky. –  Mark Henderson Mar 23 '11 at 2:08
Understandable. I just felt the need to chime in with that :-) –  Hyppy Mar 23 '11 at 2:10
As Farseeker said, a lot of programs don't follow the DPI sizes. Skype, for example. –  brandon Mar 23 '11 at 20:41
This is the correct solution. Run your LCD monitor at its native resolution. Then you can adjust the DPI setting to match your viewing preferences. Yes, many developers don't "pay their taxes" and write their software to properly handle large fonts. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 you can enable a workaround for those buggy applications: "DPI Scaling". Any application that doesn't specifically say that supports high-dpi will be scaled up by the video card. –  Ian Boyd Jun 18 '11 at 14:57

Dell drivers seem to only ever include highest resolution. I fixed on my Dell monitor via Nvidia control panel and adding custom resolutions. Check if there's any options in the 945GM driver to allow modes not reported by display or some such. Or if there's option to add a custom resolution.

share|improve this answer

In windows XP you can force a custom resolution (as long as your video card will drive it) and timings using software such as PowerStrip http://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm OR through registry settings: http://www.mp3car.com/lcd-display/42122-tutorial-forcing-custom-resolution-in-windows.html

If you can't get either of those going, let me know ... there are other alternatives, but i would need your exact driver, and chipset version.

share|improve this answer
I tried PowerStrip but I couldn't seem to get it to work. Now I'm trying the registry settings...on that link, it says to change the XResolution and YResolution to what I want it to be (1440x900), but the numbers that are there are 800x600, which is not the resolution I am currently using. Should I still try to change it? –  brandon Mar 23 '11 at 20:54
Try that key with the settings you'd like (as is noted in the link, some video cards will not let you change settings). If that doesn't work see if there are any other keys under the video cards to work on. Realistically though if powerstrip can't change it - your card just may not allow custom timings. –  iivel Mar 23 '11 at 23:27

Your Answer


