Member Avatar for yaduks

I have a problem with my Display properties - i fired up my new laptop running XP the other day and without me changing the settings, the screen resolution changed and i can't get it changed back.

I believe my pixel setup was 1280 x 1024 which gives the larger size of icon but is now fixed at 1400 x 1050 giving the smallest size. When i try to change to a lower res. it doesn't change the size of icon but does change the pixel no. if i'm making any sense.

I dont think i'll ever get used to these small icons so any help to get me back to normal settings would be appreciated.

thanks

yaduks.

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Good call to try the Appearance tweaks (thanks ) and to think about drivers or restore (thanks ). A few things to know up front: icon size and pixel resolution are controlled by different settings, and a driver or vendor graphics utility can silently change which resolutions are available or which settings Windows applies at logon. Below is a short, ordered checklist to diagnose and fix it without editing the registry unless necessary.

  1. Confirm the panel’s native/recommended resolution and the current DPI (scaling). If Windows is using a higher pixel count than your original setup, icons will look smaller even though “resolution” numbers changed.
  2. Check the actual display driver (Device Manager → Display adapters). If Windows is running a generic VGA driver or a different vendor driver, install the correct laptop/vendor graphics driver for your model — that often restores the correct “recommended” resolution and behavior. Create a Restore Point first.
  3. Look for vendor graphics control panels (Intel/ATI/NVIDIA) or OEM utilities that can force custom resolutions or scaling and override Windows; disable or reset their scaling options.
  4. Test whether it’s a per-user setting by creating a fresh user account and logging in — if that account shows the icons at the expected size, the problem is a user-profile/DPI/icon-setting mismatch rather than hardware.
  5. If the change coincided with installing software or updates, use System Restore to roll back to a date before the change (this reverts drivers and settings).
  6. As a final step, reinstall the monitor and graphics drivers from the manufacturer’s site (not the generic Microsoft ones) or contact the laptop maker’s support if the screen’s native resolution isn’t listed.

Cautions: back up important data before System Restore or driver reinstalls; avoid registry edits unless comfortable. These checks should pinpoint whether the culprit is scaling/DPI, a wrong driver, or an external/utility override.

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Member Avatar for just_a_nobody

You can change the Icon size by going into Control Panel/Display/Appearence Tab/select Advanced button, then in the item selection, select icon, and next to that you should be able to select the size of the icon. You will need to experiment with the sizes, and perhaps the Horz. and Vert. Icon Spacing. Hope this helps.

Member Avatar for msaqib

Hello,
You can also do the same settings from widnows registry.
MY Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
Here you will have many options to change including the Icon size and spacing.
Dont do it if you dont know what you are doing.

Member Avatar for yaduks

Thanks for the replies. I've tried out these options but i am not getting the same display as i had previously.

I am more interested in knowing why the system would have changed the setup in the first place as if i can figure that out then i might be able to sort the problem.

Any ideas why the resolution would change on its own and why i can't seem to change back to the original settings by using the Screen Resolution parameters?

thanks.

Member Avatar for msaqib

To me there may be two problems
1: You might have installed a software that uses the Graphics Card or updates its Drivers.
2: There may be DirectX problem.

I think u can restore the system to a previous date, this may also change to your desired resolution.
Or Reinstall the Graphics card drivers or DirectX or update to the latest DirectX version

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