Member Avatar for ben.matthews18

hi,

is it possible to set the screen resolution for the client via a group policy or answer file?

thanks

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Short answer: there is no built-in Group Policy setting that forces a specific screen resolution on Windows clients. Resolution is negotiated between the display driver and monitor (EDID) per device, so a one-size GPO is not supported and can produce unusable desktops on mismatched hardware. Microsoft’s policy catalogs do not include a resolution setting, and changing registry values for display modes is unreliable across drivers.

If you are imaging machines, you can set an initial resolution in the answer file. In unattend.xml, use Shell-Setup > Display (HorizontalResolution, VerticalResolution, ColorDepth, RefreshRate). Windows applies this only if the mode is supported by the hardware and it may change after the proper display driver installs. See Microsoft’s documentation: Shell-Setup Display settings.

Post-deployment, the safer pattern is to target hardware you know supports a given mode and run a script or approved tool per model via a GPO startup/logon script or Scheduled Task. Use security groups or WMI filters to scope it, and pilot first. For discovery/targeting, you can inventory current modes via WMI/PowerShell:

$vc = Get-CimInstance Win32_VideoController | Select-Object -First 1 Name,CurrentHorizontalResolution,CurrentVerticalResolution,CurrentRefreshRate
$vc

Reference: Win32_VideoController class.

Also consider whether DPI scaling policies better meet the usability goal without forcing resolution.

Member Avatar for JorgeM

There is a thread on TechNet that covers this topic. You may want to read it in detail...

my advice is that is may not be a good idea to set the screen resolution using a GPO unless every computer had the same graphics card and monitor. Think about a situation where the screen resolution you are applying is not supported by one or more of your endpoints. This could cause more desktop support issues than its worth.

You should most definately start with a pilot group of users, best on a test network, but you can do this in production by creating a new OU and moving those target objects to that OU.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/9445828e-fef0-4be5-921c-d4d797a21b87

Edited by JorgeM
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