Spontaneous resolution change

[arnnad]

The resolution degraded to 1024x768, seemingly after the most recent Win 10 update. My monitor, a Dell 2209 recommends 1680x1050. In trying to fix this I tried system restore, which didn't work, even after disabling Win Defender. Also tried reinstalling the video card, ATI Radeon 4600 HD but told the card was up to date. I did not do a total uninstall/reinstall because AMD said there were no upgrades beyond Win 8, aside from Win 10 upgrades.

My PC now says the above 1024x768 is the recommended setting and when I crank up the resolution I see distortion and odd font changes.

So is the video card corrupted, should I do a complete uninstall of AMD and reinstall or make another attempt at system restore. Replacing my PC is further down the alphabet than "plan B"

Thanks for your help

 

[arnnad]

Bighorn, thanks for your reply. My video card is separate from the monitor, which was purchased prior to my PC. The preferred resolution mentioned above is directly from the monitor. I've gone to various sites trying to check the card's status but haven't found a way to do so. Are you recommending simply replacing the video card?
Thanks

 

[Bighorn]

That would be my choice, I had to use add-in cards on 2 of my computers as Windows Update and Intel did not have suitable drivers for Win10 for the onboard adapters, wouldn't give me anything but blank tiles on the screen. If in the USA probably could get by with a card at $75 to $125 new, maybe less shopping on the Internet.

 

[arnnad]

Update. After spending too much time trying to figure out how to find what graphics card would fit my 8yr old PC, looking at cards from Amazon and trying to get specs from HP I went back to AMD. Aside from being spooked because support for the card ends at Win 8, and I'm now at Win 10, I read where doing a complete uninstall might repair a damaged card. they advised using Programs and Features, vs Device Manager. Tried it and didn't work. Installed their cleaner and it succeeded. I was able to reinstall the old driver and now the resolution and proportions are back to normal. I suspect a Win 10 download was the culprit. Interesting there was no ready test to confirm what was visually obvious.

Thanks for the support

 

[Grizzly]

Which driver did you use if I may ask? a friend of mine has the same card and also problems (but with Windows 7)
the latest driver I could find is the 13.1 for the Catalyst Suite (Windows 8.1) and 13.9 (Windows 7)....
Problem is that Windows Update has a newer driver 15.300.1025.1 (11-17-2015) while AMD lists the older version 8.97.100.7 (01-21-2013).
You may run into the same issue again after the next update...

 

[arnnad]

OMG, I thought I was home free. I'll be away from the PC tomorrow but will check this out and get back to you.

 

[Wolfie]

For AMD owners, you can go to the following link and use the detect function:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

 

[arnnad]

Grizzly, I do have the same driver from 2013 but have no idea which driver had previously been installed. I'll try communicating with MSFT about this issue but. if the driver get corrupted again I may have to bite the bullet and buy a more current card. However, when the resolution problem appeared and I couldn't find a test to confirm the defect was in the card I was unsure if the PC itself had died. At least, I now know it's a card issue. Also, in the process of removing the AMD card and seeing no change in the monitor I learned there's a basic MSFT driver in the PC; i.e. the AMD card was completely non functional.
I'll post if I get a response from MSFT on the "update" issue.

 

[Grizzly]

I'll post if I get a response from MSFT on the "update" issue.

Good luck with that.There may be a way to prevent Windows Update to install the MS driver through the Group policy editor.
Are you familiar with that by chance?

 

[arnnad]

No. Is there a way to limit updates, excluding the AMD card? I took a look at what's involved in contacting MSFT but, since I'm 83, I'm not sure I've the time to get a response from them.
Thanks