[ The PC Guide | System
Optimization and Enhancement Guide | System Optimizations and
Enhancements | Video and Image Optimization ]
Enable Changing Screen Resolutions and Color Depths On The Fly in Windows 95
By default, both Windows 3.x and Windows 95 require you to restart Windows in order to
change the screen resolution or color depth. In Windows 3.x there isn't much you can do to
get around this, but in Windows 95 there are a couple of tricks at your disposal for
making it possible to change resolutions on the fly. Here are some suggestions:
- If you are using Windows 3.x, you will have to reboot Windows to change the screen mode
unless you are using a special utility provided by your video card manufacturer that
performs this function. There's no general-purpose utility I know of that will change the
resolution on the fly. (Rebooting Windows 3.x occasionally is a good idea anyway, as it
frees up system resources that leak from Windows 3.x over time.)
- Under Windows 95 OEM SR2 (OSR2) you can set the display settings so that Windows will
not reboot when changes are made to the color depth or resolution settings. You need to
access the display settings under the Control Panel (using the "Display" icon),
then click on the "Settings" tab. Then select "Advanced Properties"
and choose the "Performance" tab. At the bottom, under
"Compatibility", select either "Apply the changes without restarting"
or "Always prompt before applying the changes" and select "OK". The
first of these will automatically change screen resolutions on the fly, and the second
will do the same but will prompt you first.
- Check the driver or configuration software that came with your video card. There may be
a utility that allows on-the-fly changes.
- Download the "QuickRes" utility, which is part of Microsoft's free PowerToys
collection for Windows 95. This is a general-purpose utility that will let you
change resolutions and color depths on-the-fly for a variety of different video cards.
 Next: Optimize Image Quality By Adjusting the Monitor
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