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Maximum Screen Size in 800x600 Resolution (Changing Monitor Drivers in Windows 95/98)

If you find that the Desktop fills the screen in 640x480 resolution, but not in 800x600, please read on. It is fairly common to find that the horizontal in the latter mode (or even in 640x480 as well) is limited, so you end up with black bars on each side of the working area. This can be annoying, considering you have paid for the use of the whole screen, and the usual cause is just plain old bad drivers. That is not to say that they are faulty, rather that no great thought or effort has gone into the writing of the drivers. And this can also happen with some top brand monitors, which makes it worse.

There is a way around this, however, by just changing display drivers. Right-click the Desktop, choose Properties, then the Settings tab, and click the Change Display Type button. At the bottom of the following box, you will see the monitor type. Click the Change button, select Show all devices, and locate a monitor with a better set of drivers than you have.

One that works well with generic monitors (true colour, 1280x1024 max. resolution) is to be found under NEC Technologies, Inc. in Manufacturers. The NEC MultiSync 4FGe should give you a full screen in 800x600; you can try later model drivers, but you might have a flickering display when you reboot (the 4FGe seems to be a safe set of drivers).

Once you have chosen your new drivers, OK your way out, then reboot the PC. If you end up with a badly flickering display as it goes into Windows, just wait for it to finish loading, then Alt+F4 to bring up the Shutdown box, and hit Enter to close down the computer. Turn the PC off, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on. As it is rebooting (specifically just after the hard drives are recognised), hit the F8 key to bring up the Boot Menu. From there, choose Safe Mode, which will take you into Windows in a special diagnostic mode where you can change the monitor type. It pays to remember these last few steps, as software and hardware problems can prevent Windows from loading, but can be fixed when in Safe Mode.

It pays to play around and put up with some Safe Mode dramas, especially if you are missing out on screen real estate. If your monitor is a listed brand, try drivers for newer models. If not, try the NEC 4FGe ones (or later ones if you dare). The end result will be a viewing area that totally fills the screen.