Vista Full Screen Problem

MachineHeadRevo · Joined: Aug 01, 2007 Posts: 2

For some reason my Vista has an extremely hard time going into full screen mode with anything. Counter Strike loads fine, but every other game I have when it tries to go into full screen the screen will go black, and then I'll see my desktop with the game minimized. If I click it, it will do that again. The only way to get the game to load is to click it and then keep on clicking the mouse so it'll stay up there. I could put up with this, but it doesn't work for a lot of other applications I use such as emulators. Does anyone have a solution?

Specs:
Dual Boot XP Pro/Vista Home Premium
E6420 Conroe
EVGA 8800GTX

goretsky

Hello,

First off, I would suggest making sure that you have the latest patches installed for your games, and the latest device drivers for your video and sound cards installed in your Microsoft Windows Vista environment.

If that does not solve the problem, you may need to adjust compatibility for the game(s) in question. Here's how to do this:

Right-click on a game's shortcut and select Properties from the popup context menu.
Click on the Compatibility tab and select (check) the following options:
- Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
- Disable visual themes
- Disable desktop composition
- Disable display scaling on high DPI settings
- Run this program as Administrator
Click on OK to save the settings.

You should now try starting the game and see if it works any better than it did before.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Maha · Joined: Sep 13, 2007 Posts: 30

Hello! I just want to say that I use Vista and havn't problem with it Rolling Eyes

cheesestix · Joined: Dec 29, 2007 Posts: 1

I have the same problem with the full-screen programs minimizing in Vista. I've tried what goretsky said and it doesn't work. I have also discovered that those programs work fine in windows mode... unfortunately, not all programs support that =/ But, that should mean that it's probably not a case of compatibility. I've also tried downloading the latest DirectX and still no results.

Anyone have any solutions or at least ideas of what could be causing this?

goretsky

Hello,

Have you checked with the author of the program? Perhaps there is an update available which improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows Vista.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

If you are using dual displays try disabling the second one. I have one game that tries to go full screen but then minimizes. I disabled my second LCD in display properties and the game then worked fine.

taramil · Joined: Mar 10, 2008 Posts: 1

Hi.

I don't know if you all solved your issues, but I recently ran across exactly the same problem mentioned above. That is, screen turning black when starting up applications and games in fullscreen. Haven't had any problems with them before, so it felt really strange. Initially I ruled out the driver being a cause as they worked perfectly earlier.

After some trial and error disabling in the System Configurator utility I found out that it was my Folding@home-application that was the culprit. I cannot understand why, as it has been running in the background for several months without issues. However, every time I boot up my computer now, I can't enter fullscreen mode when starting a game. With Folding@home deactivated everything works tip-top again.

So my advice: Try disabling all autostart programs and non-Windows services in the System Configurator and see if it works. Good luck!

jeneye · Joined: Jun 23, 2009 Posts: 3

i tried to do it the way goretsky said to but it wolt let me Run this program as Administrator what should i do

goretsky

Hello,

Do you get an error message when you run the program after applying the settings? If so, what does it say?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

jeneye · Joined: Jun 23, 2009 Posts: 3

no i it just wolt let me the button is grayed out my husband says its because im not the administrator even though it says i am on my computer login any suggestions

jeneye · Joined: Jun 23, 2009 Posts: 3

also i downloaded dosbox and it works for most of my games but not the ones i download any suggestions about that too

goretsky

Hello,

You should be able to set the "Run as Administrator" option without being logged in as an Administrator; you just need to confirm it by entering the administrator account's password when you apply the stting.

Just to confirm, though, have you tried to run the program or modify the shortcut to launch it will logged in as an Administrator?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky