Changing your monitor
resolution in Windows 95/98

Changing the resolution your computer monitor uses to display graphics is a very simple process. Follow the steps listed below. (NOTE: If you have your mouse setup for left hand operation, reverse the mouse instructions!)

1. At the Windows Desktop screen, use the right mouse button and click one time on an open area of the desktop. This will display the Desktop Activity menu window.

2. With the LEFT mouse button, click once on the "Properties" menu choice. This will bring up the "Display Properties" window. It is from within this window that you can change your desktop background, screen saver, desktop colors, special effects and of course the display colors level and resolution.

3. Again with your LEFT mouse button, click once on the "Settings" tab. This will display your computer's current display driver, color level, and the "Screen Area" or resolution being used.

4. To change the resolution, simply click your mouse to the left or right of the slider icon between the words "Less" and "More." This will increase or decrease your display resolution. The three typical settings are 640 x 480, 800 x 600, and 1024 x 768. The larger the numbers the more items that can be displayed at one time on your monitor. Of course the items will also be smaller as the resolution is increased. The normal setting on today's computers is 800 x 600.

After you make your selection, you may also wish to alter the amount of colors your computer uses to display the images. The usual settings are a very minimal 16 colors, 256 colors, High Color and True Color. As you change the resolution higher, you may find that not all of color depths are available. This is a limitation of older video cards.

After you make your selections, click the "Apply" button. You may or may not have to restart your computer at this point for the changes to take affect. Follow the on-screen instructions. Select "OK" and you are finished. Restart the computer if instructed to do so for the changes to take affect.