Window sizes and position change when closing and opening lid

Question

I have my screen set to 1400 x 1050 32 bit color. If I position the windows just the way I want them and then close the lid of the Inspiron, when I open the lid the window sizes have all shrunk (by about 1/2) and have been shoved to the upper left corner of the screen. This is EXTREMELY annoying and I can't believe I have put up with it for more than 9 months.

I think I know what the problem is - when the screen is first opened, it goes from black (screen powered off) to a low resolution setting for a fraction of a second and then to my normal 1400 x 1050 setting. In this fraction of a second at low resolution, Windows XP shrinks all the windows to the maximum size for that screen (basically filling the full screen) and then when it goes to 1400 x 1050 the windows are left in the upper left corner of the screen.

I have tried to upgrade to the latest driver thru the Dell site but at the end of the process I get to a file that is not found:

ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/video/R81325.EXE

I have contacted Dell e-mail support and gotten no help - they directed me to the ATI site to find a driver, but the ATI site says:

=====================================================================

ATI Mobile Graphics products in notebooks

Display drivers and multimedia applications for notebooks with ATI graphics solutions are available for download from your Notebook manufacturer. ........

=====================================================================

So will a new driver fix my problem? Is there any other workaround? I have a Inspirion 600m with the following video driver:

ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9000
7/29/2003
6.14.10.6371

Thanks,

Frank

======

fbh1949 · Answer

Problem Fixed.

The Dell e-mail tech got back to me a second time and the Dell Driver links now work. (but to a different file: R82040.exe). I installed the driver, rebooted and now screen close and open do not screw up my window layout. The new driver is:

6/10/2004

6.14.10.6458

Thanks

ejrep305 · Answer

i have a an inspiron 8600 with a 1.6 centrino, 15.4sxga 1680x1050 @ 32bit, 80gig hd, 128 ati 9600 radeon graphics card, 512 ram, intel 2200 wireless card, XP professional

i was having the same problem with the windows resizing and moving to the upper left corner of the screen when i would close and open the lid again. i found this post and followed the steps and installed a different video driver, and everything works perfect, no problems with the screen flickering anymore, or the windows moving and resizing, i would recommend it the directions r pretty straight forward. i downloaded the new video driver from http://ati.com

hope this helps

here is the post where i got the info:

Just my $0.02. I used and tested the Omega Drivers versus the Dell drivers. I saw about a 50 - 60 point increase in 3DMark03 and only a 2 fps increase in the Halo timedemo. More performance gains may be seen in other games/benchmarks, but I had a problem with the Omega Drivers and changing the gamma in Halo. I now use the official Catalyst drivers and have been problem free. I played six STRAIGHT hours of Halo... so I would call that pretty stable.

P.S. - If you decide on the official catalyst route, you will need to download DH Mod Tool from: http://www.driverheaven.net/patje/ which modifies the proper INF files so that the drivers will install for mobility chipsets. The Omega Drivers do not require this step and include mobility support.

Message Edited by cademetz on 07-27-2004 03:00 AM

Message Edited by ejrep305 on 07-27-2004 07:55 AM

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Window sizes and position change when closing and opening lid

Was this post helpful?