Upgrade to Parallels 5 and can use wide screen anymore.

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by ArtinB, Nov 6, 2009.

  1. ArtinB

    ArtinB Bit poster

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    I just upgraded to Parallels 5 from 4. I'm running Snow Leopard and Windows 7.
    I'm not able to change the display in Windows 7 to Wide Screen.
    In Device Manager my Monitor is listed as Generic Non-PnP Monitor and the Display Adaptor Parallels Display Adapter (WDDM).

    If I uninstall Parallel Tools I get Wide Screen and when I reinstall it Widescreen is gone. Not sure what to do to fix this.

    Artin
     
  2. serv

    serv Forum Maven

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    Artin, what do you mean by "Wide Screen"? Are you referring to some particuar resolution you want to set?
    What you see in Device manager is absolutely correct, there's nothing to fix.
     
  3. ArtinB

    ArtinB Bit poster

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    All the widescreen resolutions are removed on windows 7.

    In the Screen Resolution control panel the Display Drop down says 'Generic Non-PnP Monitor' and in the resolution drop down the wide screen resolutions are missing. So for example 1600x1200 is there but where 1920 X 1200 should be is blank.

    If I change the display adapter to Parallels Video Adapter The Display Drop down now says 'Generic Non-PnP Monitor on Parallels Video Adaptor' and all the resolutions are now displayed. I'm concernd that im missing functionality by not using 'Parallels Display Adapter (WDDM)'
     
  4. wonder_mice

    wonder_mice Hunter

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    Please, let us to understand your problem clearly. It looks like silly question, but for what reason do you need that wide-screen resolution? In what mode do you trying to set it (windowed mode, fullscreen, ...)?
    In most cases you don't need to go to Windows preferences and select resolution manually. You can just resize Virtual Machine window and Windows resolution will fit to it.
     
  5. ArtinB

    ArtinB Bit poster

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    I've had a bit of time to mess around with it a bit. When using the 'Parallels Display Adapter (WDDM)' driver in windowed mode the screen resized fine to whatever I want, no issue what so ever. If I change to full screen mode the resolution is whatever the resolution of the windowed mode was (this is an issue I had in Parallels 4 but then I could I could just manually change the resolution to 1900 x 1200 and be on my merry way).

    Now when in full screen mode. I will see whatever the current resolutions is grayed out (ie what it was in windowed mode and doesnt use the entire screen of my iMac) but the list does not include any widescreen resolutions I can change to. I've included a screen shot of what I see differently between the 2 drivers.

    I work in full screen mode 90% of the time and I need the screen to be 1900 x 1200, but it wont display that way.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. serv

    serv Forum Maven

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    Artin,

    First of all the "missing" resolutions are still available, Windows is trying to guess the display aspect ratio and hides labels for non-matching resolutions. The virtual display is much more flexible than physical including the ability to switch to any resolution. But you need to have Parallels Tools installed for that.

    Second, you almost never need to switch Windows resolution manually. Simply drag parallels Window to desired size and Tools will update Windows display settings. If you want Windows to cover full screen just select Full Screen from Parallels View menu.
     
  7. ArtinB

    ArtinB Bit poster

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    As I've already said, this issue occurs when Parrallel tools is installed. Also I said resolution change works fine in windowed mode. I can resize and the resolution automatically changes with no problem what so ever. My issue is Full Screen, it is not changing to max resoltion (which is 1900 X 1200) when I enter full screen mode. It's staying at the last resoltion from windowed mode and there is no way for me to get it to max resolution.
     
  8. serv

    serv Forum Maven

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    817
    Artin,

    1900x1200 resolution is available with Parallels Tools installed. Windows just hides the label for that mode. Put mode slider just below 2048x1536 and you'll see it.

    As for 1900x1200 not setting up automatically when you switch to full screen, make sure your VM Configuration -> Options -> Full Screen -> Adjust Mac Resolution in full Screen checkbox is not checked.
     
  9. ArtinB

    ArtinB Bit poster

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    Thank you, this solved my problem.
     

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