Display resolution in Windows 7

Discussion in 'Installation and Configuration of Parallels Desktop' started by CharlesDeodato, Mar 10, 2013.

  1. CharlesDeodato

    CharlesDeodato Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Hi, I'm new to Virtualization. I've just bought a Mac because I wasn't satisfied with my previous computer which crashed all the time... I decided to install Windows 7 Home Premium on my Mac using parallels. Since then, I had a few problems: At first, I couldn't copy/paste but when I installed Parallels Tools, the problem was solved.
    As we speak, I have another problem, you see, before installing Parallels Tools the display resolution was just fine, but right after installing it, Windows was running in 3360x2100, which is just impossible. (i have such a resolution available because I have a Retina display). It runs perfectly with a small window at 1680x1050 but every time I go full screen, I can't work out anything!
    Am I the only one to have this problem?

    What I'm looking for is a way to prevent Windows from re-adjusting the resolution.
    Thank you.
    Charles DEODATO
     
  2. serv

    serv Forum Maven

    Messages:
    817
    Not completely sure I understand your problem. Anyway, there are a few options that control Windows resolution:
    * VM Configuration > Options > Full Screen > Scale to fit screen : Keep ratio - this will prevent resolution adjustment in full screen
    * VM Configuration > Hardware > Video > Resolution : Scaled - disables retina and usually works better when OS X display is also set to Scaled
     
  3. CharlesDeodato

    CharlesDeodato Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    I tried it but it doesn't work ;(
    The actual problem is that if I go to "Screen resolution" on Windows, i can adjust it up to 3600x1790. And Parallels automatically adjust it to 3600x1790 when I go to full screen. I then need to change settings to get a decent resolution but it is a bit tiring when you do it +100 times a day...
    In short, I need to find a way either to prevent Parallels from adjusting the resolution or to prevent Windows from adjusting it.
    I think there's a problem with the graphic card: Parallels Display Adapter (WDDM) using a Retina display. Can I change its highest resolution to 1920x1200 for example?
     
  4. mmm201

    mmm201 Member

    Messages:
    23
    I get this too when an external monitor is connected. Parallels reports a wrong max resolution to the guest if a HiDPI display is connected. When running it on a low DPI screen, it wrongly reports that twice the screen's resolution is available.

    Parallels Tools also likes to set the max resolution on its own under certain circumstances, which makes this into a real problem.
     
  5. serv

    serv Forum Maven

    Messages:
    817
    On a retina MBPs Parallels Tools set external displays in Windows to 2x resolution to compensate for lower DPI. If it didn't, the desktop would look something like this:
    native 1.png
    Note the discontinuity, window controls are huge on external display, and there's very little effective workspace.

    Rendering at 2x and scaling down brings back reasonable proportions:
    2x-scaled 1.png
    This is much close to how OS X itself handles mixed DPI setup.

    The latter is the default in PD8. If you want to see the former configuration set 'Scale to fit screen' to 'Keep ratio' and tune resolution in Windows manually.
     

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