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I hooked an old Compaq Presario running Windows XP to an Acer 20" monitor capable of 1680x1050 resolution, because I need Windows to get into work from home and I want the screen real estate. But Windows doesn't give me any widescreen resolution options for the display. All the web searching I've done says update the driver (which I have done), or the hardware won't support widescreen. But if I boot up in Ubuntu, I get full 1680x1050 glory! So surely there must be a Windows driver out there somewhere that'll make this work. Right? Does anybody have any ideas?

Chipset is VIA/SG3 UniChrome IGP. Current driver version is 6.14.10.212, dated 3/9/2005. (U.S. date format, I believe -- m/d/y)

Edit: The machine is a Compaq Presario SR1230NX. Can't get the motherboard info just now.

Edit 2: System specs here (including motherboard info): http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00239779&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=431082

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  • Ubuntu has the right drivers so there must be a right windows driver? BEEP! Wrong. Might be, might not be there.
    – Hennes
    Jan 29, 2016 at 13:36
  • Well, the machine has long since been recycled. So I'm not too worried about it anymore.
    – Fred Larson
    Jan 30, 2016 at 1:50
  • did you get any solutions? I also have the same issue.
    – Harikrishnan
    Sep 26, 2018 at 10:12

4 Answers 4

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A more recent driver display is possibly to be found here : version 6.14.10.364 from April 28, 2007. (No guarantee that it will work.)

I would also suggest to flash your BIOS to the latest version, taking all due precautions and downloading the update only from the manufacturer's site.

For further and more detailed advice, please add the exact model of the computer and the motherboard.

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  • That driver is for VIA/SG3 UniChrome Pro, but mine doesn't seem to be the "Pro". Not sure it would work. I could try the BIOS flash (something I've never attempted). But Ubuntu works with the current BIOS. Why wouldn't Windows?
    – Fred Larson
    Oct 27, 2011 at 14:11
  • Probably the Ubuntu driver is better, and BIOS update is a standard catch-all advice I use. The HP video driver is older than yours, so yours must have come from Windows Update. It's interesting to know if there is an optional driver waiting in Windows Update. Also see if the programs in this article can come up with a later video driver (but read also the comments and never pay for a driver). Create a system restore point first, in case.
    – harrymc
    Oct 27, 2011 at 14:59
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Sometimes going under "Display Properties", "Advanced", "Adapter" then "List All Modes..." you'll have that resolution listed there. Select it. If not, select the highest resolution available. Occasionally this will reset your Windows Display Settings and you'll be able to use the scroll bar to set your proper resolution.

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  • Thanks for the suggestion. I know it's not listed in "List All Modes...". The highest resolution is 1600x1200; I'll try that. I've selected it from the slider before. The display is readable, but the monitor says "Mode not supported". I'll see if it gives me more options. Can't try it until tonight, though.
    – Fred Larson
    Oct 25, 2011 at 19:37
  • I tried it. Didn't get any more options.
    – Fred Larson
    Oct 26, 2011 at 2:37
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See if there are updates for your video card, or consider changing the card...

I hooked up an old Win2000 PC here to a 42" plasma, it had an old AGPx2 'Rage 3D' card and wouldn't support higher than 1024x768 so i replaced it with a AGPx4 ATI Radeon 9700 Pro i had hanging around (and paid alot of money for many years ago!) and it gave us full 16:9... 1920x1080 glory! :)

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  • Finding a newer driver that will support widescreen resolution is really the point of my question. I'd put in another video card if I had one lying around, but I don't. And I'm not really interested in spending money upgrading this old beast.
    – Fred Larson
    Nov 4, 2011 at 13:02
  • Mine was an old card from home from my retired gaming rig i hadn't quite found a home for... A suitable retirement for a volt modded and overclocked card that had a hard life!
    – HaydnWVN
    Nov 4, 2011 at 17:19
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The restriction is likely in the motherboard's BIOS: Windows S3G driver depends on BIOS to provide widescreen resolution (unlike fglrx driver for Linux which provides widescreen resolution irrespecticve of BIOS). If latest BIOS for one's motherboard does not support widescreen, one needs custom BIOS with vga module that supports widescreen. For instance, for VIA K8M800-based motherboards, vga module can be extracted from Abit KV-85 motherboard's latest BIOS dated 07/09/2007 with the help of Award's CBROM utility, and then injected into another manufacturer's BIOS file in place of vga module that sits there. Then, flash modified BIOS according to your manufacturer's instructions, and upon reboot Windows will have widescreen resolutions available.

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