Solved 8.1 upgrade – generic video driver problem

Win8fait

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I have a Westinghouse TV that I'm using as a monitor. I don't have a specific driver for it, nor do I think one exists. The generic Windows monitor driver worked fine for about a month with Windows 8 (via new Lenovo desktop – which pumped out 1920x1080 over HDMI, and which is the native resolution of the monitor. Life was good!)

Yesterday morning I updated to 8.1, and today I'm letterboxed. The image is clear and the correct aspect ratio, but it's just smaller and I'm wasting a couple inches of screen space all around. I've tried changing the resolution and rebooting various times. At one point the imaged pulled all the way out, left/right, but not top/bottom. It's the Lenovo/AMD-Radeon/Win8.1 machine – not the monitor which still works fine with other machines. (albeit via VGA, not HDMI – which is a manual source setting change in the monitor.)

- Westinghouse EW39T4LZ 39" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV
- AMD Radeon HD 7560D (Lenovo box)
- Windows 8.1 (online update from 8 OEM)

This is the problem since updating to 8.1 – some kind of driver update-problem-something.

dorkAMD.png

I'm thinking I delete the AMD Radeon HD 7560D line-item from my Device Manager, and then when I reboot, it will be found and reinstalled. That's what I would have done with XP anyway.

Or I could uninstall the driver from within the AMD Radeon properties window above (Drivers tab) – but I'm afraid I will lose the screen and a reboot won't fix that, and then I'm stuck with re-imaging the OS from the OEM partition.

I'm sure I rebooted yesterday after the update – but I only noticed the very-black-black leterbox this morning. I'm not 100% certain it was caused from the update, but I am 100% certain letterbox was not happening before the update. The time/date stamp in the image above corresponds with my 8.1 update yesterday.

Thoughts? (read: warnings or alternatives before I nuke this control panel item?)

Thanks!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Thanks for the reply. I downloaded and ran the AMD driver confirmation app you linked to in the other thread, but it said I had the latest. (From 7/2011, which is odd.)

So I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I deleted the AMD leaf-item (Control Panel, Display adapters, AMD Radeon HD 7650D) and rebooted the system.

a.) the new 8.1 rainbow Ctrl-Alt-Del screen (which I've enabled on my system) was picture-perfect full-screen.
b.) but after Ctlr-Alt-Del, rather than the standard purple Start screen with my login prompt, it was just a blank purple and unresponsive for about 30 seconds, then the mouse size changed a couple times figuring out new drivers and then finally I was given the login screen.
c.) the desktop icon/font size was huge (I had set my new 8.1 to boot to the desktop), so I right clicked on the desktop to change it back down to the smallest – but it was already set to the smallest??? So I flipped back and forth and “reset” it to the smallest icon/font and all seems good now, even after a couple of reboots as far as the original letterbox problem.

The only thing is when I first boot the machine, the default now has a huge mouse icon and everything is cartoonish large. Only after I login does the desktop/mouse/icons/apps/etc scale down to my preferred size. That wasn't like that before. But it gets worse. My desktop is fixed, but my Start menu level items are all huge with 8.1 – whereas they were not with 8. Everything would scale (I think) to what I set as my desktop size preference.

For example: select Winkey, and type in “paint”, to bring up the MS Paint app icon. That text I typed in, and the resultant icon, is super huge now with 8.1. Whereas with 8 that Start menu and all the icons and such would scale with the decision I chose for the desktop. Or at least that's how I remember it.

I suspect I just have to figure out how to login to 8.1 via the Admin account and change the default there for it all to mesh-up as the same small size.

(Or is the NSA taking care of that Admin account thing for me.... : (

So, I hit the: Settings Charm, Change PC Settings, Your Account (= “Local Account”) - but I don't see how to login as admin. “Other Accounts” just tries to ram down my throat for me to login to some Microsoft cloud. I want a PC, not to become part of the Microsoft-NSA Borg. (...like I have a choice.)
But I digress...

How do you login as admin?

How do I change my Start menu-level icon/font size if not via the desktop preferences like in 8?

Thanks for the help!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I would forget the admin route for now and start with this basic check to see if it fixes any one of your issues:

Go to Control Panel> Fonts> click "change font size" and review your setting in the drop down menu:

Here are mine:

Title Bars 11pt
Menus 9pt
Message Box 9pt
Palette Tiles 11pt
Icons 9pt
Tool Tips 9pt

Screenshot (92).png

Good luck.

Also check the slider position at the top.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Yeah, that's what I was adjusting all along. I just went there via right-clicking on the desktop: (Screen Resolution, Make text and other items larger or smaller.)

I see in 8.1, from your Start menu – THEN you select the Settings Charm, you have the “Personalize” option. (Different menu “Personnalization” if you select the Settings Charm from your desktop – but there is no font size adjustment in the new Start menu personalize menu.)

(I'll have to start a new thread at some point about this whole unknown Admin thing...)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I am on Win 8.1. Are you saying that you tried my suggestion and all of your settings match mine? If not, try this route from the desktop:

Press Win key +X key and select Control Panel. Then follow my previous recommendation. I'm not an apps guy so I'm not sure where you went. Good luck.

Screenshot (94).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Yeah.. all my settings are the same as yours. (We've come up with three different way to get there, but that doesn't solve the problem.)

The new 8.1 Start menu has cartoonist big icons, which is the only thing I've found “worse” than 8.

With a 40” monitor I feel like a mouse looking at a cellphone up close with these unchangable super big icons. As such, 8.1 feels very “consumer”, not “pro”.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
The new 8.1 Start menu has cartoonist big icons,

Did you select an icon (via right click) and try to resize it from the bottom menu?

Screenshot (98).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I run with nothing pinned to my Start menu, desktop, or toolbar. (Keystrokes only. ..Perfect Zen-winkey nothingness - but thanks for the idea.)

Since I don't have anything pinned to my Start menu, when I right-click to access the toolbar (as in your picture) all I have is the "Customize" icon on the far right - but when I click on it nothing happens other than a brief change of the icon.

The thing is, this below is 10 inches tall. The icons/text could easily be scaled down to half that. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me 8 had the icons only 2/3 the size of this or less. This size would be perfect for a 14" screen, but for a 40" it's a cartoon. It's like baby's oversized LEGO blocks. (This kid wants regular sized LEGO blocks...)

dork-purp.png

Alas, this is off toppic - the OP is solved. I'll just deal with it, or start another thread if the pressure becomes too much for me to endure... :cry:

Every other change I've seen in 8.1 is better - particularly the boot to desktop and the transparent start menu.

Thanks for the help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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