Challenge: It's an easy task to change the rez on WinXP...

[Kyanzes]

Hi! I need to change the refresh rate and/or the resolution on a comp because the monitor gives the "out of sync" message. Now normally I wouldn't come here with such a silly thing however:

- under no circumstances should the comp be restarted
- I have no other monitor at my disposal here that would support the resolution/refresh rate set on the comp
- remote management is disabled on this rig
- the driver installed for the onboard video is not ATI/NVIDIA so I cannot use key combos to change rez
- to my knowledge there are no other software installed that would support hotkey rez change

It's a Dell GX1 running Windows XP Pro
The onboard video is an ATI Rage PRO w/ 8MB RAM

I have access to the system drive though I can't browse system directories.

Arghh...

Any ideas?

 

[marulee]

'F8' * 1E999 = ?

challenge yourself..

 

[Atheus]

If you can write/acquire a program which will change the res, you could burn it to a CD and have it autorun when you stick it in the Dell.

You could use the keyboard to get a command line and try to do something from there, although you wouldn't be able to see what you were doing...

You could break into the computer over the filesharing port or something, make it run a reverse shell, and do something from there.

 

[TSCrv]

start in safemode, as marulee said... spam F8 after post, not enough to cause ur keyboard to lock....

it either starts in 640x480 or 800x600 @ 256 colors iirc, i might be wrong cause ive seen it higher before...

if it worked when u have started it before (less than 5 restarts) use last known good configuration from the F8 boot menu, as that just uses a backup of the registry...

the safemode method has worked with the EXACT problem you are having numerous times for me.

, and about

- under no circumstances should the comp be restarted

i say u gotta restart, just tell whoever is connected to it (if server) that you had a power outage, and if it cant be restarted because it might not come back up, go buy something thats NOT a DELL.

then again you can always use MMC on another computer to remotely manage the system you are on, use Altiris to "push" a resolution changer (which i have done, 70% success) but u would have to make that first as i dont remember where it is in the registry... or ... well theres a bunch of ways to "push" and run software remotely.... GL

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: marulee
'F8' * 1E999 = ?

challenge yourself..

That would require a restart.

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: Atheus
If you can write/acquire a program which will change the res, you could burn it to a CD and have it autorun when you stick it in the Dell.

You could use the keyboard to get a command line and try to do something from there, although you wouldn't be able to see what you were doing...

You could break into the computer over the filesharing port or something, make it run a reverse shell, and do something from there.

Well, the autorun stuff sounds plausible. As a last resort I could try to write some prog on my own. Thanks!

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: TSCrv
start in safemode, as marulee said... spam F8 after post, not enough to cause ur keyboard to lock....

it either starts in 640x480 or 800x600 @ 256 colors iirc, i might be wrong cause ive seen it higher before...

if it worked when u have started it before (less than 5 restarts) use last known good configuration from the F8 boot menu, as that just uses a backup of the registry...

the safemode method has worked with the EXACT problem you are having numerous times for me.

, and about

- under no circumstances should the comp be restarted

i say u gotta restart, just tell whoever is connected to it (if server) that you had a power outage, and if it cant be restarted because it might not come back up, go buy something thats NOT a DELL.

then again you can always use MMC on another computer to remotely manage the system you are on, use Altiris to "push" a resolution changer (which i have done, 70% success) but u would have to make that first as i dont remember where it is in the registry... or ... well theres a bunch of ways to "push" and run software remotely.... GL

I must not restart it. Thanks anyway.

 

[Silx]

-Download this program, and put the executable (qres.exe) on a CD.
-Put the CD in the drive.
-press WindowsKey+R to get a run box.
-Type CMD, then Enter to get to a dos box.
-If nothing comes up, press ALT+Enter to get to full screen mode.
-Go to your cd drive letter (D:, E: or whatever)
-Execute qres. The instructions are pretty clear on how to use it.

Here's an example:
Qres /X:640 /Y:480 /C:8 /R:60

That's a pretty standard VGA res. 640x480 8-bit color depth (256 colors) and 60hz (ow my eyes!)

Good luck!

 

[Kyanzes]

Thanks! It works flawlessly!

 

[themisfit610]

Good to know. Just out of curiosity, why the hell was it so essential that such a machine not be restarted?

 

[sourceninja]

He didn't want to lose the porn in his temp folder.