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Alt-Enter in Win7?

vefatica

vefatica

May
13,807
211
I know a full-screen console is not available in Win7. So when I pressed Alt-Enter in a console (CMD, TCC, ...) I expected ... nothing ... a beep ... a message ... Instead, both monitors went black and the computer became very unresponsive ... not responding to Ctrl-Alt-Del for perhaps minutes. When I finally get to the logon screen, resuming the session often brings me back to the black screen. When things finally settle down (minutes later) the console from which this mess began has a client area the color of the desktop with the app's icon right in the middle of it.

Is this strangeness expected? What happens when **you** press Alt-Enter in a Win 7 console?
 
I get a popup saying "This system does not support fullscreen mode."

(Adding:) This is on a netbook with an Intel video chipset; I think this behavior actually depends on the video driver, not Windows per se.
 
rconn said:
Like Rod, I get nothing at all.

Are you using an old video driver? The newer ones shouldn't do anything.
Click to expand...
Until a week or so ago I was using the stock MS driver. I installed an NVIDIA driver hoping it would help with a font problem (it didn't, and otherwise seemed to do nothing). And a few minutes ago I rolled back to the MS driver; Alt-Enter remains the same. None of that involved a restart which I'll try right now.
 
And after the restart and having been logged in for 2-3 minutes ... BSOD! I reastarted again and all seems well. Alt-Enter in a console now gives me a message box: "This system does not support fullscreen mode."
 
Then, after another BSOD, I let Device Manager find an updated driver. It found an NVIDIA one and I'm back to Alt-Enter causing crazy behavior. I have no idea whether it found the one I had or got one from the web.
 
vefatica said:
Until a week or so ago I was using the stock MS driver. I installed an NVIDIA driver hoping it would help with a font problem (it didn't, and otherwise seemed to do nothing). And a few minutes ago I rolled back to the MS driver; Alt-Enter remains the same. None of that involved a restart which I'll try right now.
Click to expand...

Microsoft doesn't write any video drivers. They use vanilla (usually older) ones provided by the video card manufacturers.
 
rconn said:
Microsoft doesn't write any video drivers. They use vanilla (usually older) ones provided by the video card manufacturers.
Click to expand...
That's what I would have thought but the one from Windows that I reverted to seemed to be aware that full-screen console was not available while the "upgrade" that Device Manager found does not seem to be so aware. Rex, do you run the "Nvidia Display Driver Service"? Does it actually do anything other than provide a user interface to a few features? On my work machine, I've stopped it (even killed its exes) many times and it never seemed to matter. Now it wants to be running here at home.
 
I have an NVIDIA card (older 9800GT) in my Win7 computer and don't have any issues. I occasionally upgrade to the latest version posted on NVIDIAs web site, and don't bother disabling any of its installed services.
 
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