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TeenTyrant 30 Aug @ 5:22pm
Resolution window popping up
I installed Steam on a new device after having not opened my account for a couple of years. I have a new laptop and a new, wider screen. I reinstalled the games from my library. I tried to run two of them - Hitman: Codename 47, and Spore, respectively - and for both of them, a window popped up saying that the screen wasn't set for the correct resolution, and it recommended a particular setting. Two problems here: firstly, I couldn't close this window; the cursor kept moving behind it. How do I close this blasted thing? Secondly, I checked my settings, and it is already set for the recommended resolution. Why is this thing popping up in the first place? How do I make it go away, both by closing it directly, and not having it pop up in the first place?
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CASINO IN BIO 31 Aug @ 3:34am 
That resolution warning isn’t from Steam, it’s from your GPU/Windows display driver (often Intel or NVIDIA) when a game requests a resolution different from your desktop’s. Old games like Hitman: Codename 47 and Spore often default to outdated aspect ratios and trigger the prompt.

A couple of fixes:

Alt+Tab or Alt+F4 — if the window traps your cursor, try pressing Alt+Tab to switch focus, then Alt+F4 to close it. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+Esc > Task Manager to kill the warning overlay.

Force the game’s resolution — right-click the game in Steam → Properties → Launch Options, and add something like:

-screen-width 1920 -screen-height 1080


(adjust to your laptop’s native resolution). That way the game starts in the correct resolution and won’t trigger the driver warning.

Disable scaling warnings — in Intel Graphics Command Center or NVIDIA Control Panel, turn off automatic resolution notifications. On Intel, it’s under Display > General Settings. On NVIDIA, disable desktop notifications in Change resolution > Apply scaling mode.

For really old titles, running them in compatibility mode (Windows XP/Vista) or with a community widescreen patch can stop the mismatch entirely.

So: the pop-up happens because the game is asking for something your desktop already matches, but the driver doesn’t realize it. Forcing the correct resolution in launch options usually makes it disappear for good.
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All Discussions > Steam Forums > Help and Tips > Topic Details
Date Posted: 30 Aug @ 5:22pm
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