Why zoom is out-of-control when connected to overhead projector?

[Presenter]

When an overhead projector is connected to my computer, the slides or
documents (PowerPoint or Word) zooms to 500% or more and cannot be changed.

 

[Rick Altman]

I wonder if the use of a second display is forcing your primary display to
drop to a lower resolution. A drop in resolution would create the same look
as a zoom-in: everything gets bigger and you can't see as much. Do you know
what resolution you typically run at? I'm guessing it might be some nice
high number, as is common today, like 1280 x 1024 or even 1600 x 1280. And
if you are connecting to a typical XGA projector, that could force you down
to 1024 x 768.

That's my first thought...





Rick Altman

 

[Rick Altman]

I remember those bad old days well, Steve! Older notebooks had to be turned
on with the secondary display already on and connected, otherwise the PC
might not recognize it at all.

In San Francisco, 1994, Corel CEO Mike Cowpland brought his notebook, we got
it all connected up, and then to blank the display, I switched the A/B box
to B, which was unused. We didn't have wireless remotes then, there was no B
key with the software, and the projector was a gigantic three-gun
floor-standing model that had no remote. I introduce him as our keynote
speaker (this is first thing, Day One), switch over to A, and...nothing. We
press Fn+F5 about 20 times, and then finally think to restart the computer.
It was just a bit embarrassing...



Today, notebooks are much smarter, but the auto-adjust to match the external
resolution is quite common, and could be unsettling if you are not expecting
it. I suspect that in Presenter's case, it isn't broken and doesn't need
fixing -- Presenter just needs to expect it...



RA

 

[Presenter]

Your suggestion to hook up the projector and then boot up the computer
worked. The original problem wasn't just that the computer zoomed everything
to 500%, it flickered and no changes could ever be made to the computer. It
wouldn't respond at all to any commands. You'd have to shut down the
computer and restart it to get it to return to normal. But the suggestion to
boot after the projector was hooked up to the system worked perfectly. Thank
you so much.

 

[Desert Dave]

Steve & Rick; I haven't been so fortuate with the Present's solution. I'm
still having the issue, no matter if I boot up with the pojector on turn it

 

[Echo S]

You might try updating your video driver.

What resolution is your computer display set to?

You may need to call the computer manufacturer. I would bet they've seen
this issue before.