PowerPoint Switching Modes in Presentation on Older Laptop
PowerPoint Switching Modes in Presentation on Older Laptop
I have a really specific problem that I've had to deal with, and no one else seems to know how to fix it. I work at a university, so I see all kinds of tech issues everywhere. Today, I helped an instructor who was having trouble in the classroom. The room is old, but that's not the main issue here. The setup used a VGA cable connecting an Elmo document camera as a switcher, going through a VGA line to a projector. It's an older system, so that isn't really causing the problem right now.
The instructor was using a Fujitsu laptop (Lifebook T901) with an Intel Core i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM running Windows 10. Before this, she used Windows 7. She had many Excel files open along with multiple Word documents. There were also lots of Chrome browser tabs in all those windows.
When she tried to start PowerPoint, it took a long time to load, and finding the file was hard. The whole presentation never really started. There was lots of lag when she clicked anything; nothing seemed to happen quickly at all. It felt like a mess. I told her to close some tabs in Chrome too, which helped speed things up just a bit.
But whenever the PowerPoint presentation opened, it worked okay initially but stayed slow. Then, something strange happened: the screen would suddenly go from full-screen mode back into windowed mode and shrink down on the computer display. It was still working, but not at the right size for her needs. On top of that, the computer kept thinking the window was still in full-screen mode. The only way to change it was by clicking a specific button inside PowerPoint, which would then show all the windows and let her resize them back. This wasn't always happening, but most of the time yes.
I'm really confused about what's going on here. Maybe the picture size doesn't match up between the computer screen and the projector? Even though I think two monitors are connected without mirroring? Or could it be something inside PowerPoint itself? Any help or guesses would mean a lot to me. Thanks so much!
I work in a college and I see this problem often on different laptops. It only happens when using VGA or DVI connections. I haven't seen it lately because we switched everything like document cameras, projectors, and external screens to HDMI or DP. The computer just takes the resolution from the big screen instead of keeping its own settings. The laptop then looks like it is in full-screen mode, even though it's using a lower resolution. In other words, it acts like it has entered full screen because it can't see what the original monitor was doing. This glitch comes up more often on machines that weren't built right for their specific operating system. Since Windows 10 uses generic drivers instead of the ones made by the manufacturer, this is likely a problem with how the OS works. I've even tried running Linux on those same systems and...
I work in a college and I see this problem again and again with different laptop models. This only happens over VGA or DVI connections. We haven't seen it lately because we replaced all document cameras, projectors, and external screens with HDMI and DP cables. The computer or laptop is picking the resolution from the big screen instead of its own setting. In a way, it looks like full-screen mode since it's using a lower resolution from the device. Basically, this glitch shows up more often on old hardware that wasn't built for a specific operating system. Since Windows 10 uses generic drivers rather than the ones made by the brand, this is because of how the OS talks to external displays. I tried running Linux on those same systems and that problem didn't happen there either. It's just about how the operating system handles connected screens. By the way, Windows 11 doesn't have this issue at all.
That makes perfect sense. I had a feeling it might be that, but I didn't pay too much attention because it's in extension mode. I thought it could handle two different screen sizes at once. I'll take this back to the teacher and see if we can figure out a fix for them. Thanks so much!