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I have installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview on my Samsung NB30 netbook. I was very excited to try it on this little box cause it has a touchscreen and Windows 8 is supposed to be optimized for touchscreen devices. The installation was quick and smooth and all the drivers seem to work well including the one for the touchscreen.

There is one major problem, though: when I try to tap one of the tiles on the Metro UI it displays

This app can't open. The screen resolution is too low for this app to run.

The machine has Intel Atom N450 processor and Intel GMA 3159 integrated graphics card and has maximum resolution 1024x600. I've read that Metro requires at least 1024x768.

Is there a solution to this problem? Is there a way to force Windows 8 Metro apps to run in lower resolutions?

piokuc
  • 486

6 Answers6

10

I have found a workaround here: http://liliputing.com/2011/09/how-to-enable-windows-8-metro-style-apps-on-an-older-netbook.html What it does is basically it 'pretends' that the screen has resolution 1024x728 - when, obviously, it has still only 1024x600. The effect is OK if you want to play a bit with the Metro, but graphics and especially text displayed in this 'artificial' resolution looks bad, I found it quite tiring for my eyes... So I won't close this question for a while hoping that somebody comes up with a better solution.

Anyway, to get this 'artificial' higher resolution you need to modify registry entry (I found only one) Display1_DownScalingSupported - by default it is set to 0, so set it to 1. After restarting computer right-click on your Desktop and you'll find additional higher resolutions.

piokuc
  • 486
7

Enabling Metro apps:

  1. Press Win+R, type in regedit and hit Enter. Registry Editor will open up.
  2. Now press Ctrl+F, and the Find dialog box will appear.
  3. Type in Display1_DownScalingSupported in the "Find what" box and click Find Next.
  4. Once the key is found, change its value from 0 to 1.
  5. Press F3, and if it finds any more keys called Display1_DownScalingSupported, change all 0 values to 1 as well.
  6. Reboot your device.
  7. After a successful reboot, change the screen resolution to 1024×768 and apply changes.
Indrek
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Hayk
  • 71
2

In Windows8 you need the screen resolution to be at least 1024x768 for Metro apps to work:

From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516 :

To run Metro style Apps, you need a screen resolution of 1024 X 768 or greater

There is no fix for this other than to ensure that your hardware meets the minimum specifications of Windows8.

SecurityMatt
  • 3,200
0

Yes, that's true — at least you have to get a 1024x768 screen resolution. There is a way it will let you change the screen resolution in your netbook, install apps and use your Windows 8 normally like any other computer.

You can find the solution here.

slhck
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saldo
  • 1
0

Try to update your graphic card driver and use Netbook Resolution Customize to change résolution and also enable downscaling.

Sychedelix
  • 1
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If you plug in a external monitor like flat screen or a projector, the apps run fine. I know it doesn't solve your problem but I hope it helps.

Mohamad Alkahlout
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