Structural Material Manager

Changing the Default Video Driver to Accommodate the Classic Material-Entry Screen

Structural Material Manager's classic material-entry screen is, by default, displayed in a window rather than full-screen under Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Vista and newer operating systems. Directions available via a link at the Structural Material Manager Technical Support page show how to configure your PC so that the classic entry screen is shown full-screen, assuming that your PC is capable of doing so. In many cases, the directions available at that page are all that are needed to achieve full-screen operation of the classic material-entry screen. If so, stop there; there is no need to proceed to the next step. However, if those directions did not help, or if while following those directions you were told that a video driver change was needed, it is indeed necessary to proceed to the next step. That next step is a last resort, and it involves having Windows treat the computer's advanced video adapter hardware as if it were just a Standard VGA Graphics Adapter.

It may seem odd that a modern PC's advanced video adapter hardware would sometimes have to be treated as if it were just a Standard VGA Graphics Adapter. The reason is that the advanced video driver software on some computers is not capable of displaying a certain graphics mode that Structural Material Manager's classic material-entry screen requires for full-screen operation. Somewhat paradoxically, the basic Standard VGA Graphics Adapter driver does indeed support that mode.

A video driver change is never needed under Windows 95, 98 and Me, and it rarely is required under Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. The change is needed fairly often under Windows XP. Under Windows Vista and newer operating systems, the driver change is unfortunately required in nearly all cases.

As mentioned previously, the Standard VGA Graphics Adapter driver supports a certain full-screen mode that the classic material-entry screen requires. Of course, changing to the Standard VGA Graphics Adapter will eliminate some of the advanced graphics capabilities that the advanced video driver is able to provide. While this side-effect will be unacceptable for users involved in graphics-intensive work (such as CAD), most users - especially those who just run standard business applications for word processing, spreadsheets, Internet browsing and e-mail most of the time - will hardly notice a difference and will consider it a worthwhile trade-off in order to gain full-screen display of the classic material-entry screen.

If you have already tried the directions available at the Structural Material Manager Technical Support page and now must resort to changing the video driver, you can follow the directions provided below. Steps are provided for both Windows XP and Windows Vista; they are different, so be sure to follow the proper set of directions.

It is important to note that the video driver change alone will not solve the problem; you still need to follow the normal directions for configuring the classic material-entry screen for full-screen display. If you completely followed those directions, you will not need to revisit those instructions after changing the video driver. However, if you were in the process of following those directions and were interrupted part way through in order to carry out the video driver change, you still will need to go back and apply those directions after changing the driver.

To change the video driver under Windows Vista, follow these directions:

Open Control Panel.
In the upper left portion of the Control Panel dialog, click on the words "Classic View" to cause Control Panel to switch to Classic View mode.
Double-click the Personalization icon, and - after the Personalization dialog appears - double-click the Display Settings option.
Click the Advanced Settings button at the Display Settings dialog.
At the Adapter tab of the Advanced Settings dialog, write down the exact name of the adapter type that is currently in use. This may be important in case you ever want to switch back to that driver.
After jotting down the name of the existing adapter type, click Properties. If Windows asks for permission, click Continue.
Click the Driver tab, and click the Update Driver button.
Windows will ask whether you want to search automatically or browse for driver software. Choose the "Browse my computer for driver software" option.
At the next dialog that appears, click the "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer" option.
A list of video drivers will appear, and you should scroll down and select Standard VGA Graphics Adapter. Click Next after making the selection.
Once Windows reports that it has successfully updated your driver software, you can click either Close and/or Ok as many times as you need to close all open Control Panel dialogs. If, during this process, Windows asks whether you want to restart your computer for the changes to take effect, click Yes.

If you need to change the video driver under Windows XP, follow these steps:

Open Control Panel by clicking Start | Control Panel.
If the upper left portion of the Control Panel dialog has the text "Switch to Classic View," then click those words to cause Control Panel to switch into Classic View mode. You should see the words "Switch to Category View" to confirm that you are viewing the Control Panel in Classic Mode.
Double-click the Display icon, and click the Settings tab at that dialog.
Click the Advanced buttoned under Display Properties.
Click the Adapter tab, and write down the adapter type that is currently in use. This may be important in case you ever want to switch back to that adapter type.
After jotting down the name of the existing adapter, click Properties.
Click the Driver tab, and click the Update Driver button.
If you are asked "Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for software?," click "No, not this time," and click Next.
Windows will ask what you want the wizard to do; choose the "Install from a list or specific location (advanced)" option, and click Next.
At the next dialog that appears, click the "Don't search. I will choose the driver to install" option, and click Next.
A list of video drivers will appear, and you should scroll down and select Standard VGA Graphics Adapter. Click Next after making the selection.
Once Windows reports that it has successfully updated your driver software, you can click Finish.
You can then click Close and/or Ok as many times as you need to close all open Control Panel dialogs. If, during this process, Windows asks whether you want to restart your computer for the changes to take effect, click Yes.

If you ever want to go back to the original display adapter driver, you can follow the same basic directions as you used above. However, rather than selecting Standard VGA Graphics Adapter from a list of known drivers, simply let Windows search for the best driver automatically. In most cases, this will allow the Plug 'n Play feature of Windows to properly identify the video adapter so it can reinstall the original driver. If for some reason Windows cannot determine the proper video driver automatically, you can simply pick the original name from a list of known drivers assuming, of course, you wrote down that original adapter name as suggested earlier.

Structural Material Manager Technical Support page