Okay... I added a pw to his account. Still no go - The error messages are:

The display Control Panel is unable to change the display settings. You may not have appropriate administrative rights to change these settings.

and...

The display settings being saved are invalid, please try a different combination of display settings.

Also, he was listed as a debugger and not admin, so I set him to the administrator group. Still to no avail. Any ideas?

Okay, I was messing with the nforce2go stuff in his account and got full screen but it only allows 800x600 resolution.

Login as admin and it allows 1600x1200 resolution.

Still complains though that he doesn't have admin rights (which I triple checked he does) and the settings are invalid (which they are not).

Okay, NO account can change the resolution settings (even admin). WITFF is going on here? Still complains that even Administrator doesn't have proper admin rights. Anyone? Please... This is weird.

what os are you using ❓ if its xp pro, it may be to do with the Group Policy Editor.....

Windows XP Professional Vol Lic. Service pack 1a, all updates.

Latest video drivers.

Dell Inspiron 8000 w/ nVidia nForce2Go

It could be a software problem. Try reinstalling the nforce software from the admin account. Since i do not own a nvidia im just talking from what i would think. If the laptop still has warranty give DELL a call. It could also be a hardware issue. Also the problem could be a virus. Try running Ad-aware, Spybot S&D and an online virus scan. I'll make a quick tutorial to find these things.

heres the link

took me about 5 mins

http://firebrush.i8.com/tutorial1/twmsprotutorial.htm

Warranty is out, I reloaded the machine with an MSDN disk 2 months ago.

No viruses, no ad-aware. Thats the first thing I checked.

It's also saying that the laptop monitor is screen number 2 on identify.

I think something got messed up when he hooked it to the TV, maybe he didnt disconnect it correctly or it still wants to be connected to a TV or something. I also tried all the function keys on the kleyboard that switches the outputs. No avail.

Check what groups he is a member of. If you have set him as a member of administrator group, then remove all other membership groups. GPO and security restrictions will affect his ability to perform certain tasks. If he is an administrator and also part of the users group, if restrictions are placed on users to not be able to change certain settings, then he may not be able to either since he is a "user". I think the general rule to follow is that "deny" overrides "allow" when dealing with permission. I think the same applies to group memberships.

This is always a confusing issue.

What is confusing me is how the permissions changed, or how plugging it into a TV could be so damning. Unless he started clicking on stuff.

After work I'll mess with it.

I believe your problem is not software related at all. Try pressing your "FN" key along with the hotkey (probably F8 if it is a Dell) to switch between CRT/LCD. It is possible when he tried to hook it up to the tv, he did not switch back after disconnecting, thus being listed as the #2 monitor.

I agree, but I tried all that. However, maybe I should hook it 'back' to a TV and play with the buttons. That might get it to work switch. I'll try that this sunday when I see him.

You know, I had a similar problem with nView and TV. Actually, my friend had it, too. When I use TVout (without plugging in the monitor), even tho' display mode is set to Clone (Analog + TV), when I unplug the TV and try to use the monitor, it just doesn't send any signal to it so it shows up blank (that only after Windows boots up).
So I'm thinking this could help ('tis what I do): plug in both monitor and TV and set the display mode back to Single Display (your monitor) and then change it back to 1024 x 768 or whatever. If it is already in Single Display mode, try changing it to Single Display (TV) and then back to monitor. (I'm just guessing, I don't know.)

Hello, I had your exact problem.

After much 'agro' I went to device manager, and uninstalled the display adapter and all the monitors, rebooted, and all is fine.

Seems to happen to Dell's when they are connected to a TV and not disconnected properly.

Hope this helps.

iTom

~iTom.co.uk