Question Dell Optiplex graphics driver failure ?

[Airlane1979]

I turned on my Dell Optiplex 3020 desktop PC today to find that the screen resolution is very low with 4:3 resolution screen-ratio, stretched. Windows 11 settings show only 1024x768 resolution, whereas the menu on the monitor shows a native resolution of 1600x900 but no way to select that. Device Manager shows that the Intel 4600 graphics driver has a fault, with the message: The driver for this device has been blocked from starting because it is known to have problems with Windows. Contact the hardware vendor for a new driver. (Code 48)

After looking on the Dell community forum for assistance, I have:
- uninstalled the graphics driver and restarted
- installed an earlier version of the driver from the Intel site
- used the Custom Resolution Utility to manually change the resolution
- used the Intel Graphics Command Center which does not show any option to change resolution, probably because of that fault
- used the QRes utility to force a resolution change which produced an error message stating 1600x900 is not supported

Does anyone have other suggestions? Eventually I will have to get another PC if I can't fix this.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Use DDU to remove your GPU drivers from your platform and then manually reinstall the latest GPU driver for your platform in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

As for your OptiPlex, see if it has any BIOS updates pending.

Where did you source the installer for your OS?

 

[Airlane1979]

I'm not an expert here, so please explain what DDU and GPU drivers are. I uninstalled the Intel Graphics 4600 driver and reinstalled it, which made no difference. There are no BIOS updates pending.

I installed Win11 from the Microsoft site. There are reputable methods for doing this on PCs that are not officially eligible to do so - I looked on computer magazine sites and it was recommended. It is been on my PC for about a year without a problem.

 

[Misgar]

One of many links to download DDU.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000091878/graphics.html

Microsoft may have made your existing graphics driver obsolete in a recent second Tuesday of the month update, hence the warning message.

Alternatively, you may have run foul of some restriction placed on Windows 11 installations which bypass TPM 2.0 and a modern CPU + GPU (graphics processor unit). Microsoft have warned they reserve the right to stop supporting "ineligible" hardware.

Apart from a few Hyper-V Windows 11 VMs, I'm sticking to Windows 10 for the time being.

 

[Airlane1979]

One of many links to download DDU.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000091878/graphics.html

Microsoft may have made your existing graphics driver obsolete in a recent second Tuesday of the month update, hence the warning message.

Alternatively, you may have run foul of some restriction placed on Windows 11 installations which bypass TPM 2.0 and a modern CPU + GPU (graphics processor unit). Microsoft have warned they reserve the right to stop supporting "ineligible" hardware.

Apart from a few Hyper-V Windows 11 VMs, I'm sticking to Windows 10 for the time being.

That's excellent information, thank you. Currently, my PC is on 1024x768 in 4:3 screen ratio (via the Microsoft Basic video driver) which is at least useable. I'm waiting for delivery of a 1TB HDD so that I can backup my files before I do a clean install of Win 10.

 

[Misgar]

Make at least two copies of any important files on two different devices. If your new 1TB drive fails after you've reinstalled Windows, you'll have lost everything.

 

[Airlane1979]

Make at least two copies of any important files on two different devices. If your new 1TB drive fails after you've reinstalled Windows, you'll have lost everything.

I will. There is nothing irreplaceable, so it's not that I'd suffer any harm, just inconvenience, but better safe than sorry.

 

[jackychane]

I turned on my Dell Optiplex 3020 desktop PC today to find that the screen resolution is very low with 4:3 resolution screen-ratio, stretched. Windows 11 settings show only 1024x768 resolution, whereas the menu on the monitor shows a native resolution of 1600x900 but no way to select that. Device Manager shows that the Intel 4600 graphics driver has a fault, with the message: The driver for this device has been blocked from starting because it is known to have problems with Windows. Contact the hardware vendor for a new driver. (Code 48)

After looking on the Dell community forum for assistance, I have:
- uninstalled the graphics driver and restarted
- installed an earlier version of the driver from the Intel site
- used the Custom Resolution Utility to manually change the resolution
- used the Intel Graphics Command Center which does not show any option to change resolution, probably because of that fault
- used the QRes utility to force a resolution change which produced an error message stating 1600x900 is not supported

Does anyone have other suggestions? Eventually I will have to get another PC if I can't fix this.

I'm sorry to hear about the display issue with your Dell Optiplex 3020. It seems you've tried several troubleshooting steps. Here are a couple of additional suggestions you can consider:

1. BIOS/UEFI Settings: Sometimes, the display settings in the BIOS/UEFI can affect the available resolutions. You can try accessing the BIOS/UEFI settings during startup (usually by pressing a specific key like F2, F12, or Delete) and check if there are any display-related options there. Make sure the BIOS/UEFI is up to date.
2. Windows Update: Ensure that your Windows 11 is fully updated. Sometimes, Windows updates include fixes for driver issues.
3. Driver Rollback: If updating the Intel graphics driver caused the problem, you might want to try rolling back to the previous driver version through the Device Manager.

 

[Airlane1979]

Not to worry. After a couple of days it resolved itself, so I made no changes. No problems since then.