ChangeRes

A large display is best kept at a high resolution for the image to be as clear as can be. However, some tasks might require your computer to run under specific resolution settings, and it can take a bit of time to change it frequently. This is where ChangeRes comes in handy, letting you quickly make the switch to a new display configuration.

Note that you don’t even have to go through a setup process to make the application work, so you can take it for a spin as soon as download is done. This means it’s portable, allowing you to store and carry it on a USB flash drive to use wherever needed. System registry entries are not altered in the process, and thus the health status of the target PC remains intact.

Once launched, the application minimizes to the tray area, and the icon neatly resembles the old-fashioned resolution changer found in the first iterations of Windows. What’s more, there’s no window to work with, but only the tray icon context menu which displays all resolutions you can choose from.

Unfortunately, the application hasn’t received updates in quite some time, and there’s a high chance your video card isn’t properly read. This means that the list of resolutions to choose doesn’t really reflect all options at your disposal. There are, however, some settings to attempt to display low resolutions, and those which are greater than 4/3 aspect ratio.

The new configuration is applied on the spot. If you choose a low resolution, you might end up with a messed up desktop icon configuration, which doesn’t revert when coming back to the original resolution. In case it comes in handy, there’s an option which enables it to run with Windows.

Bottom line is that the highest resolution isn’t always the best for your screen or activities you perform. However, if you do need to frequently change display settings, ChangeRes can come in handy, but with a high chance that you don’t find all entries you need.