Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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mswanson@georgefox.edu
Posts: 3
Joined: 7. Aug 2020, 22:38

Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Post by mswanson@georgefox.edu »

I'm running into something strange after upgrading my main monitor to a 4K monitor. I use VirtualBox on secondary and tertiary monitors(1920x1080) but the resolution is all crazy. The title bars are massive but the rest of the text and icons are tiny. When I drag one of the windows to the 4k monitor everything goes back to looking normal so I am thinking the resolution of the software is set by the primary monitor and tries to maintain that on all others.

Attached a screenshot of the issue.
vbox issue.JPG
vbox issue.JPG (79.96 KiB) Viewed 1159 times
Has anyone else seen this or know of a fix?
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Post by scottgus1 »

right-click the Virtualbox.exe's icon, Properties, Compatibility tab, Change HiDPI settings. Adjust the settings experimentally, I don't know which setting to pick, as I don't have a 4K monitor.
mswanson@georgefox.edu
Posts: 3
Joined: 7. Aug 2020, 22:38

Re: Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Post by mswanson@georgefox.edu »

scottgus1 wrote:right-click the Virtualbox.exe's icon, Properties, Compatibility tab, Change HiDPI settings. Adjust the settings experimentally, I don't know which setting to pick, as I don't have a 4K monitor.
I didn't even know those settings existed! What's odd is now that I've played with the settings the VM Virtualbox Manager looks correct but the individual VMs do not. The Title bar is still very large and the text on the menu bar is very small. I will attach a photo as well as play with the settings more. Right now here are my settings:

Program DPI: Checked
Use the DPI that's set for my main display when: I signed in to Windows
High DPI Scaling Override: Checked
Scaling performed by: System
vbox issue 3.JPG
vbox issue 3.JPG (99.54 KiB) Viewed 1122 times
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Post by scottgus1 »

The individual VMs run under a different executable, VirtualboxVM.exe. It's in "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox". Do the same Compatibility tweak, see what happens.
mswanson@georgefox.edu
Posts: 3
Joined: 7. Aug 2020, 22:38

Re: Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Post by mswanson@georgefox.edu »

scottgus1 wrote:The individual VMs run under a different executable, VirtualboxVM.exe. It's in "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox". Do the same Compatibility tweak, see what happens.

I did find that exe right after I submitted my response. I tried every combination of settings but none of them fixed the issue unfortunately :(
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Weird VBox Manager and Title Bar Resolution Issue

Post by scottgus1 »

Regrettably, I cannot think of anything else. Let's see if anyone has ideas...
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