resolution problem

[Purgatos]

So i run my laptop on a 1280x800 screen resolution, and opening up things like firefox or word causes no problems. However, when I open up a game at a lower resolution, instead of expanding to a full screen using the lower resolution, it just uses the resolution specified in the middle of the screen, and blacks out everything around it. This is really annoying because on older games (ex. starcraft) where the resolution is really low, its really hard to see anything.

 

[JohnK93]

I know with my nvidia card, you can select how the display appears in the nvidia display menu. This allows my to select how games/apps run on my widescreen if the game/app does not have the widescreen capability. It give me the choice to stretch or maintain the ratio, as well as a few other options. Can you give a little information about your laptop?