How to change settings for screen resizing when an application is running?

[calmius]

I have a few pc games on my computer. They're "casual games" and don't have many settings. When I select the game to run full screen it stretches the image horizontally for the widescreen laptop it is on. Can I change the settings in Windows Vista somewhere to put it on full screen with letter boxes on left and right so that the ratio is preserved?

I am asking about this function because on Windows 7, when I run the same game, instead of stretching the image in "full screen" mode it runs it with black side bars on top and bottom, in its original resolution, which is equally annoying.

Where can I change how windows Vista, or 7 run apps such as this?

Thanks

[mikeL]

Have you tried adjusting your monitor resolution, to 800 x 600, see if that works, If not you may have to try some different resolutions.