Windows API call to change console video mode?

Question

Is there a Windows API call to change a terminal session's video mode, in a manner not dependent on INT 10H? (I specifically need to get to video mode 3 -- saving the old version of the screen, and removing scrollback, in the process, but it'd be pretty interesting if others are available as well.)

The Windows version of dos.h no longer includes the REGS union or the INTCALL macro, so I'm guessing it's deprecated in favor of some new approach.

Answer 1

Changing to a legacy video mode first requires support to go into full-screen mode with the console window. That support has started disappearing a long time ago. I can't quite remember the last machine I had that still allowed it but it was in the previous century.

There's a quick way to find out. Open a console window and press Alt+Enter . If nothing happens (like on a 64-bit OS) or you hear a loud beep then it won't be possible. Keep in mind that even if it does, few users still have machines where it works.

Move ahead with this by programming DirectX. Or just a GUI app, they are not hard to slam together these days.