Here''s a little tip (I''m tired, so I might be grumpy): it''s your fault. It''s always your fault. And when it''s not your fault, you''ll have the experience to know. Until then, it''s your fault.

Now, that said, I''m 100% sure that VC does not "switch resolutions" or "go into a DOS window" when you compile. What is happening is that you are compile a Windows Console application (the default project type). When you try to execute such a program, Windows allocates a console for your program to run in. If you want graphical controls, look into the Win32 API.

Oh, and RTFM.

You might have set your display options for your command shell to be full-screen instead of windowed, although I don''t recall my MSVC ever using a DOS window to do its compiling. I definitely don''t see an option to do it. What pops up in the dos window? Maybe you have a pre-build or post-build batch file? I thought that output was routed to the output window of MSVC, though. That''s a bizarre problem.