It isn't really Windows 7, it is actually Intel media controller software that happens to be on Windows 7 and probably super-common ---
but there is a horrific keyboard shortcut that is defaulted on these machines ... CTRL + ALT + (any arrow key).
It will change your screen orientation (rotate even) and commit the change as the new video mode. This means if you are full-screen in Quake, that resolution will (unwantedly) be set as default if you hit, say, CTRL (attack) + ALT (strafe) + LEFT (move left) keyboarding it in Quake.
It can be disabled:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\INTEL\DISPLAY\IGFXCUI\HotKeys] "Enable"=dword:00000000
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1564 ... rientation
And like stated it isn't really a Windows 7 feature, but I imagine Intel display adapters are prevalent enough that this feature is mistaken for a Windows 7 feature.
You can manually turn it off by doing ... simply right click anywhere on your screen and select Graphics Options and then Hot Keys and then Disable.