How do I go about doing as the title says? I checked all the config files for "detect" and didn't come up with anything, and I'm surprised there isn't a check box in the client.

The only reason to do that is to attempt to use unusable hardware, which is an oxymoron of some kind.

I'm going to have to disagree with you.Skyrim automatically sets my settings to the High, but I want to change some settings in the advanced settings. (reduce distant object detail)

And now Skyrim stopped automatically detecting my hardware, so the problem is no non existant