Looking for computer monitor help

[Laura M]

Looking for help

I thought about going to a computer help line, but I bet the help comes as quickly here!

Somehow, someway my display is messed up. In a nutshell, my "window" has the contents condensed. I've been messing with the pixels, font sizes, etc all day. I did make it worse before it got to where it is right now, and the only problem left is the active window. For example, right now, the font would normally be about 10, in 100% in Word, but its looking like about a 6. But its not just the font, its everything from the toolbar on down.

The best I could figure is in display, advanced, when I select the various windows (active, inactive, etc) the option to adjust the font in the active window is disabled. That seems to be the one last thing I would like to try to fix the problem but I cant get to it.

By the way, it started in one of 2 ways. First, if I close my laptop before its shut down, it has always restarted with a small window. Second, I was playing with "cursors" as smilies.com (that'll teach me) do I was upload cursors other than the grey arrow (bored I guess.) Both of these things happened before the problem I have now.

Any geniuses out there? It usable, just uncomfortable. Like when I open the Cove home page, the screen is half blank - its just all squished, even though the full display is in use.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Al Rosen]

Laura:

What version of windows do you have? I have win 98 and when I right click my desktop and I click properties, a window appears with tabs. In the "settings" tab I have it set for 800x600 and it works nicely for my 17" display. I believe you have a different version of windows, but should be able to find a similar window. If you have a 14" or 15" you may need 640x480. Try that for starters. Not knowing what you twiddled with, it's hard to tell you what to change. You may have changed the icon sizes and spacings for your desktop and will have to adjust those as well. They are accessed on the "appearance" tab. I hope I have been able to help and not harm.

Rule # 1 always document your original settings.

 

[Wes Bucey]

I thought about going to a computer help line, but I bet the help comes as quickly here!

Somehow, someway my display is messed up. In a nutshell, my "window" has the contents condensed. I've been messing with the pixels, font sizes, etc all day. I did make it worse before it got to where it is right now, and the only problem left is the active window. For example, right now, the font would normally be about 10, in 100% in Word, but its looking like about a 6. But its not just the font, its everything from the toolbar on down.

The best I could figure is in display, advanced, when I select the various windows (active, inactive, etc) the option to adjust the font in the active window is disabled. That seems to be the one last thing I would like to try to fix the problem but I cant get to it.

By the way, it started in one of 2 ways. First, if I close my laptop before its shut down, it has always restarted with a small window. Second, I was playing with "cursors" as smilies.com (that'll teach me) do I was upload cursors other than the grey arrow (bored I guess.) Both of these things happened before the problem I have now.

Any geniuses out there? It usable, just uncomfortable. Like when I open the Cove home page, the screen is half blank - its just all squished, even though the full display is in use.

Any help is appreciated.

Let me make some suggestions:

1. If you use Internet Explorer as your browser, click on View/Text size in your toolbar and check what the setting is (5 sizes, Largest to Smallest.)
   If the setting is at Smallest, merely reset to a size you like.
   (This can be [accidentally] triggered by a keyboard shortcut of scrolling with a mouse wheel while holding the Control key down.)
2. If that is NOT the problem, go to Control Panel/Display/Settings and look at screen resolution. There is a slider to make the change in screen resolution. Often you have to restart computer for changes to take effect.
3. Similarly in the Control Panel/Display/Appearance, there is a drop down box to change font size.

If none of these help, write back with some details (PC or Mac? Browser? etc.)

 

[howste]

I'm having a hard time understanding what the problem is. Is the window itself small, or is the window regular sized with small text and graphics?

BTW, here's my favorite tech support site:
http://www.techimo.com/forum/index.html

 

[Laura M]

I'm having a hard time understanding what the problem is. Is the window itself small, or is the window regular sized with small text and graphics?

BTW, here's my favorite tech support site:
http://www.techimo.com/forum/index.html

The window is full size, with small text. The pixel's setting is at 1600X1200 to get it to full screen. The only other oddity is that things like the Outlook send/receive box when it pops up is not the normal rectangular shape, its elongated. Same for the Start menu when it comes up.

Adjust the font size in View in Internet explorer did nothing. The desktop appears to be back to normal. Its the windows for all the programs I launch.

Thanks for the web site!

L

 

[howste]

1600x1200 is pretty high resolution for a laptop screen! No wonder text is so small. Some laptops will have a function key combination that toggles between full-screen and a smaller screen mode. Does yours have something like that? (i.e. Fn + F4)

 

[Laura M]

I knew it!!

I knew it!!! Saved by the Cove again. I was in small mode, adjusting around it. I have no idea how it got to where it was. Now it looks like I have a few other things to put back to normal.

I did not know about that option - F7 on my computer. What would be the use for it - other than to make me nuts for a day?

 

[howste]

What would be the use for it - other than to make me nuts for a day?

I think that's its main purpose. Just to make you nuts...

 

[Laura M]

Making me nuts...

I thought that's what ISO was for!!!

Learn something new every day. Maybe I'll be someone's hero someday now that I know this!!!! Thanks again

 

[Bob_M]

I'm glad you got your computer fixed but if you had problems AFTER you downloaded from smilies.com you probably got more bad stuff on your computer than just screwed up display!
Get Ad-Aware and scan you computer for spyware, also update your virus scanner and scan your computer.
Ad-Aware @ http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
download the free version, update after installing and let it run. You probably got a lot of nasty stuff from smilies.com!