tech. screen display

Subject: tech. screen display too big
From: GUEST,Andy
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 11:53 AM

Can any technical minded catter help me with what must be a simple problem to some, but seems to be an enormous one for my simple mind?
Things don't fit on my computer screen any more! They're all a bit too big!
I,m running Windows 98 with a Compaq v40 monitor and all was O.K until last week, after I changed my anti-virus from Norton to AVG free edition. This was not without it's problems, but I seem to have surmounted those. However, anything I now display from the net 'overhangs' the screen edges and I have to use the 'slider thing' at the bottom to read all the info. Also any dialogue boxes, my desktop icons and my dial-up box, are all a little bigger than before. Even when using 'Word' for typing letters, the size of the page is larger than previous but the page size setting is still the same as before (75%).I've looked in the 'Help' facility but don't see anything really relevant, or useful. It's not a major tragedy, but nonetheless, annoying. Have I touched something I shouldn't have? Any advice would be most appreciated. Regards and thanks in advance.

Andy

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: MMario
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 11:57 AM

it looks like something reset your default WINDOWS font to a larger point size.

start/settings/control panel/display/appearance

under "item" choose Message box.

it should display a font and size. Try changing the size down 2 points or so.

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 12:25 PM

You didn't hit F11 by mistake did you? F11 maximises the size of your screen. (It's in the row of keys at the top of your keyboard) Try hitting it now and see if it goes back to normal.

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: Jeri
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 12:25 PM

This may be too simple. If so, I apologise. Just trying to help.

As you read this, look to the upper right. You will probably see a box with a line (to minimize), a box with a square thingie (to maximize) and an 'X' (to close).

Click the one in the middle, the square thingie.

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: Amos
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 01:03 PM

The other possibility if those don't do it is to check your screen resolution in the Control Panels and use one more appropriate for your screen.

A

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 01:17 PM

Try right clicking your mouse over your normal desktop in a blank area. This will bring up a dialog box. You want to click on "Properties."

In this box there are several tabs. Choose the one that says "settings." In there you'll see a bar for adjusting the screen resolution. Look at what your resolution is set at now, then push it to the left of that setting and you should lower the resolution.

Chances are that somehow your resolution is set too large for what your monitor can display, so it solves the problem by showing what it can and letting the rest do a virutal "overlap." You could do as was suggested above and reduce the size of the browser window, but that won't help you with your desktop itself.

Good luck!

SRS

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: Grab
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 01:48 PM

Another possible solution is that you've changed the screen resolution. If your desktop icons are still the same size, then it's the Windows font size that's changed. If *everything* (icons and text) are bigger, and the display looks a bit "blocky" too (individual pixels are easier to see), then it's the screen resolution.

Sadly, the screen resolution often gets changed for you, at least on my old Win98 machine. If I don't have my monitor switched on when Windows starts, Windows doesn't know what resolution the monitor would be able to manage, so it goes to some "fail-safe" resolution that any monitor will manage, and you have to change it back manually. This could be the problem you had. If you find this happens to you, just remember to always turn the monitor on first. However, you still need to get the resolution back again...

Either way, right-click on an empty area on the desktop (ie. not somewhere where there's a window or an icon) and select "Properties" from the menu (or go to "Control Panel" and select "Display"). Go to the "Settings" tab.

If it looks like the problem is the screen resolution, there's a slider marked "screen resolution" that you can tweak. Usually you'll want this all the way to the right.

If the resolution has been changed automatically by Windows, the screen refresh will probably also have been changed to some low-spec value. This will show as a visible "flickering" on the screen, similar to TVs, if you have a traditional CRT monitor. To fix this, hit the "Advanced" button. On this new window, one of the tabs (either "Adaptor" or "Monitor") will have an option for "Screen refresh rate". You want to set this to the highest value possible. If you have a flat-screen monitor then the screen refresh is not a problem, so don't worry about it.

If the problem was the font size, there are two places that it could have happened, at least on XP. On XP only, the display properties window has a tab "Appearance", which has an option "Font size". If this is set to anything other than "normal", change it back. For the other place (the only option on other versions of Windows), go to the "Settings" tab, select "Advanced", and on the "General" tab of that window you'll see an option for "DPI setting". Again, you'll probably want "normal" rather than "large". Note that this will restart your PC if you change this, so make sure your work is saved first.

That pretty much covers it. The only other remote possibility is the Windows theme, but that's so unlikely that it's not worth worrying about until you're tried the other ones.

Graham.

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 02:02 PM

If you've checked, as suggested above, to make sure you haven't just changed the individual Window to a max from your usual part-screen display, you should take a look at whether the driver for the monitor has been changed. It's remotely possible that one of your AV programs thought it found one of the extremely rare "driver worms" and when it removed the worm it corrupted the driver. If Windows found a bad or missing driver, it may have substituted a generic one.

I don't have a Win98 system up, but in Control Panel, right click on Display and select properties and it may tell you what's being used. You may need to double-click on Display to open it up fully, and look for something that identifies what graphic card and/or monitor it's set up for. Of course you will need to have some idea of what's supposed to be there, and if that's a mystery you can probably safely skip this step.

It's unlikely that you'll find anything out of order there, but if you do find someting that doesn't look right you'll probably need to make changes in Device Manager/Hardware Manage. If you need help with that, ask.

While you're in Control Panel | Display, you should check to see what screen resolution you're set up for. Some programs, often games - especially those you play "on the web" - may change your screen resolution and may fail to put it back when you exit the program. Such programs occasionally set up a display resolution that's not appropriate for your graphics card and monitor. If you look at it in Control Panel | Display, it should offer only choices appropriate for your monitor/graphics card.

In the same place, Control Panel | Display, you can check to see if appearance settings may have changed. You should have choices for font sizes, colors, icon size (and spacing) etc. If all else fails, there should be "default" buttons on most settings that will set them back to some "original Windows" selections.

Changes in software aren't supposed to change monitor setup, but occasionally they will. If the full Windows display doesn't fit in the visible part of the monitor (the display - not just an individual window - runs off the side of the physical screen or pulls in excessively from the side) you may need to make "monitor adjustments." When you reboot, PlugNPlay should select the right driver for your monitor, and it should come pretty close to displaying the right size, but sometimes adjustments are needed even with the right drivers, and the settings needed may change with age of the monitor.

Some Windows OS setups will put a "monitor" button in the System Tray at the lower right corner of the Windows screen. Hover your mouse over any that are there, and you should get a popup flag to tell you what each one is. If you find one there that looks like it might be a "display" control, double click it to open it up and see if it offers you any screen adjustments.

If there isn't a display manager there, your monitor probably has a bunch of mysterious buttons somewhere, usually at the bottom below the display, and sometimes behind a little trap door. There is quite a bit of variation in what buttons are there, and no known standard for how they'll be labeled, but these buttons can be used to change the physical size and centering of the "picture" on the monitor face. There usually are adjustments for size, vertical position, horizontal position, pincushion/barreling, and skew. Often there's an adjustment for "color temperature" and sometimes brightness/contrast. These are "mechanical" adjustments of the stuff inside the monitor.

If you decide to make adjustments there, you should close as much stuff as possible on the display so that you see only the full clean display of the Windows desktop. Usually a "status" or "setup" button on the monitor will open a display with a bunch of choices. You move to the choice you want, sometimes by using buttons on the monitor, sometimes by using the Tab button on the keyboard and sometimes by using the arrow keys on the keyboard. Usually there are buttons on the monitor for Adjust +/- after you get to the function you want to adjust. Sometimes there will be a "Save and Exit" in the on-screen display, or there may be a "Save" button among those on the monitor. Usually you have to deliberately "Save" any changes you make, and if you exit without saving your changes won't be made.

I've never heard of any serious problems with going into the buttons and using the "flounder until found" method, but if it makes you nervous you may be able to find setup instructions at the monitor maker's site on the web.

The display - the part of the monitor face that's lit up - should be squared up, with straight sides. There should be a small dark border visible all the way around it. Avoid excessive brightness/contrast settings, but get something that's "comfortable" for your viewing situation if there's an adjustment for it.

The most likely place to fix what's bothering you is in the Control Panel | Display | Appearance settings setup.

A remote possibility is that you've turned on one of the "Accessibility Options," that sets "extra large type" for visually challenged users, although your description doesn't really sound like that's the case.

John

Subject: RE: tech. screen display
From: GUEST,Andy
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 02:34 PM

Many, many thanks to all those helpful people who have given thought and time in trying to solve my screen display problem. I shall try all/some of your suggestions and, hopefully get round the problem. There are still some good guys (and gals) in the world who are prepared to help others for nothing. Diamond geezers, every one!

Andy