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I have a Dell laptop, running Windows XP Home. When I turned it on this morning, the display on the screen only took up 1/4 of the monitor, centered. I've tried changing resolution, all of the display options I could think of, nothing. I didn't change anything to cause this, and no one else uses this computer. Help?
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Was it the complete GUI drawn with 1/4 as many pixels, or a small chunk of a normally-sized GUI?
Either way, it's a strange thing to suddenly appear. Perhaps there was a registry setting jiggled, but I suspect this pertains to laptop-specific features (eg the ability to feed powerpoint slides to low-res projectors) I don't know much about.
What is the display like when the machine is booting, before it goes to graphics mode?
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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That sounds like a hardware problem. I know some laptops have height and width adjustment knobs/buttons. Does yours have any of that? I've never seen it on a dell, but I don't know.
Beyond that, you have a problem I have never seen before. There are more knowledgeable people than me on this forum about this subject, but that's just odd... Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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Boon, I have had the exact same problem before. I have a Inspiron 8100 with Xp recently on it. I think it's some sort of virus or malicious alteration of code and you will have to format.
Posts: 369 | Registered: Nov 2003
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Boon
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posted
When it says Windows XP, it's normal. Then when it gets to the log in screen, it's 1/4 sized. I'm so confused.
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Definitely not hardware then. Maybe you could try repairing windows via the recovery console or automatically have the windows cd do it. It sometimes works for problems like this. This is just too wierd though...
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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Go into BIOS before Windows boots up, then make sure you have the boot priority set to either one of these: 1. Floppy drive 2. CD-ROM drive 3. Hard Drive Or 1. CD-ROM drive 2. Floppy drive 3. Hard Drive Just as long as the CD-ROM drive takes precedence of the Hard Drive when there is a CD in it. Then put your XP cd in the drive, and turn the computer on. It will then say, "Press any key to boot from CD". Press a key. You can then navigate through the menus until you find the option to repair window automatically. It should be relatively easy to find.
If you don't know how to enter your BIOS, you press whatever key it says during bootup that says "Press x to enter setup". X meaning the key to press. That might work, if you can figure out what I just said. Probably not. I could help you better if I was there at your computer. Sorry I can't be more help. Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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Boon
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I'll try this later, when I can get on hubby's computer and print this out.
If that doesn't work, I'll post again here.
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When you boot the CD and tell it to repair, you can either do a repair install (overwrites some system files) or use the recovery console, which is like DOS with strict file permissions. Neither is going to be helpful.
Here's my theory: your computer (1) thinks it's hooked up to a low-res external display and (2) doesn't have full dual-display support i.e. everything on the external monitor is a mirror of your laptop screen. I have seen this kind of mode in action before. The options are all in the vidcard driver somewhere; keep digging, with an eye toward the multimonitor stuff.
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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Before you do any of that, try booting in safe mode and see if the computer fills the whole display then. If it doesn't, click the start menu and navigate to "Run" once it is in run, type the word "command." Once you have the DOS console on screen, pick the laptop up and strike it firmly against the nearest wall. That should solve your problem.
Posts: 894 | Registered: Apr 2000
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To be pefectly honest, though, before re-installing or repairing the operating system, there are a few other things you should try (do not hit your notebook against a wall, I was being facetious.) Do you know what video card the notebok has? If so, go to the manufacturer's website and download the newest drivers for it. The vast majority of display issues can be solved this way, and if you call tech support this is the irst thing they will tell you to do. If you do not know your video card manufacterer, follow this command path:
Right click the "My Computer" icon and select "Properties".
Click the Hardware tab and select "Device Manager"
Expand the "Display Adapters" list item.
There should be a single listing there. Usually, if it's a fairly recent notebook, there will be either an NVIDIA or an ATI somewhere in the name. If not, post back here what it says and I'll help you from there. If so, go to the corresponding website and find the "Update Drivers" section, download, and install. www.ati.com www.nvidia.com
Nine times out of ten, your display problems will be gone after that.
Posts: 894 | Registered: Apr 2000
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You know, in all my time on the Net, I've never heard of anyone having trouble running Linux, especially the variants that use a proprietary shell.
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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As IdemosthenesI said, definitely try updating your graphics drivers first. That will frequently solve any problems. If there aren't any updates available, reinstalling the graphics driver may also fix the problem.
Edit: Thank you for telling us what operating system and computer you are using. It's much more useful than a "My computer is borked plz help" post.
[ April 29, 2004, 10:59 PM: Message edited by: Nato ]
Posts: 1592 | Registered: Jan 2001
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Boon
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quote: Right click the "My Computer" icon and select "Properties". Click the Hardware tab and select "Device Manager" Expand the "Display Adapters" list item.
Dell C810
If it matters, this computer is not hooked up to an external monitor. I'm just using the screen that's attached. I don't even use an external mouse most of the time.
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Boon
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quote: Wait a minute - before doing anything, make sure the resolution in Windows is the same as the resolution of your LCD monitor.
?? The monitor ccould have different settings?
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No - the monitor has one setting. Unlike a CRT, LCDs have a fixed number of pixels. For example, mine has 1400 x 1050 pixels. If I choose a lower resolution, say 800 x 600, one of two things will happen:
1) The monitor will show 800 x 600 pixels in the middle of the screen. This will be roughly half the screen in each dimension, or about 1/4 the screen.
2) The monitor will scale up the picture by "multiplying" it by a factor. Since that factor isn't an integer, it will cause some pixels to be "averaged" together, creating a jagged appearance.
So, the first thing you need to do is find out the hardware resolution of your laptop display. Then we can see if this is the problem.
posted
I have a Dell Dimension desktop with an LCD flat panel monitor that properly adjusts the width and height of the picture in proportion to the screen when I change my resolution... Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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That's because the monitor is smart enough to stretch the pixels across multiple LCD cells. A laptop screen might not be smart enough to do this, maybe because you've got it set to a non-laptop screen ratio (horizontal pixels / vertical pixels), and it doesn't know what to do.
I agree with Dagonee, you should find out how many pixels your laptop screen is. It might be a tweaked driver that's causing the problem, but a simple fix might just be changing your desktop resolution.
You know, in all my time on the Net, I've never heard of anyone having trouble running Linux, especially the variants that use a proprietary shell.
Actually, a lot of people have trouble using Linux. Usually the retail-only distributions are more bulletproof than the downloadable distros. For instance, I've heard great things about XandroS, but a lot of people get burned with rougher distros like Slackware and Mandrake. If SuSe had a Tablet version of their distro, I'd get that, although Lycoris looks fine for my purposes.
I would buy an Apple laptop (they're about the same amount as a Tablet), but I really want a tablet for class notes (because, let's face it, writing notes in WordPad sucks. Hard.).
Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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Wait, it says Dell C810 under display adapters? From Dell's press release it should say something like "NVIDIA GeForce 2 Go". Has that notebook been modified in any way? If not, I am more convinced than ever that a re-install of the graphics drivers will cure the problem. The Latitude C810 shipped with a standard GeForce 2 Go, so downloading and installing the one-size-fits-all GeForce driver from www.nvidia.com will probably fix your problem. However, just to make sure it isn't merely a resolution problem as has been suggested, perform the following test:
Right click the desktop and select "Properties"
Cick the "settings" tab (also, tell me what it says in the pull-down menu you should see in the middle of that "settings" window.)
Move the slider marked "Screen Resolution" a notch or two to the right and hit the "Apply" button.
If your viewable are has not changed, and the pull down menu mentioned an NVIDIA card, go to the aforementioned website and install the drivers, the screen resolution is not the problem. Incedentally, even if this did fix your problem, your video card should know how to stretch the display to fit your screen. You should probably still grab the drivers and install them. It's relatively painless, especially if you have broadband. Even if you don't, it's a good idea to keep those up to date.
posted
I agree with this suggestion. Even if your actual DLLs are ok, reinstalling the drivers might set the wonky options back to default.
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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BTW, if my instructions are about eighteen steps below your level of expertise, don't be offended. It's not my intention to be condescending, I'm just listing the steps as unambiguously as possible. If this still doesn't work, give me your AIM screen name so we don't have to trade posts every couple of hours. Posts: 894 | Registered: Apr 2000
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"You know, in all my time on the Net, I've never heard of anyone having trouble running Linux, especially the variants that use a proprietary shell."
Hm. You must not hang out on Linux newsgroups, then, where almost all the posts are from people who are having one problem or another with Linux. The difference, of course, is that most Linux users are geeks who have the ability and the desire to fix most of their own problems, and only post on newsgroups when they're desperate (or, alternately, wanting to brag about something 133t they did recently.)
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I instantly interpreted Richard's statement as sarcasm. Was it not meant that way? Maybe I was just filtering my own preferences through it, but it was SOOO expansive I thought it had to be.
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I read it as a serious post, too, and was only able to restrain myself from posting something like what Tom said by remembering that this is not a thread about Linux.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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By the way, if the laptop is still under warranty, it might just be easier to have her call Dell.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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It really isn't difficult at all to update display drivers. Everybody should learn how to do it, since it clears up a strong majority of display issues. If you have ever installed anything, you've already done it. Now, if the problem persists after the drivers are updated, then I would call Dell.
BTW, assuming you really do have the standard NVIDIA GeForce 2 Go, follow this link, and select graphics drivers>Geforce and TNT2>Windows XP/2000 and you're set. Very simple.
Posts: 894 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Boon
unregistered
posted
Changed the resolution again, no change...
Followed the link, updated the driver...no change...
Changed the resolution again...no change...
Changed the resolution to the very far right, screen size back to mormal. If I change it back to the left at all, the size of things on the screen don't change, the viewable size of the screen just shrinks.
Normally, I'd just go on, but, for example, this that I'm typing is so small I can barely read it, and I have IE set on "Largest" text size.
This is so frustrating.
I'll be online later, on AIM as BoonievilleOK, and on the other computer, since this one doesn't seem to like AIM very well.
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There's a couple things you can try to settle on a good resolution. First, go into the settings and tell us what the numbers are for the setting farthest to the right. Then we can suggest a resolution that will work best for you.
Second, you can try changing the dots per inch setting. While on the highest (farthest to the right) setting, do the following. Right click the desktop, choose settings, go to the settings tab, click advanced, and go to the general tab. There's a drop-down list called DPI setting - change it to "Large Size." This will increase the size of letters by about one fourth, which is a big change. It may affect how some programs and web pages display, but it should help a lot.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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