TommyK Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 So I have this new fangled, Dell wide screen. The computer tech guy had to exorcise a virus recently. In the process the formatting of my screen changed. Now all the text and graphics are stretched wide and squashed flat. I've tried everything I can think of to get this display to be more readable. The tech guy is at a loss. Can someone shed some light on how to format the text so it displays normally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat-o-steve Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Try a different screen resolution. You can do that yourself :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantha Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 It does sound like a resolution issue.. but I assume that's something the tech would have known how to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 http://www.petri.co.il/quickly-change-screen-resolution-in-windows-7.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Yeah, man. Its just the resolution. Sometimes the graphics settings get reset when computers get "worked on". He most likely had to reinstall the video drivers after the he was done de-virusing it. Find the manual that came with the monitor. It should tell you the native resolution for the monitor. If you dont have it, just play around with the res settings until you find the right one. Try to stay away from the super high-res settings it may offer you to choose from. Most times, the video card cant handle the higher settings (even though they offer it) and you will get a blank screen. If that happens, just wait the 30 seconds or so until it restes itself. If that doesnt work, you may have to reboot. Anyhoo, the resolution settings are in the control panel in the display settings. You probably want something in the range of 1280x720. Once you get past the 1280 range, monitors like to black out unless your video card specifically supports that high of a resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S t e v e Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 if it was the resolution the tech guy would of sorted it out, maybe tommyk needs to change his glasses or contacts? :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Or maybe he had a TERRIBLE tech guy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 What does a tech guy care about your screen resolution? Besides, maybe he had the tower and not the monitor. The monitor that the tech guy was using may have had a different res. EDIT: I just reread the part about the tech guy being at a loss. I suppose that changes things a bit...unless he really IS a bad tech. I dunno...could be a bad monitor, bad cable. bad video card/chipset. My suggestion would be to hook up the old monitor and see if it does the same thing. That could rule out the monitor. Then I would switch cables and eliminate that possibility. If it is still doing it, it could be the video card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Old monitor (CRT) is probably in China by now being dis-assembled and sorted by a 9 year old. Manual? Surely you jest. This was an institutional buy about a year ago. Manuals don't come with hardly anything, unless you specify and PAY for it. I will continue to hunt and peck the monitor settings for now. My co-worker has the same computer, purchased and originally set up at the same time, a year ago. Her monitor settings window has a lot more settings than mine. Something about 'chipsets'? I tried taking the lenses out of my glasses, but they kept falling off and they hurt my eyes. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 If you had to reformat could it not be a missing driver for the monitor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantha Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 If someone else with the exact same computer has more resolution settings available, then it sounds like yours is using the wrong driver for your video card. Windows has a generic driver that it will use if it doesn't have a driver for your specific chipset. The generic driver works, but you'll only get a few resolutions to choose from and wide screen aspects usually aren't in the list. Is this Windows XP, Vista, 7? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I just got a new wide screen at home that seems a lot bigger than the CRT it replaces that had a nominal same screen size. The trick on that one was to set the resolution to the widescreen's native max resolution. It took me just a cupla minutes to figure out the problem that didn't get figured out until <gulp> I actually read the manual. If you don't have the manual which is typical in work situations, you likely could Google the manufacturer and model number, then set the resolution to what that model has as its max. It worked for me, anyway. There also may be drivers on the manufacturer's web site, but I concluded the special drivers may not mean much if you're just using the VGA connection. My home machine with the new monitor is XP, btw. Surely makes DVD movies look nice. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Sounds like your using the wrong chipset drivers. You need to find the right drivers for your motherboard. That is, assuming your using the onboard graphics and not a dedicated video card. If your PC has a dedicated graphics card, then that is what you have the wrong drivers, or no drivers, for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Yep, it could totally be a driver issue...especially if the computer was reformatted. You may be able to get the driver from the computer manufacturer website if it is using an onboard chipset. You also may be able to get the driver from the chipset manufacturer if you know what video chipset the motherboard uses. That would require opening up the computer and knowing where the chipset is. If it is a dedicated video card, you will have to open up the computer and look for the brand and model of the card. If a coworker has the exact same model with more video options, then it really does sound like you are missing the drivers. Unfortunately, Windows and video card mfgs. cant auto detect the card without drivers being installed. One way you can check to see if it is missing drivers is to go to the Display Properties (in the control panel) and look for the Video Adapter info tab. If there are drivers installed it will give you a bunch of info about the card. If no drivers are installed and it is running off of the basic VGA drivers the info will come up as <unknown> or something to that effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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