Help . Can anyone tell me whats happenend to my monitor ?

[Jasper 91]

I'm completely inexperienced when it comes to computers , this is my first and I've only had it 4 months .

The screen has shunted to the left hand side of the monitor , leaving a strip down the right hand side about one and a half inches wide .Any programmes running , instead of running along the bottom , now are listed down this strip . The start function has jumped from the bottom left-hand side to the top right-hand side .

I'm at a loss to sort out what happened . I was just reading an article , when all of a sudden , the screen just jumped and changed .I've tried the restore and enlarge function , but no joy .

Has anyone any idea what I can do to restore the screen to the way it should be ? Any help will be much appreciated . If anyone does know , can you please give simple and explicit instructions , so this learner can understand .

Thankyou .:)

[rwenos]

1. Sounds like Your Monitor Died

or, as a second choice, your graphics adapter.

I'd power the whole system down, and plug in another monitor. If the same problem results, it's your graphics adapter -- probably means your whole motherboard is gorked.

If the spare monitor works fine, you need a new monitor.

Sorry, wish I had better news.

[Jasper 91]

13. I don't have a spare monitor as this is my first pc

But if it is broken , I have a 3 year warranty on it , so it's no problem .:)

[specter]

2. Is the video compressed

in that strip?

[Jasper 91]

9. There is nothing in the middle of the strip

But the start function at the top and the clock at the bottom . Everything is working , the useful screen space is just smaller .

[ogradda]

3. hhmmmm

it sounds like your start bar got moved somehow. have you tried restarting your computer?

[Jasper 91]

11. I've tried restarting it , but it 's still the same .

I've also tried dragging it , but no . It looks bizarre .

[puddycat]

4. sounds like you just need to drag it back to where it was before

[LDS Jock]

5. try this

right click on your toolbar somewhwere where there isn't a program running. Drag it back down to the bottom and release. To keep it from happening again, left click on the toolbar and click lock toolbar. That should keep everything in place. If this doesn't make sense or doesn't work, lemme know. We'll get it worked out.

[napi21]

10. I can alomost guarantee Idsjocktx has your answer.

I had this happen to me a number of times a few years ago. I still have no idea what I did to make it happen, but follow his instructions and all will be fine.Oh, and then pay attention to the post below this one, and lock the taskbar. It will prevent it fron happening again.

[Jasper 91]

16. I've just tried dragging it again

And it's worked this time . So I've locked it in place as you've suggested , (something new I've learnt) , so it shouldn't happen again , though I've no idea how it happened anyway .

Thanks everyone . All your help has been much appreciated . :)

[Salviati]

6. You can move the taskbar to any sice of the screen...

try "grabbing" a blank spot on the taskbar and dragging it back down to the bottom of the screen...

[Syrinx]

7. does your monitor have little buttons on the front

It's hard to explain, because on my monitor, it uses a bunch of symbols instead of words. But it sounds like you need to adjust the display along the horizontal axis of the screen. Does your monitor have an on-screen display to change the display settings?

[Jasper 91]

12. It's a Dell 8300

The monitor is a 17 inch tft .I'm sorry I'm so inadequate at explaining things . I don't know all the correct terminology .

[Syrinx]

15. what qnr said

:)

[burrowowl]

18. What kind of monitor?

CRT (like older TVs), LCD, Plasma?
If CRT HV unit not in good condition requires repair.
Plasma doesn't last long.
LCD, inverter? again in need of repair or exchange,
Display panel in monitor control? What are settings?

[qnr]

8. In addition to what it listed above

Edit: Disregard the following (I don't believe in wholesale deletes, I like to assume responsibility for my idiotic errors) -- I missed the fact that it was your taskbar, thought you meant your whole screen had shifted.

there is a possibility, based upon your description, that your horizontal and vertical syncs are out of range somehow. Try shifting to a different resolution, and see if the problem persists. If it goes away, ensure that you are using the correct drivers for your graphic card, or your monitor, if you are sure you are, then try reinstalling them prior to assuming your monitor is bad.

[ogradda]

14. my son does that to my computer sometimes

usually turning it on and off fixes it. the one time it didn't fix it i about blew a fuse. i googled" move task bar" i think it was to find out how to drag it back. i know what you mean about it being weird it was usable but ugh!!

[burrowowl]

20. When you have to

turn it on and off again, if CRT, HV unit or transformer, will need a repair.

[Jasper 91]

22. Hi burrowowl .

It's sorted now . The monitor is a flat panel tft type . I'm not having much luck with these monitors though . This is the replacement for the first one which broke after just under a month .

I'm not very impressed with Dell so far .

[ogradda]

24. you got it fixed? good

now go up to your tool bar (up top) right click on an empty space on the bar - see where it says lock toolbars? click it you know it's on when the check mark is there.

[burrowowl]

25. Actually

unless you pay for top of the line, which are just as expensive or more so than Macs, you will spend much time replacing monitors, CD or DVD units, sometimes the motherboards goes because not enough layers, etc.
Either get a very knowledgibel person to build you a computer or get a Mac.

[Bossy Monkey]

17. You're talking about the Taskbar. Click on it and drag it.

Usually, first you have to drag it out to some outrageous size (ie most of the screen). Then you click and drag it again towards the bottom. If it winds up still too big (which is likely) move your cursor around its edge until black double arrows show up and click and drag it down to the original size and shape. This is just an annoying Windows bug that happens sometimes.

[Jasper 91]

19. Thankyou undisclosedlocation

I've just managed to drag it back into place . Now if it will just stay put I will be happy .

Thanks to everyone again , for all your helpful suggestions . :)

[burrowowl]

21. Was it just a window

that needed resizing or was the rest of the screen a gray color? Was the task bar at the bottom still visible along the whole of the screen?

[Jasper 91]

23. The taskbar (? ) along the bottom , disappeared

to be replaced by that strip down the side . The screen was still it's usual blue colour . Anyway , it's sorted now , thankyou very much and I know where to come if I have any other problems .

I do feel such a fool , but they never had computers when I was in school , so I've never used one before 4 months ago . I'm chuffed when I learn anything new .