Laptop screen gone wrong!

MissSarah151

Hi everyone, I'm new here so hope I've posted correctly! Hope someone can give me some computer advice.

I am having problems with my laptop screen (it's an Acer Aspire 3690 running on vista) and for some reason - out of the blue, the desktop has gone smaller, not fitting the monitor. There is about 2 inches of black on the right hand side of the screen (you can't even put the mouse cursor there) and about half an inch under the task bar bit at the bottom (where the start button, time etc is).

I know nothing can have gone too far wrong because last night I managed to get it back to normal (no idea how - I was pressing things, clicking things!) but then when I switched it on this morning it's the same problem again.

It makes no difference when I try and change the resolution ....

Thanks,

Sarah

Figment

Are the POST and splash screens that appear during bootup also smaller than normal, or does this issue only occur once the Windows UI loads?

MissSarah151

Thank you for replying - everything right from when the computer is switched on is smaller - even the windows loading icon before the desktop comes up is not in the centre any more. The internet browser etc is in the same position with the black screen to the right hand side.

Sarah

Ratboy

It sounds like the invertor, has a reduced voltage, to produce a reduced screen.

MissSarah151

Thank you for your post - I don't actually know what an invertor is! Is it fixable?!

Sarah

*Just googled invertor - the screen brightness is ok ... could that still be the cause regardless? I wonder if there is a way I can take a screen shot and post it here, might be easier than me describing*

Figment

MissSarah151 wrote: »

Thank you for your post - I don't actually know what an invertor is! Is it fixable?!

Sarah

*Just googled invertor - the screen brightness is ok ... could that still be the cause regardless? I wonder if there is a way I can take a screen shot and post it here, might be easier than me describing*

Sounds like a problem either in the BIOS or with the graphics card/chip. Any recent events (crashes/power cuts etc) that might be the cause??

To take a screen shot:

1. Press and hold ALT and Prt Scr together (you won't see anything happen)
   
2. Open Paint* (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Paint) and if necessary start a new, blank, document
   
3. Find, then click Paste , then Save As a a JPG image

* or other imaging software you may have


You will need to upload the image to a photo sharing site like postimg.org, then copy and paste the link into your reply.

MissSarah151

Hey, thanks, I've taken a picture and uploaded it on that site you gave me (take away the spaces - I'm not allowed to post links because I'm a new user) hopefully it works, never used it before.

s20.postimage.org /fl2nzvwz1/ Laptop_ screen.jpg

Now you mention it - I was playing a game the other day before it went all wrong - and that crashed. No power cuts though.

Sarah

arrowsmith

I'd imagine it's the resolution that's changed.

Change it to the highest it'll go to, by following this guide:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-vista/Change-screen-resolution

MissSarah151

Hey, thanks for your post. I've already tried the resolution a few times (tried it again after reading your post in case I was missing something!) it's on the highest one, the 1024 x 768.

Sarah

arrowsmith

Your laptop should be running a resolution of 1280 x 800, if it won't adjust to that size the video driver may need to be re-installed.

closed