Dell Inspiron 8000 - What happened to my screen?!?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

a couple of things come to mind, it could be a driver issue or some how the
refresh is set incorrectly.
"William" <william@seritas.com> wrote in message
news:1107376526.621618.172950@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> I'm trying to fix a resolution issue with my laptop. I've fixed it
> once just by putzing around, but I'd like to know the cause so I can
> prevent it in the future.
>
> I run the screen resolution at 1024 x 768 and have since I got the
> thing, new, three years ago. It now serves as our home computer, where
> we do the house bookkeeping and my 4 year old visits NickJr to play
> games. Two weeks ago, and again today, my wife calls describing the
> following symptom: the image is still 1024 x 768, but it doesn't fill
> the laptop screen. To actually fill the screen, you have to switch to
> the maximum resolution; switching to 640 x 480 makes it comically
> small, about the size of a large postage stamp.
>
> Hitting fn-LCD/CRT doesn't help, and the laptop hasn't been on a CRT
> for two years in any case.
>
> So, what's causing this, and how can I fix it/prevent it from happening
> again?
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Wm in Kansas City
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

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Hi William,

You need to go into screen properties and set it to 'stretch' the
display when at a lower resolution. I have seen some games change
the setting. On my HP Pavilion zt1130.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

That which a man buys too cheaply . . .
He esteems too lightly


William wrote:
> I'm trying to fix a resolution issue with my laptop. I've fixed it
> once just by putzing around, but I'd like to know the cause so I can
> prevent it in the future.
>
> I run the screen resolution at 1024 x 768 and have since I got the
> thing, new, three years ago. It now serves as our home computer, where
> we do the house bookkeeping and my 4 year old visits NickJr to play
> games. Two weeks ago, and again today, my wife calls describing the
> following symptom: the image is still 1024 x 768, but it doesn't fill
> the laptop screen. To actually fill the screen, you have to switch to
> the maximum resolution; switching to 640 x 480 makes it comically
> small, about the size of a large postage stamp.
>
> Hitting fn-LCD/CRT doesn't help, and the laptop hasn't been on a CRT
> for two years in any case.
>
> So, what's causing this, and how can I fix it/prevent it from happening
> again?
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Wm in Kansas City
>
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Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

William wrote:
> Hello C. Joseph,
>
> Finally dug deep enough into the advanced settings tab that I was able
> to find the "stretch" setting. I never knew such a thing was an issue
> until it happened and I had to start researching it. I wish I knew
> what was causing it...possibly one of the games my 4 year old plays at
> the kids' sites. Wouldn't think a browser based game would be able to
> access the properties on the client machine, though. Odd.
>
> Thanks to all who replied!
>
> - Wm

Normally this "feature" can be switched on and off by pressing Fn key + F7
key, marked "Font" (on an i8000).