# Insane computer display problem

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-computer-display-problem/321999>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 16, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-computer-display-problem/321999 "2005-09-16T17:15:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-computer-display-problem/321999/1 "2005-09-16T17:15:08Z")

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Maybe some Dopers can point me in the right direction. My display goes crazy now and then when I use certain applications. Suddenly everything gets huge as though I switched to a very low resolution, and it looks somewhat transparent, too. ([Here](http://www.pbase.com/piggiston/image/49331220.jpg) is a photo I took of the monitor while it did this.) However, it still acts as though I’ve got it at the normal resolution; clicking the mouse will activate what is in the cursor’s position under normal circumstances rather than what is currently being displayed in that location. [Here’s an example](http://www.pbase.com/piggiston/image/49331221.jpg): note the location of the cursor (circled) and see that the File menu is open with “Open File” highlighted. The cursor is where File\>Open File would be if the display were normal.

This has happened sometimes when opening Google Earth, when closing AOL, and when I try to play some video files (usually .avi files I think).

This is with Windows XP Home, and my video card is an NVIDIA GeForce 6800.

Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-computer-display-problem/321999/2 "2005-09-16T18:01:40Z")

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I’ve seen that behavior before with my 6800, on only ONE monitor of a 2-monitor setup. Rebooting fixes it for a while? I fixed it by updating to the latest nVidia driver from [www.nvidia.com](http://www.nvidia.com) (which is many versions ahead of the one that Windows Update will offer you – don’t let it downgrade you when you’re done!)

The latest version is 78.01, released about a week ago, but the one before that works, too.

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**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-computer-display-problem/321999/3 "2005-09-16T18:04:21Z")

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Hm, if even the mouse location is wrong because of the magnification, it’s probably something Windows isn’t aware of - i.e. not really a software problem.

Possibilities:

a) A malfunction in the driver is somehow activating some sort of an nvidia “zoom mode” (NVIDIA tends to add a lot of weird nView features to their hardware/software). Try to update the driver from [nvidia.com](http://nvidia.com)(not the card manufacturer, those tend to be worse)

b) A malfunction in the graphics card is somehow activating some sort of an nvidia “zoom mode”. Try another video card and see if the problem persists.

c) A malfunction in the monitor is activating a monitor zoom mode (Unlikely, since this would cause the mouse pointer to the in the right position relative to the pop-up menu, if I understand you correctly). Try with a different monitor.  
Hope this helps.