# MS Windows Display Has Turned Sideways! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391 "2008-06-10T01:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/1 "2008-06-10T01:27:49Z")
So, my niece’s kitty cat does as cats are wont to do, and walks on her laptop’s keyboard while niece isn’t looking. When she looks back, the display is now sideways! I have no idea on earth how that happened, and I don’t find anything in Control Panel that lets me change the display’s orientation, so it’s time for a SDMB help call. Has anyone seen this before? Any idea how to reset the display to normal? (We used to drive co-workers bananas by changing the way their mouse worked: i.e., telling it to interpret an up motion as left and right as down, etc, but this I have not seen) Oh, the laptop is a Dell Latitude D610 running Windows XP. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/2 "2008-06-10T01:37:51Z")
Try CTRL+ALT+(up/left/right) arrow. By that, I mean try each of those three arrow keys in combination with CTRL+ALT. Those are commonly-used shortcuts to rotate the desktop for graphics adapters with the capability of rotating the display. You can also right-click the desktop and click properties. Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced button and look for some option (perhaps a tab or a set of buttons for display rotation. It might be located on a tab for your specific graphics adapter–where exactly depends on your hardware. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/3 "2008-06-10T01:46:31Z")
OK, we’ll give it a try. Back soon… ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/4 "2008-06-10T02:21:14Z")
\*\*Q.E.D., \*\* you scored a bullseye! I had her try the second method because it was more involved and thus looked more impressive. I had no idea that you could follow THAT path to get to the orientation… I actually did get as far as the Advanced settings(via Display properties in Control Panel…your way was much more direct), but did not know there was more further on, nor what to click on. Since that worked, we did not try the simpler method, but it would probably have worked, too. So, thanks a googolplex, you have made Uncle LOAP a hero once more!! P.S. You were correct: On both mine and hers, it was under the settings for the tab of the graphics thingie. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/5 "2008-06-10T07:29:43Z")
I’m telling you, it’s all just part of their master plan. Soon every human will be walking with THEIR HEAD ON ONE SIDE, and the cats will move in for the kill! I, for one, welcome our already-existing kitty overlords. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/6 "2008-06-10T07:52:16Z")
I’m currently resisting the temptation to do this to my workmates monitors…I may not last the day… ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/7 "2008-06-10T07:57:08Z")
**sandra** , this is my number one tactic for screwing around with computers foolishly left in my presence. Tactic number two is a screenshot of the desktop set as the wallpaper and all the shortcuts and the taskbar hidden. I’m so evil. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/8 "2008-06-11T00:08:18Z")
The unfortunate thing is, this only works on some PCs (it doesn’t work on my work laptop or our desktop). It did happen on an older work laptop, and was entertaining. I was glad to know of this trick, when [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441386) happened to our home computer a while back. Unfortunately it didn’t fix the problem we were having; after stumping the Dope, a tech support board, the PC manufacturer, and the monitor manufactured, I fixed that one myself by accident. Woulda been way cool if I’d been able to rotate the display as well as mirroring it :D. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2008, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-windows-display-has-turned-sideways/452391/9 "2008-06-11T07:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] Woulda been way cool if I’d been able to rotate the display as well as mirroring it :D. [/QUOTE] ʎǝɐɥ’ ʇɥɐʇ ʍonlp qǝ ɹǝɐllʎ ɟnu ɐup ɔool-- ɯnɥ ɥɐ ɥɐ ɥɐ¡¡