Forgive me for posting this when I’m sure there must be other places to get this info but (a) you’re a genrally a helpful crowd, and (b) my buddies are all out and I can’t find a geek friend by telephone.
I’m all thumbs with computers but I just got a Pentium III 500Mhz CPU, rushed home and set it up, hooking it up to my old 1996 IBM 17" monitor. Everything is peachy and rosie BUT my screen has narrowed in at the sides and is all bent out of shape. For example, right now, the scroll bar at the right side curves in at the middle and goes offscreen at the bottom.
I’ve tried all kinds of things and I can’t correct the distortion.
I’m sure it’s a simple thing to correct but I can’t reach my buds.
Sorry, and I am in MPSIMS where I belong with this plea for help, but any quick tips for an old guy? (Did something happen to my screen settings when I loaded Age of Empires II?)
Sounds like a monitor (hardware) problem. See if you can find an adjustment for “pincushion”.
oops, I didn’t read closely enough. Didn’t realize you were using an old monitor.
My first suggestion still applies, but first:
Make sure the cable is firmly attatched at both ends and there are no bent pins.
Make sure you have the correct driver installed fo your monitor.
Go to Control panel/ display/ settings/ advanced/ monitor.
Click change (wizard starts),
click next, select “display list of all drivers…”, and click next.
Select “show all hardware” amd click next.
Select your monitor (or if you have a driver disk, select “have disk”) and follow the rest of the instructions.
Note: These instructions are for win98 w/ v550 vid. Your system may be different, but it should be close.
Good luck.
After the third re-boot it magically fixed itself making me feel more stupid.
Any good books available, like a general reference text for ordinary people to quickly trouble shoot computer problems? If there isn’t get on it somebody. A good book that sells well can make you a millionaire really fast.
“When the lamb is lost on the mountain it cry. Sometime come the mother, sometime the wolf.” - Cormac McCarthy
Computers for Dummies. Really, there is such a book & its not a reflection of yourself.
You are supposed to run the new hardware wizard. What are you using? Linux? NT?
I got to turn on my mind reading again. Also get the right drive & be sure your correct monitor name is displayed in the monitor profile. like it would say NEC Multisync XV
Michael Meyers (Not that one) has a good book for use in studying for the A+ exam. I’ve found it’s a good reference for those little details that I can never remember, and is written to take Joe User and turn him into a beginning tech. It looks like an intimidating read at first (It’s 3 inches thick) but it’s got lots of illustrations and is easy to read.
http://www.madpoet.com
I’ve got a little black book with me poems in. I’ve got a bag, toothbrush, and a comb.
What’s funny is rebooting seems to fix any problem you have with your computer.
The best things in life are Italian…that’s the thing, though…I’m not Italian.
Except the one where your computer won’t boot up!
“What’s funny is rebooting seems to fix any problem you have with your
computer.”
So does turning it off.
Thanks for your advice pmh, I tried it but it didn’t do the job. I got ahold of a friend by phone who walked me through some similar steps - no luck. I was afraid I was going to have to buy a new monitor.
The punch line? It’s fixed now. I pushed the button and turned the computer off while it was running. When I turned it back on “Windows was not properly shut down” so it ran through its check list and seems to have automatically fixed my monitor resolution. Maybe this shock treatment is the next desperate step if simple re-booting doesn’t fix a problem.