Help appreciated on a display problem

[biru]

I've got some kind of virus from Kazaa and I'm wondering if anyone can help. Basically, the screen is squashed horizontally and stretched vertically, i.e. you can't see the top or bottom of the screen and there are big black borders on the sides. I've virus scanned with the latest Norton update and haven't found anything; I've tried reinstalling display drivers (monitor and graphics card), and I've fiddled around with the　monitor's display settings as much as I can.

I've managed to make it a little more navigable, but it's still nothing like what it should be. Does anyone have any idea how I can sort it out? For example, a way to adjust screen proportions in windows rather than on the monitor itself (like in the registry maybe)? It seems to be affecting DOS as well, as before it even loads Windows the screen is distorted.

Any help is much appreciated!

[TallCool1]

I've got some kind of virus from Kazaa and I'm wondering if anyone can help. Basically, the screen is squashed horizontally and stretched vertically, i.e. you can't see the top or bottom of the screen and there are big black borders on the sides. I've virus scanned with the latest Norton update and haven't found anything; I've tried reinstalling display drivers (monitor and graphics card), and I've fiddled around with the　monitor's display settings as much as I can.

I've managed to make it a little more navigable, but it's still nothing like what it should be. It seems to be affecting DOS as well, as before it even loads Windows the screen is distorted.

It's a hardware problem with the monitor. It was not caused by a virus--there's no way a virus could cause this. Fiddling with Windows settings will only be of slight help. Most likely, it's a power supply or microcontroller problem. The fact that it happens at the DOS screen is a clear indication--the Registry is not in effect at that point.

You could try different resolutions and refresh rates in an attempt to minimize the problem. An excellent utility for this purpose is MultiRes: http://www.EntechTaiwan.com. It allows you to switch resolutions and refresh rates on-the-fly, and it's free.

[biru]

Thanks very much for the reply, but maybe I didn't go into enough detail on how this problem occured.

Basically I was listening to a song I'd just downloaded, and just as it finished - I mean the very second it finished - the screen flashed and went the shape that it is now. I restarted only to find I didn't have full control over the mouse. I restarted again and I could only go into safe mode.

To cut a long story short, on one reboot I got a message saying that because the previous boot didn't finish, it was reverting to some kind of original configuration (I forget exactly what it said). Now, although this solved my mouse and booting problems, I was left with the display problem. If it IS simply a hardware problem, I think the other stuff would be quite coincidental. But I guess my previous explanation was pretty skeletal.

I should also note that I may've made a mistake on the DOS thing, as it just occured to me that it might've been my fiddling with the monitor settings that caused it to look like that.

Anyway, thanks again for the response, and if you have any more ideas I'd really appreciate it!

[caperjack]

Well the next thing to do is try the monitor on another computer,perhaps you have a friend with a computer who could help you out !.

[TallCool1]

Basically I was listening to a song I'd just downloaded, and just as it finished - I mean the very second it finished - the screen flashed and went the shape that it is now. I restarted only to find I didn't have full control over the mouse. I restarted again and I could only go into safe mode.

That's sure a different scenario, but most of my suggestions above still apply. It sounds like your video-card driver was damaged somehow. What card do you have? Go into the Device Manager and look under Display Adapters to find out what you have. The easy way into the Device Manager is to press-and-hold the Windows logo key, then press the Pause/Break key.

You might also try to restore the Registry from a backup. Boot into a DOS screen and run scanreg /restore.

[SAC]

Look on your monitor, usually under the dcreen, there should be some kind of control panel which will allow you to resize the screen manually. Some monitors have onscreen display that will do the same thing. IT don't sound like a software or other hardware problem. Good Luck

[andrea2006]

Suggest you reinstall the op system since your screen settings do not work??? Have you tried setting the screen to a higher resolution, i.e. mid range 800x600 pixels.. Sometimes adjusting margins and borders on the tiles helps as well.. Laymans' advice of course since that's how I solve my probs.