Ask Leo! by Leo A. Notenboom

Why is my Windows screen sometimes stretched beyond my monitor's borders?

Search First! Then browse: Categories | Full Archive | By Date | Newsletter

Home » Hardware

Summary: Usually an issue with the monitor, we'll look at ways to adjust your screen.

When I boot my HP Pavilion with Windows XP, my opening screen and welcome screen is stretched and distorted. When I do a scandisk I have to manually adjust the monitor to read the screen, as the left margin is lost and can not be read. It's like stretching an image in an editor for desktop wallpaper. My resolution is 1024X768. When my desktop finally appears, the wallpaper and icons are perfect.

The opening and welcome screens are displayed in Windows lowest supported resolution - in all likelihood 640x480 - so that no matter what the capabilities of monitor connected, those screens can be seen.

As you've seen, sometimes it's not always shown well. But this is most commonly a monitor issue, that should be easy to adjust.

Many, though not all, CRT monitors, have height, width and position adjustments. These allow you to adjust the height and width of the image displayed on the screen, as well as its position on the screen. Ideally you can make the image as high and as wide as possible, while making sure it's centered as well.

What most people aren't aware of is that this adjustment is frequently a per-resolution adjustment.

What that means is that if you adjust and tweak your monitor so that it displays your 1024x768 resolution output properly, that may only affect that resolution. If you switch to another resolution, such as 640x480, 800x600 or others, it's quite possible that the height, width and position will be wrong. Sounds like that's what you're seeing.

What most people aren't aware of is that this adjustment is frequently a per-resolution adjustment.

The solution is simple: with the computer set to display at that other resolution, simply adjust your monitor again. You'll need to repeat that for each resolution you expect to display.

Now, the initial 640x480 may not be on long enough for you to make your adjustments before Windows completes loading and switches to your higher, final resolution. In that case you'll need to temporarily switch Windows to display at 640x480, make your adjustments, and then return Windows to your normal resolution.

Related:

Helpful? Get new articles weekly by email in my FREE newsletter!

Your Name:
Your Email:


Why Subscribe?

Article C2546 - February 6, 2006

Was this article helpful? «Yes» «No»

Recent Comments
4 Comments

I CANNOT GET MY MONTIOR TO BE A FULL SCREEN.NO MATTER HOW I TRY.PLUS ITS LIKE AT AN AWKWARD ANGLE AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX IT.HOW DO I GET A FULL SCREEN TO FIT THE MONITOR WHERE THERE IS NO BLACK ALONG THE EDGES.I EVEN TRIED TAKING THE ARROW AND IT WILL NOT BUDGE.

Posted by: LINDA WEHR at September 7, 2008 10:52 PM

I have a laptop hp..window vista...and my screen was fine but suddendly (i don't know if I pressed something) the screen shrinked...is not the resolution because I tried a lready...it's the margins...they are not fully covering the laptop monitor...how do I fix it?

Posted by: Carlos.. at December 3, 2008 10:07 PM

why does my window always open small

Posted by: ronald cardus at March 25, 2009 1:19 AM

I HAVE COMPUTER START IN THE EVENING.I INERNET EXPLORER IS VERY WIDE SCREEN.WHY HOW DO THIS THE COMPUTER.PLEASE GIVE ME THE ANSWER,AND MY SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

Posted by: DHARMENDER SHARMA at December 4, 2009 10:07 AM

Post a comment on "Why is my Windows screen sometimes stretched beyond my monitor's borders?":






(Email Address will not be published.)

Remember Me?

By popular demand...
my tip jar
Cuppa Joe
Buy Leo a Latte!

(you may use HTML tags for style)

RSS feed Subscribe to the RSS Feed specifically for comments on this article.

Before commenting, please...

  • Read the article at the top of this page. If your comment shows you didn't, it'll be deleted and ignored.

  • Comment only on this article. Use the Google search box at the top of the page if you have a question about something else.

  • Don't include personal information in the comment. No email addresses. No phone numbers. No physical addresses.

  • Don't spam. Excessive links to unrelated sites within a comment or across multiple comments will cause all such comments to be removed.

  • Don't ask me to recover lost passwords or hacked accounts. I can't, and those comments will be deleted.

  • I can't respond to every comment. And I can't vouch for the accuracy of others who do.

Please wait. Your comment is being processed ...


Question? Ask Leo!