New Computer Has Me Screwed Up!

ronjhall · Jul 16, 2004

Gary
Both my Dell computers, one set at 1024 X 768 the other set at 1280x1024 have the type of display you have.

Attached is a capture of the 1024 X 768 screen.

I have gotten used to it being displayed this way. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The 1280x1024 resolution notebook is optimized for that display. If I try to lower it the edges of everything displayed are fuzzy. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Gatorboy · Jul 16, 2004

Ron,

Your display is not the same as Gary's -- yours is displaying properly. Look at Gary's view of the Main Index -- yours will not look the same as his.

The blank section on your TBN screenshot is designed that way -- the tables they use do not exceed 760 pixels.

riptides · Jul 16, 2004

That is better.
It is a mixture of the font, DPI, color selection and screen size.

The only way to get it right is to weed through it, like you have been doing."Right" being personally pleasing to you.

Most of my browsing on TBN, depending what monitor I am at will display the "blank" side. My best monitor is 1400X1050 with Highest (32-bit) color, using Tahoma 9 fonts, at 106 DPI.

I'd rather have the "blank" side, resize window down, than have the darn horizontal scroll bar because some dweeb thinks they can figure out "my" display through some browser check.

Browsing is suppose to be platform neutral to a point.

Better luck with it.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Golfgar4 · Jul 16, 2004

Hakim,

Thanks for taking a look at my problem.

I checked my display settings at my office computer (which displays everything just fine), which is a HP with a HP 1730 monitor. The resolution is set at 800X600 and the DPI is at 96. I guess I'll try to duplicate these settings at home this evening and see if it makes a difference.

( Switching the dpi to 96 helped keep the subjects from wrapping, but the text is so small I can't see it. )

Alan,

Yeah, when I switched back to 96, my fonts were reduced some too. But not so small that it's hard to read. And once the text quit wrapping because of the reduced DPI setting, that's at least more normal than what it was before.

( I have gotten used to it being displayed this way. )

Ron,

Maybe I'm just being "difficult", but I don't want to accept getting used to this. Not so much because it's a change, but more from the standpoint of knowing that it can be the way I prefer and that it's just a matter of finding the correct settings. Or, if as Hakim has suggested, it might be a corruption of the IE browser.

This is a brand new computer. Is it a common problem to have a corrupted browser in a new computer?? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

( The only way to get it right is to weed through it, like you have been doing."Right" being personally pleasing to you.
)

Mike,

I think you're probably correct. As I've been playing around with this, I've made small improvements (baby steps! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif) amongst some big problems. I suppose if I just keep tweaking here and there, I eventually will get it where I think it should be. The only problem with that is that I probably won't completely understand how I got there, and thus will not be able to offer any suggestions for someone else who is experiencing the same problem. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Oh well, what would life be without these occassional exercises in futility?? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Golfgar4 · Jul 16, 2004

( It "could" be the settings for your monitor. More likely, we think, is that there is some corruption of your Internet Explorer browser.
)

Hakim,

I should have asked this before. Is there some way to determine if the browser is actually corrupted before going through a download?

Glenn9643 · Jul 16, 2004

Not sure of your system, but on mine I can go to "my computer", "control panel", "add/remove programs" and select Internet Explorer with an option to "repair" it. This may help.

Golfgar4 · Jul 16, 2004

Thanks for the tip. I'll check that out this evening. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

MadReferee · Jul 16, 2004

( Is there some way to determine if the browser is actually corrupted before going through a download? )

Depends on the problem. However, if its not running at least SP1 then you should download the latest IE service pack as Hakim suggested. Look under the Help | About Internet Explorer menu to verify the service pack level.

Hakim · Jul 16, 2004

Even if your Control Panel shows SP1 installed, it could still be corrupted. These things just "happen" sometimes. There are 15 megs of files and data, and if even a part of one file is corrupted in some way, the whole program may act up.

One of the problems here is trying to wortk on Gerry's machine from afar. It is a real hard thing to do, even for experienced technicians.

Although we have seen the screen captures, several of us realize it could one of many things. So we guess, and guess. In all likilihood, if one of us could sit in front of the actual computer, the issues could be resolved in a few minutes.

In any event, I always advise doing a fresh install of IE. IE is known to be an overblown, problematic program. Other programs alter it's settings, sometimes innocently, sometimes with malice. Just go to the link I provided and do a reinstall.

Once you download the install program and run it, there will be an option to "reinstall all components." Choose that. It will not harm anything.

For people like Gerry, I advise going to Best Buy or Circuit City, and smoozing up one of the technicians or salespeople. Find one who is a student, and is willing to work "on the side." Pay them $30 or $50 per incident to have them come to your hosue and sit down at the machine -- to make changes, install new peripehrals, etc. In the long run, it will actually save you money, and a great deal of aggravation and frustration.

BillG_in_TX · Jul 16, 2004

IE is known to be an overblown, problematic program. 

As has been discussed in another recent thread, Garry could just download and install Firefox, and see if that solves the problem. It's less than a 5MB download. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif