composer63
03-29-2004, 03:39 PM
While browsing the web recently, my screen shrunk horizontally in several successive steps, aproximatly a second apart, to aproximatly 60% of its normal width. I was using a resolution of 1024x768 at 32-bit colour depth at the time. Both graphics card (S3 Virge PCI) and Monitor (Ipex, unsure of the model) have functioned successfully for months, years in the case of the video card.
My initial thought was that the monitor had suffered a non-catastrophic failure, or that the driver for the S3 graphics card had become corrupt for some reason. I reinstalled the drivers from the CD-ROM, without correcting the problem. Experimentation soon showed that the situation was more complicated. System File Checker reports no bad files since the last time I updated the database, some weeks before the problem developed, and following the installation of some items from the Microsoft Updates automated site.
Problem Specifics: At 1024x768 or higher, regardless of colour depth, the screen is shrunken, despite the monitor being set to 100% width. At 800x600 or 640x480 resolution, and 32-bit colour, if I run a DOS-based game (which automatically uses 640x480 resolution), when the game exits, the screen is again compressed horizontally; however, at 16-bit or 256 colour depths, the screen does not shrink. Regardless of the resolution and depth at which the shrinkage has taken place, if I then adjust the display using the system tray icon, full-screen operation is restored. In other words, the display is normal, unless I select a high resolution, or run a full-screen DOS-based programme.
I have searched the windows online knowledgebase without finding any solutions that are directly appliccable; nevertheless, on the assumption that one of the cures listed might solve the problem, I have re-registered various dlls, removed the possibly corrupt java virtual machine, and tested Direct X for errors, all without success. DrWatson detects nothing wrong at the times when the shrinkage takes place. I must stress that the system had been operating at something approaching stability for some time, and that no software had been installed or uninstalled immediatly prior to the fault developing. All the cures that I have been able to think of or locate through research have failed. I do not have a spare monitor or graphics card to try testing each seperately to diagnose the fault further, and cannot afford to replace either if I can help it.
Any help on diagnosis, or better yet, cure, would be greatly appreciated.
My initial thought was that the monitor had suffered a non-catastrophic failure, or that the driver for the S3 graphics card had become corrupt for some reason. I reinstalled the drivers from the CD-ROM, without correcting the problem. Experimentation soon showed that the situation was more complicated. System File Checker reports no bad files since the last time I updated the database, some weeks before the problem developed, and following the installation of some items from the Microsoft Updates automated site.
Problem Specifics: At 1024x768 or higher, regardless of colour depth, the screen is shrunken, despite the monitor being set to 100% width. At 800x600 or 640x480 resolution, and 32-bit colour, if I run a DOS-based game (which automatically uses 640x480 resolution), when the game exits, the screen is again compressed horizontally; however, at 16-bit or 256 colour depths, the screen does not shrink. Regardless of the resolution and depth at which the shrinkage has taken place, if I then adjust the display using the system tray icon, full-screen operation is restored. In other words, the display is normal, unless I select a high resolution, or run a full-screen DOS-based programme.
I have searched the windows online knowledgebase without finding any solutions that are directly appliccable; nevertheless, on the assumption that one of the cures listed might solve the problem, I have re-registered various dlls, removed the possibly corrupt java virtual machine, and tested Direct X for errors, all without success. DrWatson detects nothing wrong at the times when the shrinkage takes place. I must stress that the system had been operating at something approaching stability for some time, and that no software had been installed or uninstalled immediatly prior to the fault developing. All the cures that I have been able to think of or locate through research have failed. I do not have a spare monitor or graphics card to try testing each seperately to diagnose the fault further, and cannot afford to replace either if I can help it.
Any help on diagnosis, or better yet, cure, would be greatly appreciated.