Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

everything getting smaller

Nov 30, 2003 9:53PM PST

The little people are at it again. Everything is getting smaller and smaller, even when I use the full screen it doesn't max out to full screen and I can hardly see the mouse pointer or read anything. Using Windows 98 on Gateway. Thanks vi

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:everything getting smaller
Nov 30, 2003 10:22PM PST

I can think of two possibilities (there are probably more).
Click on "start" then click on "display" icon and select "settings" tab. You will see "screen area". Moving the pointer to the left will mean larger display and to the right will mean smaller.
Secondly, If you depress the Ctrl key and roll the wheel on your mouse it will change the size of the display. In fact, try it now while you are on this page.
Let us know if this solves the problem. If it doesn't I am sure there are others here who can help.

DC

- Collapse -
Vi, Is There A Black Border Surrounding Your Viewing Area ??
Dec 1, 2003 3:50AM PST

It sounds like maybe you've got a monitor problem. If the "viewing area" is increasingly becoming smaller and there is a black border surrounding that viewing area, you may need to readjust the monitor settings. Much like a television, you can adjust the "width", "height", and location on the screen. The adjustment knobs or buttons are normally located on the front, or bottom front of the monitor. Adjust them so that they correctly locate the viewing area on the screen.

If that doesn't help and D.C.'s suggestion doesn't fix the issue, then you might want to do a test by swapping in a monitor from a friend or relative. That should tell you whether the issue is the monitor or not.

Hope this helps.

Grif

- Collapse -
Re:everything getting smaller
May 14, 2004 6:58PM PDT

Try Doing a Windows update. Sounds like you have a corrupted driver, at worst scenario, a bad hardware. Something you could try before Windows update (which you should always do to keep your drivers up to date) is go to START/CONTROL PANEL/ DISPLAY, CLICK ON THE SETTINGS TAB AT THE TOP. In the drop down box, it should be at least 24 bit , 32 at best. If you can move the slide bar under Screen Resolutions, move it to the setting of 1024 x 768 pixels.