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General discussion

Weird desktop

Jan 4, 2005 12:46PM PST

I use 98SE. I hope I can explain this as I am about to scream trying to fix it. I had to go to safe mode to defrag and then I restarted the computer and now the wallpaper is all distorted like it is when it is on safe mode. I went back to the safe mode screen and it is set on normal start up. I have tried changing wallpapers and they are all distorted so you can't even tell what the wallpaper is. I have right clicked on the desk top and then to properties but really don't know what I am looking for. Also I can't get my desktop icons to go in a straight row. I have gone to properties for this and clicked on arrange icons and nothing changes. HELP

Discussion is locked

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what are you seeing on the desktop
Jan 4, 2005 3:19PM PST

be specific please.. what exactly are you seeing or not seeing?

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Weird desktop
Jan 4, 2005 3:32PM PST

I have wallpaper and screen savers from webshots. The wall paper is colorless and you can hardly tell what the animal is as its also blurry. I had the computer in the shop today to remove a virus and maybe they messed with the color choices and I have no idea what it should be.

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Kinseeker, If You Just Had It In The Shop...
Jan 5, 2005 12:13AM PST

...I'd recommend taking it back for them to fix. It appears like some video drivers have become corrupted and need to be reinstalled.

On the other hand, if you have current drivers, then you could reinstall them and see how it goes. You might even access the "Device Manager",(RIGHT click on "My Computer", choose 'Properties', then select the "Device Manager" tab.) remove the specific video device from the "Display Adapter" section, then restart Windows. It should detect the video device again and reinstall it, but if the current drivers are corrupt, it probably won't fix the issue. In my opinion though, it would still be worth checking.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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check the display
Jan 5, 2005 4:49AM PST

Go to the control panel then display. See what the color quality and resolution settings are. Just on the off chance they changed them.

If that doesn't work, try removing your video card from the device manager and have the computer reinstall it with a reboot.