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

Question: 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 640×480 – 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.

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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 1024×768 resolution output properly, that may only affect that resolution. If you switch to another resolution, such as 640×480, 800×600 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 640×480 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 640×480, make your adjustments, and then return Windows to your normal resolution.

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9 comments on “Why is my Windows screen sometimes stretched beyond my monitor’s borders?”

  1. 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.

    Reply
  2. 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?

    Reply
  3. 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.

    Reply
  4. Screen on monitor streached beyond borders and i loose sound … Now this happens after booting up.. and mysteriously its not every time… like 80 % computer boots and i hear the familiar da da da tune as the windows logo is displayed thru my spearkers then the desktop appears and like i said 80% of the time suddenly sound is lost and screen is streached beyond my borders … i have a Hannspree monitor model HF229H and the only thing i have recntly changed since this issue began is my video card.. upgraded to a Geforce 250 1 MB card and i also upgraded the power supply to recommended min 450w. — yes i have uninstalled the vid drivers and installed newest version.. plz help

    Reply
  5. Some videos have black borders on the side or all the way around them, how do I watch videos without the borders, full screen?

    Reply
  6. @Akil
    Usually the black borders are because of the way the videographer created the video, so there is little that can be done by the user.

    Reply

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