Laptop screen suddenly narrowed

Two days ago, when I brought my laptop out of Sleep, there was a flicker, then the screen suddenly narrowed horizontally. There now is a blank space about 1 1/2 inches wide on both sides of the window. Vertically, the screen is okay. Recently-added programs are Skype and SnagIt. Any ideas? Thanks for whatever help is offered.

 

It would help if they knew more about the laptop like make, model, what version of Windows (including Service Pack), make and model of graphics card, etc.

My nVidia Quadro FX Go 1400 suddenly failed and had to be replaced recently. I hope it's not the same case with you.

 

I agree about system specs. We cannot deduce your hardware or OS.

Also, I recommend you connect an external monitor (or computer ready TV) and see if the problem happens there too.

 

Thanks for your replies. I have a Dell Inspiron M5030 with Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1. I believe my video adapter is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250.

 

Great! Thanks. Did you try an external monitor?

 

Rebooting didn't work.
To Digerati: I don't know how to attach an external monitor to my to my laptop. I do have a desktop computer on my home wireless network. Its monitor is okay.

 

There should be a VGA 9-pin connector on the back of the laptop. You would disconnect the monitor from the desktop computer and connect it to the laptop's VGA connector. You would then press Fn+F8 to switch to the external monitor. You MAY have to lower the resolution on the external monitor to 800 x 600 in Control Panel.

The Fn key is located between the Ctrl and Windows Logo keys.

 

Hi my friend , welcome to MG's :major

You can read this article

http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?docid=274555

to hook up the laptop to your external monitor :wave

 

There is no 9-pin connector on my laptop. There is a 15-pin connector--three rows of 5 pins each. Could this be the VGA connector?

 

Probably. Look closely aside of the port and you'll probably see a picture of a monitor.

 

Yeah, that was my mistake. :-o The 15 pin connector is the VGA connection for your external monitor. On my Dell Precision M70, the connector is on the back. But with your Inspiron, it could be on one of the sides.

 

Well, my full screen is back. How it is a mystery to me, but it probably makes sense to a MajorGeek. I connected my desktop computer monitor to the VGA connector on my laptop. Before I even had a chance to press Fn+F8, the desktop computer monitor showed up full screen. I went ahead and pressed Fn+F8, and the monitor stayed at full screen.
So I disconnected the desktop monitor from my laptop's VGA connector and WHAM--the laptop monitor came up full screen! I certainly don't understand this. However, I'm hoping this tells you or other MajorGeeks something that can be useful in the future.
Thanks an awful lot to you and the others who replied to my plea for help.

 

Confusing, but not amusing. This morning--Jan 21--I brought my laptop out of sleep mode and the screen is narrow just like it was before I did the procedure of connecting the laptop's VGA to my desktop computer's monitor. What in the world is going on here?

 

I'm not positive, but it may have to do with your Personalization settings. How have you got your Desktop Background set to display? Fit to screen? Tile? Center? Maintain aspect ratio? Crop to fit screen?

 

I couldn't find the answer to your question about my personalization settings, but as I tried to so, I came across the subject of screen resolution in Windows Help & Support. It said the resolution should be set as high as the computer allows. I checked my screen resolution and found it to be 1024x768. The highest possible on the list of resolutions for my laptop is 1366x768. I changed to that setting and my full screen came back. Who knows how long this will last, but I will enjoy it as long as it does last. Thanks again for your help!

 

That was exactly what you needed to do. I don't know why it was set to a lower value and I'm sorry I didn't think about it :-o. I must be getting old rolleyes.