Wide Screen Problem

Hello, I have had a problem with my computer ever since I got this new wide screen monitor. I used to have 2 monitors but cut that down to just one when I got this. It is a pretty basic problem I think so here it is..

There have been many times where I would leave my computer idle at the desktop to go do something, and when I come back all I see is the wallpaper with no icons. (If I leave it in a game/program running then this wont happen). At times, it almost looks like it shrinks it down in resolution and I have to restart my computer after this because I cannot reach the toolbar/icons.

I recently had to reformat due to a different problem and I still get this problem so I have no idea why it is doing this. If my computer goes idle, then I have to restart it because I come back to a messed up resolution with nothing but the wallpaper on the screen.

Any ideas?