laptop resolution

I bought a brand new Dell Inspiron 6400. I'm accessing a SQL-based program on a server that has many drop-down boxes. Any box with a two-line title has the top half ot the top line and the bottom half of the bottom line character cut off. The exact same software works on any size desktop monitor from 15 to 19". I'm assuming my problem is a resolution problem due to the wide, squatty laptop monitor. I've tried all sizes of resolution from the Control Panel/Display... and nothing improves. Can anyone tell me if I'm on the right track? Any fixes?

Thanks

 

Well not seeing the program it can be a little tough to tell but it's most likely not resolution related. It's much more likely font size related. Most programmers assume you are running the default windows font size and if you are not you can experience things like this.

In windows XP right click the desktop and go to properties. Then the appearance tab and at the very bottom make sure font size is set to "Normal". If it is set to normal you can also try making sure the color scheme is set to "Default (blue)"and te windows and buttons is set to "windows XP style". Please note these exact settings are most likely not needed, but odds are one of those are what's causing this issue. Although if setting it to the settings I suggested didn't fix it then I"m wrong and it's not because of those settings at all. (No need to mess around and try the other settings).