SPONTANEOUS CHANGE IN COMPUTER

I ran Microsoft Security Essentials: no virus was found.

I used System Restore to a date well before the problem arose.
That did not help.

Try moving your cursor to the very top of the screen and clicking the minimize button. Might work; might not.

Just to the left of the red "X" is a button which shows one square superimposed on another square. If you can see that, click on that. Then you can stretch the winow until it fills the screen without "overfilling" it.

That would be the minimize button.

No, the "dash" is the minimize button, and it drops the window onto the tool bar. The one i am referring to is the resize button.

Good advice from both Roger and Set. Let us know how you make out, David.

Yes. I did that. It worked.
As I was refining the adjustment (both vertically & horizontally), I lost it
within about 2 seconds, i.e., the problem spontaneously came back & reverted to what it was.

On the high left of my screen, I very accidentally found a little x-button
that said: "size" as my cursor passed near it.
When I clicked on it, I got double-direction grabbing cursor (arrows at right angles).
I used it to drag n drop the high right corner correctly into place.
As of now, it looks OK. I cannot guess what will happen
when I re-start the computer. The access point to that "size" button
is not visible. I don 't find it, as I pass my cursor in that area again.

At the moment, I am running a full scan of Microsoft Security Essentials,
which takes a few hours. After that, I 'll find out to WHAT it defaults on start-up.

I have no memory of doing anything unusual to evoke this problem.

Thanx for your help; very kind of u !





David

Oh please, it's your fault, it's all your fault, you attention whore!

OK; after a full (multi-hour) scan Microsoft Security Essentials
has found nothing; no virus.

I closed the red X to find out to WHAT it 'd default, on re-opening: bad news for me.

It defaulted to the problem mode with the red X displaced about c.1/4 inch off screen.

I have not been fooling around with resolution changes
or anything before the problem began.

In an effort to explore the extant possibilities, I tried "zoom" to no avail on the missing red X.

I 'm gonna try to find that missing (phantom) "size" button,
or try to get that double-arrowed cursor somehow.

I succeeded in getting the gripping cursor back again,
and I successfully used it in accurately re-establishing
the position of the X and the right side scroll bar,
but that had to be all done by hand. It was better before the problem.

You'd be amazed at how many times someone's told me their computer was acting strange and it turned out to be desk clutter impinging on the keyboard.

Once, the keyboard was mashed up against the monitor, and it would occasionally hit the F11 key. (This kept putting the browser in kiosk mode.)

Another time, a lady told me that her mouse pointer was jumping all over the screen. I tried it, and everything worked fine. Then she sat down, started using the trackpad on the laptop, and the mouse jumped all over the place. My question, "how long have you had those acrylic nails?" Response: "Er... a couple of days...."

I don't know if I am more impressed by your quick diagnoses of the problem or your knowledge about nails!

Not this time; (I checked).
I dunno if it coud be possible that I jabbed one of the keys
without knowing it, within the last week.
I have no idea of what 'd generate that distortion.



I like the F11 key. I use it a lot.
It makes me feel like I have a lot of space.
I need to un-do it, to restore the overhead toolbars n browser window.

I might have picked up a virus that is screwing things up.
I can 't log-in to one of my banks; keep getting rejected.
I 'm glad that I finished the job of paying real estate taxes
a couple of days ago, from that account. At the same time,
Microsoft Security Essentials tells me to update it,
but it rejects the update. Its cycling.

I 'm gonna complain to Windows.

It was anything but quick. That site was about an hour from our office, and we'd first attempted troubleshooting the issue over the phone, replacing hardware, and scanning for malware.

Sometimes there's no substitute for being able to see exactly what's going on, though.

<carefully keeps hands out of sight>