Changing active window size on computer....can it be done?

[RCnVA]

Can anyone tell me why my laptop (Windows XP Media Center Edition, SP3) would suddenly change the active window size?   The active window used to fill the entire screen but now there is about a half inch of desktop showing on the side of the screen....sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right!   I did not change anything at all....it just started opening that way about two weeks ago.   It fills the screen entirely at the top and bottom.  I tried dragging the window to the edge of the screen with the arrows but when I change websites or programs, it's right back to the same thing.  No real biggie....just annoying!   Clicking on Maximize enlarges it to the correct size...but only for the currently open screen.   I also played around with changing the screen resolution....to no avail.

Also, on my desktop computer....for no apparent reason....the active window started opening at about one quarter (approx. 5x7 in.) instead of full-screen as before.    I have searched and researched for hours  and even contacted HP Help but got nowhere.  

What is it that makes these active windows seem to have a mind of their own??    Anybody???   Appreciate any and all suggestions.  Thanks.

Rachel  

[CarolK]

have you installed any new programs? Loaded any updated drivers? Have you done a virus scan or an adware/spyware scan on your pc? Maybe a windows update when this started? Will look around and see what I can find.   

[RCnVA]

Thanks for your response and efforts to help. 

My computer is set to automatically update and reguarly installs them when I start to sign off....so, it certainly could be that, I guess.   Have not installed any new programs or manually downloaded any drivers.   

Rachel

[sparky]

with XP---hold down (CTRL and roll the mouse wheel---you can change the size- of screen and Font

[RCnVA]

Hi, Sparky....

Thanks for that info.   I tried that and it did indeed change the size of the currently open window....however, as soon as I closed that window and opened another it was right back to the smaller size.   I'm looking for a way to return the computer to opening the windows full size all the time ...the way it did until about two weeks ago.   

Rachel

[bentshaft]

University of Google....http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread6358.html


"I'll assume that you are using Internet Explorer. If that is the case, you can fix that by doing the following:
Close all browser windows but one.
Open a new window from a link on the remaining window.
Close the old window (not the new one that just opened up).
Adjust the window to be the size you want all the new windows to be (you cannot use the maximize button for this, you have to actually change the size of the window to be what you want the windows to automatically open up as).
Hold down the Ctrl key while closing the window.
From now on, all your new windows should open up to that size until perform a similar process telling IE that you want all new windows to be the new size.

Most likely what occured is that you manually sized a window to that size, closed it, and IE remembered that as your preferred window size."

[RCnVA]

bentshaft.........that worked!!!!      Thank you, thank you!!!            

Rachel

[punkindad]

Is it a bit ironic that BENTshaft got things straightened out??

[RCnVA]

Clever, Brian...how do you think of these things?   You should have been a comedian....or a comic writer   

Rachel