I Have a Problem

[james_gsx 16]

I'm not sure where this would go, so mods feel free to move it around.

 

So my computer automatically restarted no thanks to Windows Vista. Well, Windows in it's brilliancy decided to flip flop my monitors. Normally, the larger monitor is the main one I use and where the start menu, etc, is naturally on the left. Well, Windows decided to use my smaller monitor as the main one, and throw everything on the right. Which means in order to make the mouse go from my left monitor to the right, instead of moving it right (like reading a book) I have to go backwards. Here is a screen shot, it's kind of difficult to see because my computer thinks they switched spots. In reality, the screen is halfway on both. Meaning one half is sitting on the lamp next to this monitor, and the other half is hanging over my desk on the other side.

 

I went into the control panel, and sure enough the big monitor is set to be the priority, but for whatever reason that's not the case. I tried restarting and to no avail.

 

Here is an uber big screen shot.

 

[cowpip 10]

James...

 

- right-click on your desk-top and go to your display Properties.

 

- Navigate to the Settings tab.

 

- Right-click on the monitor you want to be your Primary (or first) monitor and check the "Primary" option.

 

- Click OK

 

Voila, all should be back to normal. Hope this helps.

 

EDIT: Hmmm... upon re-reading your post, maybe you have already done this through the control panel.

 

EDIT AGAIN: Never mind these instructions. You're on VISTA. Vista has a mind of it's own and should be burned, imo.

Edited July 10, 2008 by cowpip

[MC 10]

I need to format again and go back to xp pro. I've tried vista about 4 times now and each time I erase and revert to xp pro.

 

Vista is quirky as hell.

 

I'll try to look into some stuff a bit later James, we'll see what we can figure out.

[james_gsx 16]

Thanks guys, this totally baffles me. I guess I could always just move the monitors, but thats kind of a last resort thing.

 

Okay... I got the start menu and all of that to go back on the original monitor (on the left), but I still have to move the mouse the wrong direction in order to get to the other screen. So... it's halfway back to normal.

 

 

Edit: Got it fixed. I uninstalled the updates that were installed before everything went crazy. Then I was able to drag and drop the monitors in the display settings and switch them around. For whatever reason, I couldn't do that before I uninstalled the updates... weird.

Edited July 10, 2008 by james_gsx

[LiggerPig 10]

Same thing happened to me today, with Windows XP pro update. Fortunately I'm used to this as I regularly update my ATi display driver / Catalyst C C software to the latest versions. How I get around it is to save my monitor setup as a 'profile' in the ATi Catalyst control center then, whenever I need to, I need only activate the saved profile.

 

I'm thinking your graphics setup will have the same or similar feature?

If so, you ought to be able to save the display settings, let Windows do it's worst then just load/activate the saved settings.

[cowpip 10]

Edit: Got it fixed. I uninstalled the updates that were installed before everything went crazy. Then I was able to drag and drop the monitors in the display settings and switch them around. For whatever reason, I couldn't do that before I uninstalled the updates... weird.

 

Whew... good thing! I was going to suggest a seance or sprinkle your computer with holy water! :hmmmm:

[Guest forsearch]

Whew... good thing! I was going to suggest a seance or sprinkle your computer with holy water! :hmmmm:

 

[Sledge 13]

forsearch-

What is the deal with all your posts having a YouTube video attached? It's kind of annoying.

[Eiger 10]

James,

 

FWIW: I had a similar problem using multiple monitors and Vista driven with an NVIDIA graphics card. I finally called in a computer guy to fix it, which he did. He did something with the bios -- flushed it or something like that. Exactly what he did to the bios, I don't know, but it did fix the problem and I haven't had any issues with it since.

[Guest forsearch]

forsearch-

What is the deal with all your posts having a YouTube video attached? It's kind of annoying.

 

Don't click play then. Simple, enough.

[MC 10]

James,

 

FWIW: I had a similar problem using multiple monitors and Vista driven with an NVIDIA graphics card. I finally called in a computer guy to fix it, which he did. He did something with the bios -- flushed it or something like that. Exactly what he did to the bios, I don't know, but it did fix the problem and I haven't had any issues with it since.

 

He probably flashed the bios. If he flushed it you'd be asking for a refund and calling a plumber to unclog the toilet.

 

Flashing the bios could solve many issues. Also always check for driver updates for the system level components (motherboard, video card etc...).

 

And as we found out here, if a "patch" or update jacked you up, remove that update and see if it fixes things back to before the update.

[Eiger 10]

He probably flashed the bios. If he flushed it you'd be asking for a refund and calling a plumber to unclog the toilet.

 

 

 

LOL. Thnks for the education

[MC 10]

LOL. Thnks for the education

 

A BIOS is basically a chip that lets you set your hardware settings and runs software code that acts as mission control. It's where all the hardware components capacities and settings are changed and then communicated to the operating system and motherboard. Another tidbit is the settings are stored on a CMOS aka clock battery. If your computer is older and goes haywire it could be the battery is shot and lost your bios settings. Macintosh have a more quirky reaction to a dead battery.

 

I'd call it the brain but there are many brains in a computer. :o

 

Flashing refers to updating the software code on any chip that is read only memory. You can flash cell phones, dvd burning drives rom, bios etc... Flashing is basically embedding a new/updated image on that read only memory.

 

Enough rambling for now...if you guys every have questions feel free. I work in the computer industry and have built/repaired them for about 13 years now. I'll trade for market tips to get me making real money. :o

[james_gsx 16]

I'll trade for market tips to get me making real money. :o

 

 

Dude, there are markets for weather, I'm sure we could trade computer knowledge :rofl: Better e-mail the CME

 

 

We can also trade NFL paper, basically the Browns would be like the YM because they suck, and everyone else can be the ES :haha: