games made my comp crazy

[Kassia]

I installed some games and after I rebooted...my icons, toolbar, pretty much everything enlarged! What the heck happened??

[DrZaius]

Hi Kassia,

The game probably set the desktop resolution to the game resolution, usually 640x480. Right click anywhere on the desktop and choose Properties. Click on the Settings tab and move the slider for Screen Resolution to whatever you use, usually 800x600 or 1024x768. Hope that helps.

[Kassia]

Doh!!! Do I feel silly. Thanks, DrZ.

[Nuclear Krusader]

What were those games?

It's uncommon for a game to affect resolutions permanently. After closing the game the resolution must go back to that you were using. It only happens to me when the game crashes and therefore it can't restore the res.

[KR0316]

Something doesn't sound right. The games I have that change the resolution always change it back when I exit out of the game.

[Kassia]

Actually, now that you mention it...I was installing Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun...I hit install...an error came up....the system crashed. I still have some things that are oversized even after adjusting the resolution.

[Kassia]

BTW: Before trying to install Tiberian Sun...I'd installed a few Sim games. Doubt this makes any diff, but just thought I'd mention it.

[Kassia]

Weird thing just happened...computer just crashed and everything went big again!! And I wasn't even doing anything with a game.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Gee! I've always said that computers are much like women. Day by day they get harder to understand. In fact you just love 'em and don't even try to understand them. They never cease to amaze me.

[mike breck]

Hi Kassia,

Not a solution to your problem - just some general advice.

I'm sure you know this, but everytime your PC crashes you should run Scandisk to repair lost or damaged files. Even if it runs automatically on restarting the PC, I would run it again. Sometimes it takes Scandisk two or more runs to find and repair errors.

While we're at it, I would also run Scanreg to check the registry.

It would also be a good idea to run a full virus scan - just in case.

You should also defrag your Hard drive BEFORE installing a new game or program.
Run defrag in Safe Mode - that will prevent defrag continually restarting.

HTH

[morriswindgate]

Kassia
If you do not have it, get a copy of Tweakui and install it, it comes in handy for this and other problems. Another program which comes in handy and is free, is called DisplaySet, my link to it doesn't work anymore, but if you send an E-mail to the E-mail address contained in my profile I will send it to you, It's 629k in zip form. (If you need Tweakui I can send it also)

[Kassia]

Thanks for the great advice mike breck and morriswindgate. I'll be in touch, morris, about those programs.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Hi there Morris,

What does dis DisplaySet program do? I had never heard of it.

[morriswindgate]

DisplaySet is a little freeware utility that I got from PCMag a few months back. Basically it gives you single window control over the way folder,toolbars, and fonts appear, plus it has several single click schemes for the appearance. What makes it handy in Kassia case is the fact that it has as one of the single click schemes the Windows default.
By the way, excite will not have their e-mail back-up until 5 am pacific time on Sunday, so until then you can e-mail me at jacbruce@yahoo.com if you want a copy of it.

[Kassia]

Thanks so much for the programs, morriswindgate. They're great!