i'm not quite sure what your problem is, if you want to make the columns wider or narrower, move your mouse pointer to the top of the column where i've put the red lines.
your mouse cursor should then change, and you will be able to resize the width. i tried to get a screenshot of this, but it was difficult.
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the auto-refresh thing is an annoying bug that only a few people experience. i've had it from time to time (even with sp1) and would love to know what the fix is. do you have any system restore points? that was the only way i could get rid of the very annoying problem.