Monitor resolution

I am using the same Monitor I was when using my old XP laptop. It always went to the right resolution each time with it. I have tried to find new drivers for it but have been unsuccessful. here is my problem. When I plug in and start up in the morning it always comes up on the monitor long and narrow with a black band at top and bottom like the first pic(startup screen). If I turn monitor off and close laptop screen it will often come up like startup screen 2, the second pic. It looks right but is all over onthe left side of the monitor with the right quarter of the monitor black. I want it full width and height right off the bat. Sometimes I have to turn off monitor and open and close laptop a couple of times before it will be right. Any advice?

thanks

For the video card this may or may not work,

ATI Radeon

if it doesn't see what Dell has for your laptop (use your service tag number to look it up).

For the monitor is it being detected properly or is it showing as "generic PNP monitor"? If it is showing as "generic PNP monitor" check Windows Update and see if it offers a driver for the monitor. The one from Viewsonic,

Viewsonic » Q22wb 20" LCD Monitor

may or may not work seeing as they have discontinued that model.

Also is the resolution of those screen shots what the monitor is running at, or did you resize them?

I tried the monitor driverdownload from viewsonic. Initial attempt of shutting off monitor and starting again worked wonderfully, we will see in the long run. The resolutions of the screen shots are what the monitor was doing. I did a print screen, pasted it into Paint and saved it as a jpg. No changes other than that. thanks Stormy13 I will try it for a day or two and let you know how it works in the long run. I had looked for a monitor driver, how did you find one?

I did a print screen, pasted it into Paint and saved it as a jpg. No changes other than that.

Click to expand...

That could also be part of the problem. Your monitor's default resolution is 1680x1050, and only 2 of those screen shots are close at 1680x1400 (half right at least). If you haven't yet, might be a good idea to set it to the proper resolution.

Hi Stormy13:

I went into my display settings and it tells me my recommended resolution is, as you say, 1680x1050. It also tells me that is the resolution it is at. Is my Win 7 sending out a finer resolution (1400) than my monitor can natively handle?