Monitor issues

[Saxif]

Ok, been having problems with what I belive is my monitor on and off, so wanted to know if anyone else has come across these same issues.

It started when I would play WoW and alt-tab to use the net then resize my WoW window, the screen would be shrunk on the horizontal, and the options on the monitor wouldn't resize it as it was literally shrunk.  When this would happen the only way I could find of getting it back to normal would be alt-tab and resize till it clicked back and this could take several attempts.

So I uninstalled my gfx drivers and tried new ones, then uninstalled them and tried new ones, now I does it every time I boot my pc up.  The way I have of sorting it now is to change my screen resolution, this worked forst time for several days but today I had to do that 3 or 4 times before it clicked back into normal format (always the horizontal is shrunk).

The next thing I am thinking of doing is re-installing the monitor, its a iiyama and cost me a pretty penny being a CRT (digitron I think) and top of the then market.  It could be my monitor on its way out, but when I uninstalled my gfx drivers I had no issues even when I had previously been having issues.

So has anyone come across this before?  I dont really wanna have to fork out a couple hundred quid if I dont need to, but its getting to the point where I might not be able to play period ...

Any advice appreciated

Sax.

[Lasiien]

Not sure Sax really, having trouble visualising your issue from your description. Givf screenshot !

As a general rule i'd say play the game in the same resolution as your desktop if you are alt-tabbing, as it can cause some weird issues otherwise.

Also did this work before without an issue with this monitor (i.e. when we played wow previously?). If so remember that whilst as a general rule the newest drivers are the best, it isn't always the case and maybe your specific issue got broken somewhere along the line?

[Saxif]

Will print screen save a screenshot? I ahve never taken a screenshot of my desktop before.  I play the game and have my desktop both at 1600 x 1200, so no issues there, and no I have not had this problem before, I prolly played a good month of two before it started cropping up.

Sax.

[Lasiien]

yeah, print screen then paste into paint (or paintshop pro etc)

[Cernos]

These problems are rarely to do with the monitor itself and usually caused by something going wrong with Windows or the applications you're running. Monitors don't really even need specific drivers, they run just fine with the default Windows drivers (the specific drivers only really help with colour profiling).
 
Sounds like something is sending the wrong resolution / frequency instructions to your monitor. Probably a Windows or application issue. Has this only been happening since you upgraded to TBC, or before?
 
I have always found that ALT-TAB out of games (all games, not just WoW) nearly always caused problems. Memory management goes to hell if you ALT-TAB and all sorts of graphical and memory lag issues often appear. I never ALT-TAB out of any game running in full screen mode for this reason, things invariably go pear shaped.
 
I play WoW in Windowed mode, with the window size set to my monitor size. This gives me a full screen game with the Windows task bar at the foot of the screen (I move the game window up to hide the top bar). This way I can use the taskbar to step to web sites, email etc without anything going wrong in-game or with Windows in general.
 
In short, ALT-TAB will always cause problems from full screen mode.

[Saxif]

Problem is pre TBC and now happens outside of WoW.  I agree about alt-tabbing causing problems, but for awhile it was all fine.  This may sound silly but I dont really wanna see my task bar at the bottom of the screen, so although windowed mode sounds like the perfect solution I prolly wont go with it.

Sax.

[Lasiien]

driver wise i was suggesting gfx drivers, it's possible you updated them and this has started to cause the problem. Its the only other reason i can think of why you'd start to get such an issue when it was previously fine.

You can find sites on the web that have retro drivers and that might help, but tbh that stops you ever updating your drivers and thats not a good thing Think mostly though mate you're just gonna have to live with it :/

[Saxif]

Well it happened again on my 3rd time booting my pc up since coming back and I tried to Print Screen and nothing happened, even tried it with ctr and shift, nada.  Any other ideas?

Sax.

[Lasiien]

sorry matey, nope can't think of anything other than your gfx drivers. As above, rolling them back might solve the problem but then you'll never be able to update them again which is hardly ideal

The big problem with an issue like this though is virtually anything could have caused it. As cern says alt-tabbin has never been brilliant, and the smallest changes on your pc can suddenly give issues with it.

Print out Brigh's big map things perhaps, they are quite nice :-) You could try windowed mode and see how you get on also ?

I would not buy a new monitor as cern said also - it's not the problem

[Saxif]

 I hate bloody pc's when they act up, though to be fair this one has been exceptionally stable in all other areas, and the problems I am having with it are not a major concern atm.  With regards maps I ahve the atlas add-on so I ahve maps of all the instances with keys at my finger tips when playing.  I usually alt-tab to change the music I am listening to, or to look at a quest write up, or something similar.

Sax.