Monitor display needs latest graphics driver

Q: I have a Pentium 4 computer running Windows 2000 Professional. I recently upgraded my monitor to a widescreen LCD from an old CRT. After the upgrade, I discovered that any new window that I open up opens off the screen to the left and up. I've found a way to get most windows back on screen by right-clicking on the icon on the toolbar, selecting "Move" and then using the arrow keys and a single left click with the cursor in the visible area of my screen. Some programs do not have the "Move" option, however, and in those cases I can no longer use them. Is there a fix for this? I reinstalled the driver for my video card and this fixed the problem for a few hours, after which I was back to the same behavior.

— Greg Kromholtz, Seattle

A: I'm not surprised you'd get that kind of behavior after switching monitors. Graphics adapters have to be told what types of devices to which they're going to be delivering display information. So when you change monitors, it's a good idea to check with the manufacturer of your graphics adapter to make sure you've got the latest drivers and, if you don't, to download and install them.

Then go to the Windows display utility in the Control Panel and make sure the display is appropriately configured. Alternatively, some graphics drivers include configuration software that substitutes for the Windows utility.

Q: I have Windows Vista on my HP Pavilion. I run Norton Antivirus on it and have my Windows firewall turned on.

I downloaded an anti-virus program called Zone Alarm. It didn't download completely, and so I tried to uninstall it. It will NOT uninstall. When I click on uninstall, I get a pop-up that says "verifying permission to uninstall." Then I get the Zone Alarm popup that invites me to take a survey (which won't load, either) before I uninstall. When I click "uninstall," it just won't. I get the wait icon for a moment, than the cursor. I cannot get rid of this thing.

I tried going to C: drive to get rid of it that way, and instead of uninstalling the program, Vista told me I didn't have permission to uninstall or delete it. I am the only person using this computer and find it infuriating that Vista refuses to allow me to make administrative changes when I am the administrator! Please tell me how to get it off my computer!

— Michelle

A: For starters, I'm not clear on how the Zone Alarm program got installed if it didn't finish downloading. And readers should be cautioned against installing two antivirus programs on the same computer. It rarely produces good results.

That said, when programs don't fully install they sometimes can't be uninstalled. So the first solution I'd suggest would be to fully download and install Zone Alarm, then try uninstalling it.

If that doesn't work, I'd first contact Zone Alarm to see what it has to say. If that doesn't produce the result you want, try deleting all the program files manually, as you have tried to do. Just make sure the login you're using has administrator privileges. You may be the only user of the computer, but unless you have administrator privileges there are some operations you can't perform.

And once you've manually deleted the files from the Zone Alarm directory, be aware that there may still be some files in other system directories. There also may still be entries in the Windows registry that will result in error messages when you boot the computer and it tries to load Zone Alarm.

If that's the case, you'll need to check the registry and Windows startup files and remove references to Zone Alarm. That's a real pain so, again, I'd suggest completing the installation and then trying to uninstall.

Questions for Patrick Marshall may be sent by e-mail to pmarshall@seattletimes.com or pgmarshall@pgmarshall.net, or by mail at Q&A/Technology, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/

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