why is my smaller monitor not showing the whole screen?

Answer 1

It depends on what you mean.

If your monitor is showing the full desktop, but with a border around it:

For an LCD: Increase your desktop resolution to the native resolution of the LCD. Some LCDs do not automatically scale the image up to fill the screen.

For a CRT: Use the monitor controls to increase the width, height and centering of the image. If there is not enough adjustment you could try a different resolution or a different refresh rate. Do not use a 60 Hz refresh rate for a CRT it will flicker and give you a headache over time.


If the image is filling the monitor, but the desktop is 'bigger' than the area on the screen:

Reduce the desktop resolution to match the capabilities of your display. Some graphics systems will go to a pan-and-scan mode if the desktop resolution is greater than what the system thinks the monitor can cope with.

Answer 2

This sounds like the display driver is not installed. Right click on My Computer and select manage. Click on Device Manager and see if there are any yellow ones. If there are, and one of them is the display driver, you will need to find it and install it. Also check your display settings, the resolution etc. Hope this helps you!