What am I doing?... (computer Q)

[Bookworm]

Ok, here's the thing: Here I am, minding my own business on CAG, happily trawling through threads, and then sometimes, I must be doing something with my keys I shouldn't be doing, and the page on the screen minimises to a full page, or near enough, as a result, I can't see what I am doing anymore. The only way to go back to normal is to then close the page and relaunch it.

 

OS MS Vista Premium, IE7.

 

Does anyone know what it is I am doing, and how to revert it when i set it off? My butterfingers are driving me nuts!

[Goldlady]

Hi, are you accidentally hitting F11? I quite often have this problem and I have just tried F11 and if you hit it again it puts all the headers back on....

[Bookworm]

No, F11 hides the browser bar, address bar etc, (very useful if you want to do a full page screenshot), this isn't it.

[Goldlady]

Oh well, worth a try - I have just asked OH (won't be selling him on Ebay - who else would make me coffees before I get out of bed!) and he doesn't know either - he is a mere computer engineer... It must be F*&^ something else that is causing your problem:D

[barracad]

What you're doing wrong is using a rubbish browser.

 

Install Firefox instead.

[moggieb]

Oh well, worth a try - I have just asked OH (won't be selling him on Ebay - who else would make me coffees before I get out of bed!) How lucky are you and he doesn't know either - he is a mere computer engineer... It must be F*&^ something else that is causing your problem:D

 

Maybe Vista-loads of gremlins;) None on CAG tho:)

[Bookworm]

What you're doing wrong is using a rubbish browser.

 

Install Firefox instead.

 

If you have nothing more constructive to offer than the usual tired old response that every computer snob uses to make believe they do know something about PCs, please refrain from posting on this thread, thank you.

[tonycee]

Same prog, same prob, same ideas..None.

[Tezcatlipoca]

If you have nothing more constructive to offer than the usual tired old response that every computer snob uses to make believe they do know something about PCs, please refrain from posting on this thread, thank you.

 

Whilst Barra's delivery wasn't especially helpful, his point remains; FireFox is simply a superior browser to IE, and installing it may resolve your issue. If nothing else, it will improve your online security, as well as providing a whole host of extra features. There's a reason Vista's developers worked with Mozilla to hard-code greater FF compatability into the operating system...

 

If you prefer not to change, you could try reinstalling IE (Internet Explorer: Home Page), not forgetting to backup any favourites or bookmarks first (from File, then Import/Export).

 

If you are still getting problems, or would rather not reinstall, would it be possible to grab a copy of the screen when this happens and either post it up here or slap it into Imageshack or Photobucket? I'd be very grateful for the chance to see exactly what is happening on your system.

[dave]

If you have nothing more constructive to offer than the usual tired old response that every computer snob uses to make believe they do know something about PCs, please refrain from posting on this thread, thank you.

 

It's nothing to do with snobbery. It's simply the better program. No more spyware (well, reduce amounts of spyware - you are, after all still using Windows), no more bloatware, no more strange happenings, properly implemented tabbed browsing.

 

Personally, I can't see why you wouldn't want to change - it's free, and simply less troublesome.

[Bookworm]

Because I like IE7. I am comfortable with it. Despite what seem to be hardly more than urban myths these days, my PC is not riddled with spyware and I find FF cumbersome, slow and difficult to navigate: I-DO-NOT-LIKE-IT, now would the FFlovers get off my bloody case, PLEASE?

 

You know, I have been having this problem for a while now, and I am certain that it is something I am doing when typing, probably pressing the wrong keys simultaneously, and I have been reluctant to ask for help here, because I KNEW that this would be the kind of patronising replies I would get. Boy, was I right.

[hilaryfrances]

I have found that since I got Vista I cant find ANYONE who knows what to do with it. I used to use the free service from NTL (netguard) to protect my pc from viruses but I could not use it when I got Vista because it was not compatable. So I have had to purchase Norton. I cant work out how to clear history, I used to go into properties etc to clear but if properties still exists I cant find it. I ask many peeps and all I get is blank looks and the , "o sorry I no nothing about Vista" Dont get me wrong I have had no problems with it as I dont use my pc for anything like launching space rockets I just think it is a bit too complex and clever for everyday use

[hilaryfrances]

and Bookey, calm down dear, its only a pc!!!!

 

 

 

runs like the wind and hides in corner to avoid flying books

[Bookworm]

HF, download Avast antivirus, it is free, it is good and it doesn't slow down your system the way Norton does. I feel about Norton the way the peeps above feel about IE7.

 

Cleaning history, do you mean your browsing history? If using IE7, then "tools" in the browser bar, 1st option down is "delete browsing history", and you can choose to delete all or only selected stuff.

 

And yes, I am being tetchy, but you know what it is like when you ask a straight question and someone turns it into a discussion about something else which doesn't help you one bit? Besides, it's not the PC which is annoying me... ;-)

 

I have Vista Premium and I like it, although I don't find it that different from XP, tbh, but I function a lot visually (another reason why I detest FF so much, incidentally) and find Vista's clean and sharp lines and colours easier to handle.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Because I like IE7. I am comfortable with it. Despite what seem to be hardly more than urban myths these days, my PC is not riddled with spyware and I find FF cumbersome, slow and difficult to navigate: I-DO-NOT-LIKE-IT, now would the FFlovers get off my bloody case, PLEASE?

 

You're mistaking advice for criticism. You are not being condemed you for your choice of browser, indeed what you choose to run on your PC is frankly your own business; it is simply being pointed out that FF is a superior browser, and that using it will almost certainly resolve your immediate issue. To put it another way, it is one solution to the problem you have posted.

However, if you are confortable with IE, then we'll try to find another solution.

 

Once again, if it is not the F11 option, are you able to take a screenshot of what is happening to you? It might help to resolve the issue if we can see exactly what is happening.

[hilaryfrances]

thanks for your help bookey I have been trying to find out how to clean history for ages

[Bookworm]

I can't immediately, no, since I don't know what I am doing. But I will next time I do it.

 

And Tez, the reason for my little outburst is simply because I have seen it happen over and over again, and not being funny, but yes, when you say FF is a superior browser, it is not being objective. FF is a superior browser to YOU. To me, it is all the things I have said above and worse. I had to install it on the other PC because of a different issue which, yes, was IE7 related (despite the fact that it had run without problems for months before ) and as a result, I do not use that PC at all unless I have no choice.

 

I am however grateful to anyone with useful advice.

[Tezcatlipoca]

when you say FF is a superior browser, it is not being objective. FF is a superior browser to YOU.

 

I'm afraid this is not the case. As a web developer, I have looked extensively at pretty much all the browsers. Whether you like it or not, it is a simple fact that one surpasses the others in almost every respect, and such unbiased comparison is arguably the very definition of objectivity. That is of course a different thing from personal choice, or the ability to use the software.

However, I don't really want to get into lengthy and detailed explainations here as I don't want to see the thread derailed from the issue at hand; viz. your problem with IE's window becomming unusable on suspected keystrokes.

 

Returning to the issue at hand, I am unplagued by these problems, so without more of an idea as to exactly what is happening for you, it is difficult to know what to suggest. A search of Google seems to yield very little that matches your descriptions ("the screen minimises to a full page"), hence my request for a screenshot.

I'm wondering, however, if this may not be a Vista issue, rather an IE7 one. Has this always, albeit infrequently, happned on the Vista machine?

[dave]

Because I like IE7. I am comfortable with it. Despite what seem to be hardly more than urban myths these days, my PC is not riddled with spyware and I find FF cumbersome, slow and difficult to navigate: I-DO-NOT-LIKE-IT, now would the FFlovers get off my bloody case, PLEASE?

 

The problems you have described could easily be caused by spyware - due to it's very nature, spyware doesn't exactly jump up and say "Here I am". It probably got in through the use of IE ;-)

[Bookworm]

The IE window is not becoming "unusable" at all. :-?

 

The "problem" is that I have poor eyesight. If I didn't, I could probably use it this way, and in fact have often finished posting my post before closing and reopening it. Some people who complain about having to scroll up and down to see the whole page may well like it set that way, I don't know.

 

You are all concentrating on it being an IE issue when I am firmly convinced that it is a "me" issue, as I have said all along, I am more than likely hitting the keys in a wrong sequence which results in this doing exactly what it is supposed to do when you hit the keys in that sequence. For example, if I am to hit the caps lock instead of the "a" key, is IE to be blamed for the fact that all of a sudden, I am typing in caps? Of course not!

[Tezcatlipoca]

You're not talking about dynamic sizing, are you?

 

IE7 supports the following standards for keyboard shortcuts for sizing:

 

Ctrl & 0 = Sets the default font size

Ctrl & + = Increases the screen size

Ctrl & Mousewheel Down = As above

Ctrl & - = Decreases the screen size

Ctrl & Mousewheel Up = As above

 

Please try using the above commands to decrease the screen. Is this what's happening to you?

[dave]

True bookie. However, after many years of using M$ products, I am inclined to blame them first. I have spent many hours debugging code, troubleshooting connections, funny happenings etc... and at the end of it - it's Microsoft who have, either by design or not, been at fault. I imagine I'm not the only one who has gone through this over the years, and so the natural thing to do is to blame M$ from the outset. I admit they are not always at fault, however, they usually are.

 

Anyway, your problem: is it just that the window has been 'restored' and just happens to be very small? Can the window be resised when it gets into this state?

[Bookworm]

Okayyyyyyy!

 

Here goes, I hope it all becomes clearer!

 

This is what it normally looks like:

 

 

This is what it looks like when I do what I do I shoudn't be doing:

 

As you can -I hope- see, there is a reduction of what? 1/3? on the size of the page, and this is what I am trying to work out how I am doing it.

[Bookworm]

You're not talking about dynamic sizing, are you?

 

IE7 supports the following standards for keyboard shortcuts for sizing:

 

Ctrl & 0 = Sets the default font size

Ctrl & + = Increases the screen size

Ctrl & Mousewheel Down = As above

Ctrl & - = Decreases the screen size

Ctrl & Mousewheel Up = As above

 

Please try using the above commands to decrease the screen. Is this what's happening to you?

 

By George, he's got it!

 

It is indeed when I am Ctrl + mousewheel down! Alle-bloody-luia, CAGgers come though again! I knew it was something stupid like this, but could not work it out, assuming it was at keyboard level, never thought of the mouse! (I'm one of the oldies who used computers before the mouse became popular , still think of the mouse as just a fancy accessory! )

 

Thank you, Tez, scales duly clicked. One of life's small irritations removed.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Glad I could be of help!