1st time W7 crash, many changes

Hello,

I've had a few computers here running Windows 7 Professional since last
August. This morning one of them suffered a hard crash -- system video went
off, had to power down to restore operations. This is the first crash I've
seen on Windows 7 so far, so I have no experience with what to expect.

Some observations:

Since the crash, every instance of Notepad that is opened, opens in a very
small window. I have enlarged it each time, and saved my work. But no matter
what I try, it always opens in a small window. Not sure, but it looks like
about 640 x 480 pixels.

Since the crash, every instance of Explorer opens in a full screen window.
No matter what I try, EVERY time I open Explorer it opens full screen now.
Ditto Internet Explorer.

Any ideas what causes this, and how to fix it?

Thanks for any advice/suggestions you can offer.

Hi,
Resize the windows (Notepad, IE) to your personal taste and the close it
(red cross, top right) while simultaneously pressing Ctrl or Shift.
That should fix it.
Sometimes Shift does the magic, other times it is Ctrl.
Have crashes showed up again?
Carlos

"SomeOldGuy" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I've had a few computers here running Windows 7 Professional since last
> August. This morning one of them suffered a hard crash -- system video went
> off, had to power down to restore operations. This is the first crash I've
> seen on Windows 7 so far, so I have no experience with what to expect.
>
> Some observations:
>
> Since the crash, every instance of Notepad that is opened, opens in a very
> small window. I have enlarged it each time, and saved my work. But no matter
> what I try, it always opens in a small window. Not sure, but it looks like
> about 640 x 480 pixels.
>
> Since the crash, every instance of Explorer opens in a full screen window.
> No matter what I try, EVERY time I open Explorer it opens full screen now.
> Ditto Internet Explorer.
>
> Any ideas what causes this, and how to fix it?
>
> Thanks for any advice/suggestions you can offer.

"Carlos" wrote:
> Hi,
> Resize the windows (Notepad, IE) to your personal taste and the close it
> (red cross, top right) while simultaneously pressing Ctrl or Shift.
> That should fix it.

That did the trick - thanks!

> Sometimes Shift does the magic, other times it is Ctrl.
> Have crashes showed up again?

No subsequent crashes, thank goodness. I wish I knew what caused it. These
machines have been amazingly reliable thus far. I sure hope this was a fluke.


> Carlos
>
> "SomeOldGuy" wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I've had a few computers here running Windows 7 Professional since last
> > August. This morning one of them suffered a hard crash -- system video went
> > off, had to power down to restore operations. This is the first crash I've
> > seen on Windows 7 so far, so I have no experience with what to expect.
> >
> > Some observations:
> >
> > Since the crash, every instance of Notepad that is opened, opens in a very
> > small window. I have enlarged it each time, and saved my work. But no matter
> > what I try, it always opens in a small window. Not sure, but it looks like
> > about 640 x 480 pixels.
> >
> > Since the crash, every instance of Explorer opens in a full screen window.
> > No matter what I try, EVERY time I open Explorer it opens full screen now.
> > Ditto Internet Explorer.
> >
> > Any ideas what causes this, and how to fix it?
> >
> > Thanks for any advice/suggestions you can offer.

Hi,
Check video card fan cleanliness.
Accumulation of dust in the fan causes temperature buildup and subsequent
crash.
I had that issue once and had to disassemble the whole card in order to
clean the dust exhausts in the heatsink that were preventing the hot air to
be removed.
Carlos

"SomeOldGuy" wrote:

> "Carlos" wrote:
> > Hi,
> > Resize the windows (Notepad, IE) to your personal taste and the close it
> > (red cross, top right) while simultaneously pressing Ctrl or Shift.
> > That should fix it.
>
> That did the trick - thanks!
>
> > Sometimes Shift does the magic, other times it is Ctrl.
> > Have crashes showed up again?
>
> No subsequent crashes, thank goodness. I wish I knew what caused it. These
> machines have been amazingly reliable thus far. I sure hope this was a fluke.
>
>
> > Carlos
> >
> > "SomeOldGuy" wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I've had a few computers here running Windows 7 Professional since last
> > > August. This morning one of them suffered a hard crash -- system video went
> > > off, had to power down to restore operations. This is the first crash I've
> > > seen on Windows 7 so far, so I have no experience with what to expect.
> > >
> > > Some observations:
> > >
> > > Since the crash, every instance of Notepad that is opened, opens in a very
> > > small window. I have enlarged it each time, and saved my work. But no matter
> > > what I try, it always opens in a small window. Not sure, but it looks like
> > > about 640 x 480 pixels.
> > >
> > > Since the crash, every instance of Explorer opens in a full screen window.
> > > No matter what I try, EVERY time I open Explorer it opens full screen now.
> > > Ditto Internet Explorer.
> > >
> > > Any ideas what causes this, and how to fix it?
> > >
> > > Thanks for any advice/suggestions you can offer.

Thanks. I checked it, but the whole machine is quite clean. It runs in a room
with filtered air, and about once a month is opened and air-blasted as a
"just in case" measure. It's been rock-solid except for this one incident. If
it happens again, I will dig deeper.

I appreciate the tips regarding closing the windows while holding Shift or
Ctrl... didn't know about that (I'm no Windows expert by any stretch of the
imagination). Someday, somebody else will have this problem and I will fix it
for them, and they'll think I'm some kind of wizard!
: )



"Carlos" wrote:

> Hi,
> Check video card fan cleanliness.
> Accumulation of dust in the fan causes temperature buildup and subsequent
> crash.
> I had that issue once and had to disassemble the whole card in order to
> clean the dust exhausts in the heatsink that were preventing the hot air to
> be removed.
> Carlos
>
> "SomeOldGuy" wrote:
>
> > "Carlos" wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > Resize the windows (Notepad, IE) to your personal taste and the close it
> > > (red cross, top right) while simultaneously pressing Ctrl or Shift.
> > > That should fix it.
> >
> > That did the trick - thanks!
> >
> > > Sometimes Shift does the magic, other times it is Ctrl.
> > > Have crashes showed up again?
> >
> > No subsequent crashes, thank goodness. I wish I knew what caused it. These
> > machines have been amazingly reliable thus far. I sure hope this was a fluke.
> >
> >
> > > Carlos
> > >
> > > "SomeOldGuy" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > I've had a few computers here running Windows 7 Professional since last
> > > > August. This morning one of them suffered a hard crash -- system video went
> > > > off, had to power down to restore operations. This is the first crash I've
> > > > seen on Windows 7 so far, so I have no experience with what to expect.
> > > >
> > > > Some observations:
> > > >
> > > > Since the crash, every instance of Notepad that is opened, opens in a very
> > > > small window. I have enlarged it each time, and saved my work. But no matter
> > > > what I try, it always opens in a small window. Not sure, but it looks like
> > > > about 640 x 480 pixels.
> > > >
> > > > Since the crash, every instance of Explorer opens in a full screen window.
> > > > No matter what I try, EVERY time I open Explorer it opens full screen now.
> > > > Ditto Internet Explorer.
> > > >
> > > > Any ideas what causes this, and how to fix it?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for any advice/suggestions you can offer.

Hi, SomeOldGuy

> Someday, somebody else will have this problem and I will fix it for them,
> and they'll think I'm some kind of wizard! : )

Yep! I'll bet that's how Carlos became a wizard! (Me, too!) ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"SomeOldGuy" wrote in message
news:2B5B58CA-B39E-49F5-9F28-...

Thanks. I checked it, but the whole machine is quite clean. It runs in a
room
with filtered air, and about once a month is opened and air-blasted as a
"just in case" measure. It's been rock-solid except for this one incident.
If
it happens again, I will dig deeper.

I appreciate the tips regarding closing the windows while holding Shift or
Ctrl... didn't know about that (I'm no Windows expert by any stretch of the
imagination). Someday, somebody else will have this problem and I will fix
it
for them, and they'll think I'm some kind of wizard!
: )


"Carlos" wrote:

> Hi,
> Check video card fan cleanliness.
> Accumulation of dust in the fan causes temperature buildup and subsequent
> crash.
> I had that issue once and had to disassemble the whole card in order to
> clean the dust exhausts in the heatsink that were preventing the hot air
> to
> be removed.
> Carlos
>
> "SomeOldGuy" wrote:
>
> > "Carlos" wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > Resize the windows (Notepad, IE) to your personal taste and the close
> > > it
> > > (red cross, top right) while simultaneously pressing Ctrl or Shift.
> > > That should fix it.
> >
> > That did the trick - thanks!
> >
> > > Sometimes Shift does the magic, other times it is Ctrl.
> > > Have crashes showed up again?
> >
> > No subsequent crashes, thank goodness. I wish I knew what caused it.
> > These
> > machines have been amazingly reliable thus far. I sure hope this was a
> > fluke.
> >
> >
> > > Carlos
> > >
> > > "SomeOldGuy" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > I've had a few computers here running Windows 7 Professional since
> > > > last
> > > > August. This morning one of them suffered a hard crash -- system
> > > > video went
> > > > off, had to power down to restore operations. This is the first
> > > > crash I've
> > > > seen on Windows 7 so far, so I have no experience with what to
> > > > expect.
> > > >
> > > > Some observations:
> > > >
> > > > Since the crash, every instance of Notepad that is opened, opens in
> > > > a very
> > > > small window. I have enlarged it each time, and saved my work. But
> > > > no matter
> > > > what I try, it always opens in a small window. Not sure, but it
> > > > looks like
> > > > about 640 x 480 pixels.
> > > >
> > > > Since the crash, every instance of Explorer opens in a full screen
> > > > window.
> > > > No matter what I try, EVERY time I open Explorer it opens full
> > > > screen now.
> > > > Ditto Internet Explorer.
> > > >
> > > > Any ideas what causes this, and how to fix it?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for any advice/suggestions you can offer.