I had to reinstall Windows XP on my parents computer and now, everything is HUGE! It looks like Safe Mode but with the background display and everything else in the XP style. Its like a 64 bit gaming system or something...

How do I get it back to normal?

Most likely the cause is that Windows doesn't have the drivers for your video card in its list of drivers. You'll need to download them from the video card manufacturer or the computer maker's web site.

You need to install the drivers for your video adapter. It probably was not recognized during the install so it defaulted to standard SVGA.

Hmmm.. that's weird because everything that theyhave installed came with the computer.

So, do I have to get it online first then search for the updates? Is there anyway to find out what video card they have?

It may be displayed in the Device Manager: Right-click the My Computer icon and select Properties, Hardware tab, Device Manager. Click on the "+" beside Display Adapters

If a default value is there then maybe you can check the computer's documentation for the specifications of the video card (make and model). If all fails you have to open it up and read it off the card.

There are a couple of ways to get the drivers: the best is to get that computer online and go to the sites I mentioned. If you can't then get the drivers burnt to a CD or transferred to a USB key from another internet-connected PC.

Hmmm.. thats wierd because everything that theyhave installed came with the computer.

So, do i have to get it online first then search for the updates? Is there anyway to find out what video card they have?

That doesn't mean that Windows has the drivers for it. They could have installed the drivers separately. So when you reinstalled, without the drivers, it wasn't recognized.

I had to reinstall Windows XP on my parents computer and now, everything is HUGE! It looks like Safe Mode but with the background display and everything else in the XP style. Its like a 64 bit gaming system or something....

How do I get it back to normal?


Why don't you check your display settings, they may have changed. You need 256 colors

Like they say you could visit the webpage of the manufacturer and search for model of PC and look for downloads and download the video card driver.