Sam westelman
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: my computer desktop isn't displaying the entire desktop

my mac desktop isn't displaying the entire desktop. It only shows the upper left of the screen. I tried to zoom out, which didn't work, and I tried to put my mouse on the right side of the screen, but it just bounced back and forth at a sickening rate. None of the forms that I read said anything about this.

iMac

Posted on Jan 4, 2014 9:31 AM

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Sam westelman

Q: my computer desktop isn't displaying the entire desktop

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  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jan 4, 2014 11:46 AM in response to Sam westelman
    Level 10 (123,745 points)
    Jan 4, 2014 11:46 AM in response to Sam westelman

    Hi Sam,

     

    One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...

     

    PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive

     

    Reboot, test again.

     

    If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or some USB or Firewire device, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts (Users & Groups in later OSX versions)>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.

     

    Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.

     

    Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...

     

    /private/var/run/StartupItems

     

    /Library/StartupItems

     

    /System/Library/StartupItems

     

    /System/Library/LaunchDaemons

     

    /Library/LaunchDaemons

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Jan 5, 2014 8:14 AM in response to Sam westelman
    Level 8 (35,176 points)
    iPad
    Jan 5, 2014 8:14 AM in response to Sam westelman

    It would help to know your iMac model so we can get you in the right forum (this forum is for eMacs, a series that was dropped in 2005).

     

    Also would help to know your verison of the Mac OS becasue there were some changes recently that can affect screen size.