Windows and desktop photo too small after reboot

Go team effort 🙂.

I believe it may now be related to the WindowsServer preferences, which I know to be related to display and windows settings.

In the ~/Library, delete these files:

/Preferences/WindowsServer.plist

/Preferences/ByHost/WindowsServer.plist

(There maybe a few, you can delete them all).

Next in the /Library:

/Preferences/WindowsServer.plist

If there, delete the restart and test.

To get to the ~/Library:

Open Finder, on the top menu choose Go, then while holding Option on the keyboard, select Library.

Yo get to the /Library:

Click Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for taking the time and suppling the Etrecheck Report

Minor Issues:

Q -  Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

A - See below for details regarding orphan files still present on this computer than need to be removed as er Developers Instructions

Q - Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. These files could be old, incompatible, and cause problems. They should be reviewed.

A - Self explanatory and needs the User to review and either update / upgrade or find alternatives compatible with both Monterey and Apple Silicon CPU

Q - System modifications - There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

A - Any time a System is highly modified there are unintended consequences including the specific issue on this computer

Q - Corrupt hosts file - Hosts file is corrupt.

Q - Configuration Files:  /etc/hosts - Count: 0 - Corrupt!

Q - Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ProxyConfigDaemon.plist

Q -  [Loaded] com.ProxyConfigDaemon.plist (Not signed - installed 2021-11-13)

Q -   [Other] com.motorola.MDMUpdater.plist (Not signed - installed 2012-09-24) This one appears to have been part of the Migration from Old to New Computer

Q - [Other] com.motorola.motohelper.plist (Not signed - installed 2012-09-24)

A - This may be related to the remnants of the Motorola MDM installed and not totally removed.

Hardware Information:

  iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)

  iMac Model: iMac21,1

  2.40 GHz Apple M1 (m1) CPU: 8-core

  8 GB RAM - Not upgradeable

Video Information:

  Apple M1

    iMac (built-in) 4480 x 2520

    SAMSUNG 1600 x 1200

System Software:

  macOS Monterey 12.4 (21F79) 

  Time since boot: About 17 hours

Q - Antivirus software: Apple and ClamXAV Should be removed as per Developers Instructions 

A - There are no known Windows-like Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS, because of the underling UNIX  Foundation and Permission Limitation. 

The Only thing this Antivirus software is protecting is the Bank Account of the Developers and for zero return to the User aside from the problems this software creates.

The The Built in Security  is all that is required to protect the computer.

Q -  Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist

A - Worth verifying if this version is really Apple Silicon M1 Compatible and also Monterey

Q -  [Loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-SmartWare-Installer.plist (Western Digital Corporation Branded Products Group - installed 2021-10-18)

A - Unless there is a Specific Need for using Third Party Software to manage this device, Apple is very able to do the job on its own. All too ofter the Third Party Software is buggy and or cause more issues that what it is worth IMHO.

Should be removed as per Developers Instructions 

Clean up:

  /Library/LaunchAgents/com.motorola.motohelperUpdater.plist

    /Library/Application Support/Motorola Mobility/MotoHelper.app/Contents/Resources/REUpdater

    Executable not found

  /Library/LaunchAgents/com.motorola.motohelper.plist

    /Library/Application Support/Motorola Mobility/MotoHelper.app/Contents/Resources/MotoHelperDaemon

    Executable not found

  /Library/LaunchAgents/com.motorola.MDMUpdater.plist

    /Library/Application Support/Motorola Mobility/MotoHelper.app/Contents/Resources/MDMUpdater.app/Contents/MacOS/MDMUpdater

    Executable not found

I just checked my laptop running Monterey (I had been on one with Big Sur when I replied to you earlier). It looks like the contents of that ByHost folder are different under Monterey. I don't know where those Display Preferences are now under Monterey so I can't provide suggestions about removing the preferences files.

The last suggestions might be to reset your SMC and your NVRAM (especially the NVRAM, which stores some display settings that might be incorrect or outdated). The instructions are different for different models.

This explains how to reset NVRAM: Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support

This explains how to reset SMC: How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

I am running out of other ideas at this point ...

Hey again! Well it’s a stubborn one. It could be some extension or launch item that was migrated from an older Mac, however it did do the same in Safe Mode right?

Check out this older post, mind you it’s from 2010, however the answer may have a point about some trackpad or accessibility function causing the problem:

desktop icons suddenly shrink in size - Apple Community

I know you use an iMac, perhaps disabling the current keyboard/mouse/trackpad and using another may be a good test. Just spitballing ideas here, I could be way off, hope you sort it out though!

Also, besides my previous reply, it may not be a bad idea to just run a disk repair from recovery mode, also considering the problem is system wide:

How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility - Apple Support

While in Disk Utility (in recovery mode) on the top menu click View > Show All Devices. Next, click on each partition underneath the Internal section starting at the bottom (Usually Macintosh HD - Data), and run first aid on each working your way to the top (SSD/HDD/Fusion Drive, whatever it may be), and if no errors just restart and test!

Hi again. Your latest report looks pretty good to me. I don't see the myriad issues that people usually have that can be blamed for things not behaving as expected.

You had not mentioned earlier that you were displaying on a TV via HDMI.

The screen you showed a few messages ago -- is that what it looks like on the TV? What does the display look like on the built in iMac display? Also, more info about what you are doing would help here:

• Are you mirroring the display so the iMac and TV are supposed to show the same identical desktop?
• Or are you using the TV and iMac screens as an extended desktop?
• What brand or make/model TV are you using?

What driver/profile are you using for the TV display? The problems you are having seem to indicate that you do not have an appropriate driver or profile for the TV/display (or that the resolution for that display is not the right one). That can result in things not displaying properly. In the absence of the correct driver/profile, the Mac will use a generic one which may not display things as intended. How have you configured the TV display in the Displays System Preferences? Each display being used can be configured separately. For instance, I have an external Dell display connected to my MacBook Pro on Monterey and in the Displays System Preferences it shows a profile/driver for that specific Dell model, it was selected automatically without me doing anything.

This is a comment " After the Fact " .

That being the Migration from Old to New computer.

If the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.

Some have had success and other have been left with a mess when Migrating everything.

Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.

To possible see what or where the issues are >>

Suggest downloading the Application Etrecheck directly from a well Respected ASC Contributor. And Safe to use.

The application is free or paid from added features. 

Run the application with Full Disc Access ( Security & Privacy - Full Disc Access ).

It will take a Snap Shot -  both the hardware and software.

 The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last )

We can have a look at the report for possible issues and may have possible suggestions to resolve the issues.

Open your Displays Systems Preference pane.

If it isn't already selected, select the Display tab.

Under Resolution, select Default for Display. Close the Displays System Preference Pane. Does that resolve the issue?

If not, you can return to Displays and instead of Default for Display, you can select Scaled and select a different resolution to see if that helps.

Here are some other things to consider:

(1) Reboot into Safe Mode. This involves rebooting holding down the Shift Key for several MINUTES, be patient, when complete it should say SAFE BOOT in red text on the screen. Log in. This will clear some caches. Computer will be sluggish. Then restart normally. IS the problem gone.

(2) Restart and log in as another user. You can create one for this test in System Preferences Users, you might as well make it an administrator user which also someday could be used to "rescue" you if your main account gets misconfigured. Is the display still not right as the other user?

(3) If the other user is also not right, then it is system wide. You could boot into Recovery Mode (Apple instructions for this vary by model) and reinstall the MacOS. Choose the option to simply reinstall the version you are using, your user files should be untouched. Do a backup first just in case something goes amiss.

(4) If the other user is ok, then it is specific to your account. Log out of the new user, log in again as your normal user. You can then try this: open your user Library (hold down the option key and look under the "Go" menu for "Library"). Open the "ByHost" folder. Look for all files with a name like

com.apple.preference.displays.xxxxxx and com.apple.preference.displays2.xxxxx etc. and move them to a designated folder on your desktop with a folder name like "Copy of Display Preference Files"

Then reboot normally. See if the problem is still there. You can always restore those moved files back to the ByHost folder if this did not help.