Web Pages Don't Fill Monitor Screen

[Guest]

My computer crashed last August. Reloaded XP with IE6 at that time.
Up-to-date Norton security also in place. But since the reload most (but not
quite all) web pages do not fill the screen. Anywhere from 20 to 40% of the
monitor screen is blank on the right side. The amount of blank space varies
from web site to web site. Don't actually lose any content, but my 19"
monitor is reduced to something like a 12" or 15 " monitor in "usefulness."
The amount of blank white space varies from web site to web site. A very few
sites, mostly but not exclusively those that I need a password for such as
financial sites, do display full screen. But I would say 90% do not and
contain the blank space. This is only a problem on web sites, not when using
e-mail or word processing. Have checked and re-checked all the display
settings, replaced the video drivers. No help. Suggestions?

 

[Rob ^_^]

Hi Dave,

Most web sites are still catering for CRT monitors which have a minimum
width of 800 pixels, so the web designers make their layout 800 pixels wide
(usually justified to the left) so that users with the smallest monitor size
can view the entire page without having to scroll.

Another consideration in web page design is the size of A4 paper when
printing a web page. Wider web pages will not fit nicely on A4 landscape
when printed.

I can think of a workaround using a User Stylesheet but I will try testing
it myself before giving that recommendation.

I think it is something that you will have to put up with. A small
annoyance.

Regards.

 

[Rob ^_^]

Hi Dave, I tried a workaround but it didn't work.

Regards.

 

[Rob ^_^]

Well it sorta worked... Only if the table size is not specified...

 

[Guest]

Rob,

Thanks for the attempt. But surely people who have 19" monitors routinely
are able to have their entire screen filled with a web page? For the year
prior to the crash all web pages did display full screen.

I wonder if reloading IE6 would make a difference?

--
Dave from Fairfax

Well it sorta worked... Only if the table size is not specified...

 

[darkrats]

Please post some sites that do not fill your screen.
It should be easy to check the site and see what's going on.
You might post a couple that do fill the screen for comparison.

 

[Jon Kennedy]

It's probably due to your screen resolution settings. Most web sites are
set up to display full-width at 800x600. A higher setting usually results
in a blank area to the right - like on msnbc.com, for instance. Some sites
use scripting to detect your screen res. settings and compensate their page
display, either by providing a reformatted page, or just by putting ads in
that space. Try changing your screen res. to 800x600 and see if that
helps - Start...Settings...Control Panel...Display...Settings tab.

If no joy, in IE go to Tools...Internet Options...General
tab...Accessibility button and uncheck everything there.

 

[Guest]

Jon,

Changing the resolution worked only in an unsatisfactory way. My resolution
was set at 1280x1024. This was the factory setting, to which I re-set after
the crash last year. Prior to the crash, at that resolution, every web page
displayed properly. Now, not so. When I reduced the resolution to 800x600
it did indeed fill up the monitor, but it looked terrible and cut off far too
much to make it usable.

Also tried the Accessibility button. Everything already unchecked there.

 

[Guest]

Here's an ESPN site that doesn't fill the screen:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/index This is pretty typical.

And here's a site that fills the screen,
untypically:http://www.valueline.com/index.html

 

[Guest]

I guess I should point out that this discussion group page fills out the
monitor just fine!