Notes on Video Display

Below are steps that show how to check and change the video display resolution that your computer is using. In the instructions below, the language assumes that your system is currently using a video display resolution of 640 pixels x 480 pixels and that you want to change the video display resolution to 800 pixels x 600 pixels. Even if these assumptions aren't true, following the steps below will show you the process of changing and checking the resolution.

If you are running 640 x 480 resolution, you should read the Drawbacks to 640 x 480 Display section of this document.

Steps to Check/Change Video Display Resolution

Place the mouse over your desktop and single click the right mouse button. This will yield a popup menu, as shown in the picture below (this picture shows a part of an example desktop; your desktop may look different):

From the popup menu shown in the picture above, single click the left mouse button on the Properties menu item. This will yield the dialog box shown in the picture below. Note that the picture below shows the contents of the Settings tab. When you first open this dialog box, the Background tab will be selected instead of the Settings tab. You should then click on Settings to display its contents.

In the picture above, note that the Desktop area slider is set to 640 pixels by 480 pixels. Move your mouse over the slider, click the left mouse button down on the slider and hold the left mouse button down. Then drag the slider to the right, until the readout indicates 800 pixels by 600 pixels:

Once you have completed step 3, click the OK button. This will generate the following dialog.

Click on the OK button that is part of the dialog box shown above in step 4. Windows will then switch to the 800 pixel x 600 pixel resolution and will then display the following dialog:

Once Windows is using the 800 pixel x 600 pixel resolution, this Electronic Study Guide should display with minimum horizontal scrolling.

Drawbacks to 640 x 480 Display
Here is a picture of the opening page of Chapter 1 in this Electronic Study Guide, viewed on a computer displaying 800 x 600 resolution.

In the picture above, notice the "left navigational" panel. It includes the "chapter one" related information at the top, the "choose a chapter" table of all the chapters in the product, the "help" link, and the "index" link.

Now, here is a picture of the opening page of Chapter 1 in this Electronic Study Guide, viewed on a computer displaying 640 x 480 resolution.

In the picture above, notice that the "left navigational" panel has been clipped at the bottom (compared to the 800 x 600 resolution picture), so that the last 4 chapters (Chapters 25 - 28) in the "choose a chapter" table are missing, along with the "help" link and the "index" link. These missing elements cannot be displayed at 640 x 480 unless the browser Status Bar and toolbars are removed. Here is a picture of the 640 x 480 resolution screen with the Standard Buttons, Address Bar, and Status Bar removed:

Below is information on how to remove these elements so that the entire "left navigational" panel shows. This information is provided for Internet Explorer version 4.0 and Netscape Navigator 4.08. The information may change slightly on newer versions of these browsers.

Internet Explorer 4.0
Click on the "View" menu. The ensuing menu will include "Toolbars" and "Status Bar." Moving the mouse over the "Toolbars" menu item will introduce a sub-menu. The screen capture below shows these menus. Notice that "Status Bar," "Standard Buttons," and "Address Bar" are unchecked.

Netscape 4.08
Click on the "View" menu. The ensuing menu looks like this:

Notice that the menu shown above has the entries "Hide Navigation Toolbar," "Show Location Toolbar," and "Show Personal Toolbar." By clicking on a "Hide" entry, it turns to "Show" (and vice versa). In what is shown above, the "Location Toolbar" and "Personal Toolbar" are hidden, and the "index" link (barely seen on the screen, below the "requirements" link) is clickable.

In addition to these 640 x 480 resolution problems with the "left navigational" frame, the quizzes in the Quizzing section of the site will be very difficult to use when displaying 640 x 480 resolution because so much scrolling will be involved.