App window larger than monitor screen; can't close or resize

[RICHINMINN]

A friend called me with a problem (Windows 2000 system). He's got Internet Explorer up and running, but somehow the window has been expanded and is larger than the visible area of the monitor. He can't minimize or close the app because the X box in the corner is off the screen, as is the entire top bar. I told him to go to the Task Manager and kill the app, but according the Task Manager there are no applications running. He's tried rebooting, but it comes up the same every time.

Has anyone experienced this before? What can my friend do to get out of this?

Rich (in Minn.)

 

[SYAR2003]

Right click on the item in the taskbar .
Choose size . Press the up arrow . press down arrow .
(this brings the top down)
Choose size . Press the left arrow . press right arrow .
(this brings left to right)
and so on .

 

[RICHINMINN]

Thanks for the tip, SYAR2003, but this didn't work for my friend, as there isn't a button on the taskbar for the Internet Explorer app that's on his screen. There's no entry in the Task Manager for it either, so he can't kill it there. It appears to be a "phantom" application.

Rich (in Minn.)

 

[SYAR2003]

Spyware..?

 

[RICHINMINN]

That was my thought, too, SYAR2003. I already had him download and install SPYBOT and he's running a scan of his system right now.

Rich (in Minn.)

 

[norty303]

Try clicking in the window to select it then ALT-SPACE then ALT-M and then use the arrow keys to move the window around until you can see the bit you need

 

[Kocky]

Maybe he expanded the display size of the monitor.
Let him browse through the monitor settings by pressing the "menu" or "osd" button or something like that on the monitor and make the display size smaller of move the screen lower.

 

[RICHINMINN]

I had already had him try modifying the screen size (both in Control Panel and physically on the monitor) but the IE window was still off the screen. I then had him download the ZoneAlarm firewall and install that, and the problem disappeared. Someone evidently had gotten into his system and was toying with him. I had told him to install ZoneAlarm when I delivered the system to him, and had put it on a "To Do" list, but he hadn't bothered to do that yet.

He's now going through the rest of the list and making sure that everything I've suggested is indeed installed on his system.

Thanks to everyone who assisted.

Rich (in Minn.)