Question : Problem: XP Screen Resoultion Issue using Laptop's VGA port

I just revered from Vista back to XP on my Dell XPS M1210 laptop. Just couldn't bear the slowness. Everything is working fine except for my external display. I'm plugging in an Acer AL2017 20" widescreen monitor to the VGA port. On Vista, this worked perfectly - my resolution looked excellent (although I can't remember what it actually was).

With XP I can get the following resolutions: 1280x960, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1440, 2048x1536

The problem is once I go over 1280x960, the screen doesn't fit the monitor. I have to hover my mouse up and down, left and right to get to the rest of my screen. Not sure what else to try.

Answer : Problem: XP Screen Resoultion Issue using Laptop's VGA port

This used to be a problem with older systems, that when you changed the resolution
you had to manually expand the screen using the settings buttons on the monitor. You
would usually have to only do it once, when changing the resolution. Usually using the
buttons on the front of your monitor will allow you to change the size of your screen image
and how it fits on your screen.

With that said, your last statement confuses me.

"I have to hover my mouse up and down, left and right to get to the rest of my screen. Not sure what else to try"

Are you saying that your desktop does not take up the whole screen, but when you move your mouse
into the black (or blank) areas, the areas will fill up with your desktop items? Please clarify the statement
I quoted above. Thanks