Mac Displays
Mac OS X Version 10.5
Secondary Screens
Question
When I use my laptop with the projector, I often get the screen stretched so wide I can't see the whole thing. This is especially annoying when I can't scroll up and down because the scroll bar has disappeared. I've tried various settings on the display, and none of them seem to solve the problem. I usually make do or reduce the window. But is there a proper display setting, and if yes, what is it?
Answer
Display resolution can get your attention (unpleasantly) whenever you connect a new display to your computer. Whether you are connecting a projector or a monitor, these steps should help you.
- Click on the Displays icon on the right of your menu bar
- Choose Detect Displays from the menu.
Hopefully that will set your displays automatically.
What if I don't have the Displays icon in my menu Bar?
if the Displays icon is not on your menu bar, you can start System Preferences and choose 
which will take you to the displays settings. You can then click on the 
button. You can also add the Displays icon to your menu bar by checking 
What if Detect Displays doesn't do what I want?
Hopefully it will. However, you can choose from the resolutions listed on the menu or go to Displays Preferences...
You can see from my menu that I have a SyncMaster monitor attached to my MacBook. Of course, I also have the Color LCD which is part of the machine. The respective preferences windows should show up on each display. If you are unable to see one of the display preference windows, you can click the Gather Windows button on the screen that you can see. This will put both preferences windows on that screen so that you can adjust the resolution of the other.
If you have a different version of the Mac OS, you may have different results.