Hey Folks. Y'all know that I visit periodically, lurk in the shadows and have nothing to contribute so ya don't even know that I'm around. UNTIL - disaster strikes! Like now!!!!!!!!!!

Basic info: Dell XPS 410, Windows Vista, IE8, 2GB ram, 160GB HD.

Figure THIS one out: Everything is rockin' along nicely - then - the screen blinks - the dreaded black screen appears for a couple of seconds - the page reappears - but all of the text and graphics are shrunk. Really small for these old eyes, folks! Further, my desktop is shrunk to about 70% of normal. I have arranged my desktop icons in three neat rows along the left hand side. They are now in some random order and crammed into the upper left hand corner.

The zoom indicator in the lower right hand corner says "100%". Under the "Page" drop-down menu, the Text Size is "Medium" and "Zoom" is, as you would expect, 100%.

To complicate matters further, I periodically get a pop-up window which says "Parsing error in file C:ProgramFilesHPDigitalImagingbinhpqscloc1033.xml". This is always followed by a nondescript screen seemingly associated with HP and stays but for a couple of seconds before disappearing. Yes, I use an HP printer. Have uninstalled the software and reinstalled it but to no avail.

It's been suggested that I stay away from a System Restore but that is the only way that I can get things to return to normal. I judiciously pick the Restore Point which coincides with known good performance.

and a bunch of other feelings.

Respectfully,

Richard