Had that happen a couple of times with Firefox.

Place cursor over top right corner, hold down left button and drag to top corner.

Tell her to get some protection, I doubt she goes to bed leaving the front door open! Plenty of free programs available out there.

That 2x2 inch box is more like an emblem than the actual front page. I cannot drag/stretch it. Another clue: When I click on IE the front page will flash for a split second and then it is gone. It may sound silly, but it seems to flash across the screen from left to right and disappear.

Hi jamesnth,

Lets try the option to "repair your computer."
Here's how:

Restart the computer, hold the "F8" Key down during restart. This exercise will cause the computer to boot into the "Advanced Boot Options Menu" It's a black screen with white letters. Once there use the arrow keys to scroll up to Repair your Computer" it will become highlighted. Once highlighted, press enter on the keyboard.

See if that helps you.

Joe

Thanks ZEP for the suggestion. I tried the Repair option and it did not help. My neighbor finally got on the phone with HP and turned her computer control over to one of their techs. He made some changes, but would not tell her what changes, and the computer is back to normal. My question is should she now change all her passwords?

Thanks, everyone

Good news that it is now fixed.

Regarding changing the passwords, that is a personal matter. If she is a nervous type then certainly, if she likes her passwords enough then stick with them.

Having allowed techs remote access to my computer on 2 occasions I never felt the need but as I say, these things are based on personal feelings. Perhaps I trust too much on some things.

I too have let techs 'remotely' access and fix things and I didn't feel the need to change my passwords, but then I don't do banking and bill paying and such on line. I'm thinking that access can only be gotten when permission is granted by me. I 'watched' as they remotely scooted around my computer doing things.

I'm thinking that your neighbor should have also been able to watch, but wonder how they were even able to access it without IE coming up and permission being granted.

hmmm...food for thought.

Sue

Chemocurl: I too have given some thought as to their ability to access the computer. A great deal of thought....
She bought the computer in November 2011 with a two year extended warranty, but the HP tech told her that Walmart had turned in that she bought it in July 2011. I am going to ask her for more details about her conversation with this tech. I have had some scary thoughts about this.