New to Linux and Ubuntu, but I'm also good with computers.

My problem is this:

Upon booting and logging in, my screen resolution is set to 1280x768 on a 1024x768 LCD monitor. This makes everything look really skinny (like when you play a widescreen DVD on a fulscreen TV). Anytime I try to change the resolution, the screen image flickers horizontally; and as the mouse cursor moves vertically, the image goes black below the tip of the cursor. The only way to remedy this is to hard-boot the machine.

This is on an Acer Veriton 7500 using an Intel i845GL integrated graphics.

I originally had an nVidia mx4000 PCI card installed, but was unable to have more than 800x600 resolution. The card has since been removed from the system.

Is this a common issue or did I break something lol?