You're seeing DirectX crash behaviour
This happens when a program using DirectX crashes and doesn't get a chance to restore the previous display mode on exit. It's not unique to any particular platform either - it happens on Win2K as well as Win9x.
If you are able to get around the small screen or can use the keyboard to navigate, you can 'blindly' reset the display mode with the Display control panel. If you have the "Log out" menu in the Start Menu enabled, you can log out and re-log in to restore the display (Under NT and Win2K anyway) without having to reboot. InN a worst case you can blindly shut down the computer (ctrl-esc to bring up the start menu, then cursor up once to the Shut Down menu entry).
If you're one of the lucky ones with a video driver that supports hot key display mode switching, you can use your hot keys to switch modes out of the small screen into something else, then back into whatever you normally use. If you're not one of those lucky ones, the old Power Toy called Quickres gives you this capability.
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