update:
here is some more details
its a dell monitor model # 2001FP if that means anything to anyone.
so i hooked up the monitor to my lap top that has Vista on it. the screen is not split in half like the PC but the resolution is not great. the monitor works fine for 2 to 5 seconds then goes black. if you power down the monitor then back up you get a few seconds of display before it goes black. if i unplug the monitor from the laptop and/ or the PC you get this screen saver icon that moves around.
View attachment 21733
this seems to work fine. it doesnt go black. at one point of powering up and down and pressing buttons at random
i got a small pop up window saying something about power saver mode. so i am now wondering if the monitor itself is going to a black screen saver type mode after a few seconds. within those few precious seconds i was able to access the monitor adjustment screen and press the return to factory settings button but it didnt change anything.
so it seems there are two issues going on at the moment one is the black screen of the monitor and the second is the Windows 10 creating a spit screen image. if i can get another monitor i will try hooking it up to the PC and see what happens.