Is it still producing the error and the screen only partially populated with a tiny display?
it looks like this
and no it's just the whole screen. not a chunk of the screen this time
Opening Display, what resolution are you using?
Or the terminal output of
xrandr
Does it say something like "Failed to get size of gamma..."?
yep got "xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 640 x 480, maximum 640 x 480
default connected primary 640x480+0+0 0mm x 0mm
640x480 73.00*"
Can you follow these steps to use the nomodeset grub parameter (Be sure to run sudo update-grub) and then reboot and check resolution?
hard reboot or soft reboot???
Yes, either. 
ok 
also sorry for being such a noob with this
It was a perfectly valid question considering that I got all kinds of specific earlier...
"Make sure it is a hard reboot and do not pass Go. Do not collect $200."
rebooted
and it's still zoomed in 
Let's try adding the resolution using xrandr:
You can see it is a short list of terminal commands, not as daunting as it looks upon first glance.
I'm gonna sound really dumb rn but could you just tell me exactly what commands too type from here?
Something that is unfamiliar will inevitably create uncertainty.
Use
cvt 1920 1080
To check if your monitor supports that resolution. You can change the above to a different resolution that you prefer, for example:
cvt 1440 1200
It will print an output that looks similar to
Modeline "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync This provides the information you will need to use in the commands that follow. You want the refresh rate along with that tail end ending in hsync + vsync
Running xrandr next tells your your display ID. Since youare using HDMI, it will probably be HDMI1
So, with this, the next command will be to create a newmode:
xrandr --newmode "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync
Then add the mode:
xrandr --addmode HDMI-1 "1920x1080_60.00"
And enable it:
xrandr --output HDMI-1 --mode "1920x1080_60.00"
I can't even find out what my display or output is called for some reason zorin is calling my tv "unknown display"
and running xrandr too get my screen id popped up with this "xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 640 x 480, maximum 640 x 480
default connected primary 640x480+0+0 0mm x 0mm
640x480 73.00*
1440x1200_60.00 (0x541) 144.500MHz -HSync +VSync
h: width 1440 start 1536 end 1688 total 1936 skew 0 clock 74.64KHz
v: height 1200 start 1203 end 1213 total 1245 clock 59.95Hz
1920x1080_60.00 (0x555) 173.000MHz -HSync +VSync
h: width 1920 start 2048 end 2248 total 2576 skew 0 clock 67.16KHz
v: height 1080 start 1083 end 1088 total 1120 clock 59.96Hz"
I have no clue why this is happening I've been using this config for months now with little issue
I wonder if the 535 driver is part of the trouble.
Do you have the option for 470 in Softyware & Updates > Additional drivers?
This is not a fresh install of Zorin OS? Did this problem just recently appear out of the blue?
Did it happen after Updates?
i've had this install of zorin 16.3 since july or august.
I did install some updates but that was a day ago and everything worked and I had the pc off for a while and it still worked when I turned it back on later last night. and it was working, I turned it off, went too an appointment, and came back turned it on and was faced with this glitched display shown in the first pictures
This makes me wonder about the state of the 1030 Nvidia card.
Let's try:
sudo apt update
Not any errors while updating your sources and relay if you see any.
sudo dpkg ––configure –a
sudo apt install nvidia-settings && sudo ubuntu-drivers install && sudo apt upgrade
Reboot...