[boxerbay]

for a 1024 screen you will probably want to use a 980 width.

this is helpful - http://webdesign.about.com/od/webdesign/a/aa080904.htm

"...Every Web browser has a scrollbar, and borders on the sides that shrink the available space from 800 to around 740 pixels or less on 800x600 resolutions and around 980 pixels on 1024x768 resolutions."